Give it a character, what they want and what goes wrong, and Hemmingway writes a short story. It is made for short fiction: a scene, a bedtime story, a piece for a writing group or a prompt you want to see played out. You read it, change what you like, and keep it or share it as you choose.
A story needs more than the facts you give it, so here it fills in small things like a line of dialogue or the weather. It will not change the character, the trouble or the setting you chose. If you want something in the story, put it in the fields.
What makes it work
A short story needs someone who wants something and something in the way. Give it those two and it has a story. Give it only a topic, like "a story about friendship", and it has to guess.
- Make the want specific. "One quiet shift" gives the story somewhere to go. "To be happy" does not.
- Make the trouble concrete. A person, an event or a choice, not a mood.
- Set a length and an ending. Say roughly how many words and whether you want it hopeful, sad or open.
An example
Asked for a gentle story about a night-bus driver who wants one quiet shift, when a boy gets on alone at 2am and will not say where he lives, set in Glasgow on a wet November night, an opening along these lines is what to expect:
The last bus out of Glasgow was meant to be the easy one.
At two in the morning the rain came sideways and the seats were empty, which suited the driver fine.
Then the doors opened, and a boy got on alone.
The full story runs to the length you asked for and ends where you asked it to. If you want a different ending, more dialogue or a darker tone, ask in the chat and it rewrites it.
Common questions
Is the story 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 story is written in the chat.
Can it write a novel?
Not well, and we would not suggest it. Hemmingway is best at short stories, scenes and pieces you can read in one sitting. For long fiction, where a plot has to hold together over many chapters, large story models built for that job are the better choice. You can still use it to draft a scene or try a chapter opening. The guide to the AI story writer has more on what AI fiction does well and badly.
Can it write a story for children?
Yes. Say it is a bedtime story and give the age, and ask for a gentle tone and a calm ending.
Who owns the story?
You do. Use it, edit it or share it as you like. Your chats are never used for training.