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What’s the best AI tool for writing fiction? Two top contenders are ChatGPT and Sudowrite.
So, should you choose ChatGPT or Sudowrite to help you write your book? Let’s explore the pros, cons, and best features of both AI tools to find the right fit for your storytelling needs.
What Is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is a conversational AI tool known for its versatility. It can write, brainstorm, help with research, and answer questions, making it a robust choice for both fiction and non-fiction writers.
What Is Sudowrite?
Sudowrite is an AI writing assistant specifically designed for fiction writers. It has features to help you organize your story, brainstorm ideas, and write prose, with the goal of helping authors overcome writer’s block.
ChatGPT vs. Sudowrite: What’s the Difference?
While ChatGPT has become known for helping users with everything from organizing schedules to writing code, Sudowrite is made just for creative writing. You can use either tool for writing fiction, so let’s take a look at how specific aspects of each compare to each other.
Prose Models
With a variety of LLMs, or large language models, now available, do you get the best LLMs for fiction through ChatGPT or Sudowrite?
ChatGPT: Limited selection.
With ChatGPT, you can access all of OpenAI’s LLMs, such as GPT-4o and o3. These models each have their pros and cons—some are better for research, some have better reasoning skills, and you might find that you like one better than the others for writing fiction.
However, in the fiction realm, you might not find much variety between these models. That’s because they’re all based on OpenAI, and they all tend to deliver a noticeable “ChatGPT-style” of writing.
Sudowrite: A variety of options.
Sudowrite’s available prose models include ChatGPT’s, plus others. You’ll find multiple Claude models, Gemini, DeepSeek, and Sudowrite’s own original model, Muse. You can use all these models right within Sudowrite, without having to pay for or visit the other platforms.
Sudowrite’s engineers also optimize the models to specifically work for fiction, so you’re not trying to wrestle an LLM made for coding to make it produce fiction. With ChatGPT, you may have to prompt it to operate as a fiction writer, or make your own GPT chatbot optimized for creative writing. On the other hand, accessing the models through Sudowrite ensures that you’re getting a model with expertise in writing.
Matching Your Writing Style
When using AI to write fiction, one of the most important considerations is making sure the writing matches your unique voice as an author.
ChatGPT: Can mimic your tone and voice over time, especially if you're using ChatGPT Plus with memory enabled. You can train it with examples and reinforce preferences during conversations.
However, many authors may feel that you have to do a lot of editing and reinforcing to really capture your style. For anyone who’s experienced enough to recognize it, the GPT influence will be obvious in the content. Certain phrasing, sentence structure, and word choice are common across GPT-generated material.
Sudowrite: Offers a “Match My Style” feature that learns from your previous writing to generate text that better matches your unique style. In addition, you can customize the writing style with specific instructions, and there are beta features currently in development to offer more options for matching your writing style.
Sudowrite also has editing tools such as Rewrite and Quick Edit, so if a section of text isn’t quite your style, you can insert instructions to get it closer. You can request the same from ChatGPT, but it doesn’t have tools specifically designed for this purpose.
Story Organization
How do you keep all your story details straight when you’re writing with AI? Let’s see if ChatGPT or Sudowrite can organize your story best.
ChatGPT: No built-in story organization.
With ChatGPT, you may find yourself scrambling to keep track of your story details. It doesn’t have any tools designed to keep track for you. So, unless you want to scroll endlessly through all your conversations to get back to what you and ChatGPT brainstormed together, you’ll need to use external tools (like Scrivener or Notion) to organize elements like character profiles, outlines, and chapter drafts.
Sudowrite: Has story organization built in.
With Sudowrite, you can use the built-in Story Bible to keep all of your story information organized. The Story Bible includes sections for your outline, character profiles, worldbuilding details, and more. When you generate content or plot points for your story, the system will automatically refer to your Story Bible to get the details right.
Chat Features
Chatbots can be super useful for brainstorming, research, and getting unstuck when you’re writing fiction. So, which has the better chat features: ChatGPT or Sudowrite?
ChatGPT: Chatting’s what it’s all about.
If you like chatting with a bot throughout the process of creating your story, then ChatGPT’s got what you’re looking for. It’s designed specifically for chatting.
This makes for a dynamic process of developing your story. You can ask questions, get multiple plot points or character names to choose from, or tell GPT exactly how you’d like to change a piece of text. You can even customize your bot’s personality, so whether you want gentle encouragement or harsh constructive criticism, the conversation can get you in the right mindset.
You can also make your own custom GPT, instructing it to act as an expert in fiction writing. You can create different GPTs for different purposes, such as for specific genres or for various points in the writing process, like brainstorming, drafting, and editing.
Sudowrite: Has a chat feature available.
With Sudowrite, you can chat with Quick Chat, one of the Quick Tools. It’s not as readily available as the chat in ChatGPT, but Quick Chat is easy to access through the menu or a keyboard shortcut.
Quick Chat can chat with you just like ChatGPT, so you can ask it for ideas or feedback, use it to brainstorm, and more. It can see all of the story information in your Story Bible, which means it can give you informed answers based on the specifics of your characters, the world you’ve built, and any other details you’ve come up with.
