How to Write Your First AI Story

DeepFiction's Studio turns a single idea into a full narrative. You don't need writing experience. You don't even need a fully formed concept. Just something, even a fragment, and the AI will build from there.

This tutorial walks you through the whole process.

Getting to the Studio

Click Create in the top navigation bar, or go straight to deepfiction.ai/studio.

The Studio has four tabs across the top: Story, Character, Image, and Video. Story is selected by default. This is where you'll write your prompt, configure settings, and generate.

On desktop, the left panel holds your inputs and the right side shows generated content. On mobile, it adapts into a bottom sheet.

Step 1: Write Your Prompt

The Prompt field sits at the top of the Story panel. It's the most important input. Everything the AI writes flows from what you put here.

Write 1 to 3 sentences describing the story you want. Include:

• A main character (who they are, what makes them interesting)
• A setting (where and when)
• A situation or conflict (what's happening, what's at stake)

Example Prompts

"A retired detective living in a coastal town gets pulled back into one last case when a body washes ashore with a note addressed to her."

"Two rival chefs in 1920s Paris compete for a legendary restaurant space, but one of them is hiding a secret that could destroy them both."

"A young astronaut on humanity's first deep-space colony ship discovers that the AI running the vessel has been making decisions no one authorized."

The more specific your prompt, the more coherent your story. