How to Write Long Stories Using AI: hawk’s Guide for Great Story Writing Using RedQuill

This is a guest post from RedQuill user hawk sharing their tips and tricks for making great long stories on RedQuill.

---

I love RedQuill. (Obviously) I use it daily, and often blast through my Quills to make long, 30 to 60 chapter stories at a minimum. I know a lot of people only use RQ for one-off stories, things they can’t find elsewhere… but I also know there are people like me who use it to make whole, long stories. Sometimes the stories get completed, other times they don’t. But I know that there are tips that I am learning to getting some AMAZING stories out of RedQuill, not just short fics, and I wanted to share them.

Tip 1: Make LONG character descriptions

I personally keep my characters in a doc for use later, but the longer the character description with as much relevant information you can feed the AI about them, the better. Include birthmarks, parental history, everything. I used to RP on forum websites when I was younger, and one of the biggest things that we had to do was long character information sheets. Now I am understanding why the details are so important… it’s not so that you know the character, not fully, but it’s so others know the character, including the AI in this case. All the details. Copy and paste from a doc. 

Tip 2: Start off with a throwaway story, and tweak the character as you go

By this I mean to make a story in the genre you want, make the character… but maybe don’t add every detail, because maybe you don’t KNOW the character like that yet. For example… I was writing a Gladiator 2 fic. I had just gotten into the fandom. I started the character out as a slave girl that the Emperor falls for and elevates to an Empress. And that’s all well and good, but I also wanted historical accuracy, and I realized that I liked the idea of making her blessed by Apollo… and I learned all of that by playing in the throwaway story first. I learned I wanted to save BOTH brothers, not just one… and that I felt BAD having the AI remove one from the playing field… so that prompted me to make a second character for him. Long story short, you can learn a lot about the environment and the characters you’re making by starting in a throwaway fic that you may or may not keep.

Tip 3: Save details you want the AI to remember in future stories

As I said before, I keep a word doc of character details, the universe, and things I want the AI to remember. And the longer that list of things for the AI to recall, the better the story. You want it to remember a fandom character’s hair and eye colors? Add it there. Want it to remember what the band members’ names are for the band they’re in? Add it there. The longer, the better, same as the character info. Details are your friend. And on this note:

Tip 4: Keep a running word doc… or even two

I keep a word doc. I think I’ve said that a couple of times. Anywho, that word doc has saved me immense time and effort when starting new stories. When I work on stories that I’ve been reading, and I think of a detail the AI keeps forgetting… I jot it down in the word doc for future stories, in the area where you want the AI to remember things. I keep it separated by Character Info, Things for the AI to recall, and Description of the Universe… and a separate area for prompts that I like. I have a Stranger Things doc that is over 5 pages long with details. ALL my Stranger Things fics are now plug and play. Keeping a doc makes it simpler, you can jot the prompt down there and avoid the slow typing bug, and you have all the information at your fingertips to add to or remove details that work or do not work. It keeps your little world at your fingertips. For example, the story I’ve been working on added character details about them having the ability (they’re demigods, son and daughter of Apollo) to warm a room or body of water with concentration. Now, did I initially WANT that? No. But I love it, and so I saved it in my doc.

Note the page count. This is a doc with ALL details for my Lord of the Rings fic, and it’s 7 pages of information VITAL to the world I’ve built. It’s crucial. You’ll need all of this if you make sequel stories too. 

Tip 5: LONG PROMPTS

The longer the prompt, the more control you have over that chapter, and the longer the chapter might end up. (I’ve had a chapter stop at 4k words before because of long prompts.) Add things you want characters to say, things you want them to bring up, things you want to happen, everything in sequential order. Always start it off with what happens at that point, and move on from there. If there’s slang, or words in other languages that are crude/slang, then tell the AI using parenthesis in the prompt. You’re not just prompting the AI with this, it’s TEACHING it. So the AI will learn from the prompts you give it, and from what it writes. Make beefy, long prompts so that you get detail-rich chapters that make you giggle and squeal in your seat. The only time I don’t is when I’m in a smut chapter. Those are pretty straightforward. 😉

Tip 6: Keep the Lorebook up to date

When you see the story starting to wobble on the rails… it’s time. You HAVE to go through the Lorebook. I usually see it around Chapter 50, depending on how detailed my starting info was. (See all of that above) That’s when you go in, tweak character information in the Lorebook, tweak chapter details you want the AI to remember, and all of it. Not sure how to find the Lorebook? Let’s take a crash course. 

See the pencil next to the title above right there? Click that. 

Under ‘Publish Story’… see the Lorebook button? Clicky clicky. That’ll pull up your Lorebook. 

Chapter Summaries are the first tab. 

Next tab is your Character Descriptions. You NEED to keep these up to date. 

Components are the last tab. You can tweak your components as you need to, or delete them. Some components has areas where you can put new information for the AI to recall, and this is where that goes. 

Tip 7: Use Components wisely

The right blend of components can make or break your story, and that’s something I personally have learned lately. Experiment with your components to find a blend that works for you. I use Romance and Slow Burn Erotica, because I want the pace to slow down. (And I used to make stories in the olden days of having no option for a ‘green pepper’. (That pretty green pepper was my idea, you’re welcome. 🤣 )

Remember, as I have learned, that eventually the AI will forget regardless of WHAT you do… that’s when it’s time for the last tip… 

Tip 8: Start a new story, and reference the old one to continue where you left off

When the AI starts making lots of errors, it’s time to make book 2… and that’s when you get the link to the story, and add it in to the ‘details for the AI to remember’ and in parenthesis in the prompt. Tell the AI to reference the story at the link. Tell it that it is a continuation. Don’t be scared to start a new book, because in all honesty, the worst that’ll happen is you have to delete something that didn’t turn out well.

If you’re like me, you inhale reading material faster than a kid with an ice cream cone… so it helps to have all of this for future use, to keep things in mind. I hope it helps!

For an example of a LONG story with plot, spice, and depth, here’s one of my Lord of the Rings remakes! 

Whispers of Elven Hearts in the Shire

A retelling of Lord of the Rings that adds a new character, and spans 80 chapters.