One disadvantage of Quick Chat is that it doesn’t automatically save your conversation like ChatGPT does, so you have to be sure to copy and paste the answers you want to save.
Content Restrictions
If your work includes spicy content such as sex scenes, cursing, or violence, you may run into issues when you’re using AI. Here’s what to know about content restrictions for ChatGPT vs. Sudowrite.
ChatGPT: Stricter moderation policies.
With sensitive content like violence, sex, or dark themes, ChatGPT may refuse to generate your story or brainstorm with you. Too many violations of their content policies may even get your account restricted or blocked.
You may be able to get past certain restrictions with careful phrasing. For example, if you remind ChatGPT that you’re writing a fictional murder mystery and not actually planning a murder, it may ease up a bit. You can try creating a project and uploading files with information like your author bio, so that ChatGPT doesn’t forget that it’s okay with you writing this content.
Sometimes, it feels like you just have to catch GPT in the right “mood”—there are some times when it’s more restrictive than others, which can be frustrating when you’re trying to complete a project.
Sudowrite: LLMs in their most permissive mode.
When you use the prose models through Sudowrite, they’re set up to create fiction. That means that when you’re writing your murder mystery, you don’t have to remind Sudowrite that you’re not actually planning a murder in real life.
In other words, Sudowrite’s version of the LLMs will let you write whatever you want. There are a few very specific restrictions—for example, you may have to list the ages of your characters when dealing with mature themes, so that the system knows they’re not underage. But otherwise, violence, sexual content, and dark themes are all doable.
And with Sudowrite, you don’t have to worry about your account getting shut down for mature content.
Ease of Use
An AI tool will do you no good if it’s too difficult for you to use. So, which is easier to use: ChatGPT or Sudowrite?
ChatGPT: Easy to jump in; may be more difficult to master advanced techniques.
Using ChatGPT is super straightforward. You just hop on and start chatting. You can even ask ChatGPT itself questions on how to use it if you get stuck.
But to really get the most out of its fiction-writing potential, you may need to learn some more advanced prompting skills. This will require time, practice, and experimentation, and you may need to consult outside resources, like YouTube channels, to learn from others who have mastered prompting AI for fiction.
Sudowrite: Intuitive and built for writers, but may be intimidating to start.
Sudowrite has many tools for use, and you don't have to use them all. Most users find a specific workflow that works best for them, and they’ll stick to that workflow rather than using every tool in the program.
It can take time to find that workflow that’s ideal for you. And as some Sudowrite reviews mention, it can be overwhelming at first to see all the tools and wonder where to start.
The good thing is that the tools will guide you as you go along, and you don’t have to be super tech-savvy to figure them out. It’s designed to make sense to you as a writer.
You can follow the guidance of a tutorial project, and if you have questions, you have options. You can always refer to the class videos, read the documentation, ask questions in the Discord community, or attend a live class. Without extra help, some users may find that Sudowrite’s not as easy to use as they’d like.
Price
ChatGPT: Free plan available with tiers for priced plans.
With ChatGPT, you can chat for free on a free plan. But with the free plan, some features aren’t available, such as project folders and custom GPTs, so you may find it difficult to manage a whole fiction project.
Paid plans are priced at $20/month for Plus and $200/month for Pro. You should be able to access everything you need for writing fiction with the $20 monthly plan.
Sudowrite: Free trial available, monthly (or yearly) subscription required to keep using when the trial runs out.
Sudowrite’s free trial gives you 10,000 free credits to try out the tools and see what you think. After that, you can get a Hobby & Student Plan for as low as $10 per month if you pay for a whole year up front, or $19 per month if you pay monthly. More expensive plans get you more credits. The most popular plan is Professional, which is $29 per month or $22 per month if you pay yearly. The Max plan is $59 per month, or $44 per month if you pay yearly.
Community, Classes, and Resources
Where do you go when you want help with AI writing, or you’re looking for a community of like-minded AI-assisted writers?
ChatGPT: No fiction-specific community.
There’s no one go-to resource if you want help with using ChatGPT for fiction. You can seek out YouTube videos and other outside sources for guidance.
Sudowrite: Strong, supportive community for fiction writers.
Sudowrite has a very active Discord community, a YouTube channel, and live classes every week to answer questions, share tips, and come together as a community. If you’re a newbie and you find yourself lost on how to use the tools, there’s often someone available, whether it’s a staff member, an Ambassador, or a fellow active user, to help answer your questions.
Conclusion: Should You Use ChatGPT or Sudowrite for Fiction?
Both ChatGPT and Sudowrite can be powerful tools for fiction writers, but they shine in different ways.
If you want a versatile, conversational AI that can help with everything from plotting to editing—and you don’t mind customizing your prompts or creating your own workflows—ChatGPT is a flexible and affordable option. It’s especially useful if you write in multiple genres or need help beyond fiction, like with marketing or website content.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a fiction-focused tool with built-in story organization, a vibrant writing community, and features tailored to storytelling, Sudowrite is designed with authors in mind. From the Story Bible to model variety and style-matching tools, it can enhance your creative process without needing advanced prompt skills.
For me, Sudowrite is the winner, because unlike ChatGPT, it’s built just for fiction writers. You can try the free versions of both tools to see which fits you best.
Happy writing, and may your next story be your best one yet!