Give it a story idea, and a genre, a main character and an ending if you have them. Hemmingway writes back a plot outline: a one-sentence premise, then the story in numbered beats from the opening situation to the last scene. It suits a short story, a novel, a screenplay or a game.
It keeps every detail you give and builds the rest around it. The beats it adds are suggestions, so move, cut or replace whatever does not fit.
What makes a plot hold
- Think in causes. Each beat should happen because of the one before. If the only words that link two beats are "and then", one of them can go.
- Give the main character a want and a reason to stay. Someone who could walk away from the trouble will, and the reader knows it.
- Say where it ends. A plot built towards a known ending wastes fewer scenes than one hoping to find it.
- Match the size to the form. A short story can turn once. A novel needs the problem to get worse several times.
An example
Asked for a mystery plot about a lighthouse keeper who finds a letter addressed to her and dated forty years from now, who wants only a quiet last year before she retires, with a bittersweet ending, a plot along these lines is what to expect:
Premise: a lighthouse keeper who wants a quiet last year finds a letter to herself from forty years ahead, and answering it costs her the quiet.
1. She finds the letter and hides it, because reporting it would bring visitors.
2. A second letter names something only she knows, so she can no longer call it a prank.
3. She writes back. The replies ask her to stay on past retirement.
4. She must choose between the quiet she wanted and the lamp.
5. She stays, and posts the first letter herself.
To change part of it, tell the chat. "Keep beats 1 to 3 and give me a different ending" is enough.
From plot to pages
Once the beats hold, write the scenes yourself, or hand one beat to the story generator to see how it plays. If you have no idea yet, start with the story idea generator. The character backstory generator fills in the person at the centre.
Common questions
Is the plot generator free?
Yes. Hemmingway has a free trial with no card needed, and this tool opens it with your answers filled in. You sign up once, and the plot is written in the chat.
Can it plot a whole novel?
It can outline one: the acts, the main turns and the ending. Writing the chapters is a different job, and Hemmingway is better at short writing than at novels. How to write a book with AI covers the rest.
What is the difference between a plot and a story idea?
An idea is the situation: who it is about and what is wrong. A plot is what happens next, in order, and why.
Will it sound like AI?
It is built not to. Hemmingway-1, the model behind it, came first on sounding like a person in our own blind test, Human-Likeness. Swap any beat you have seen before for one only your story could have.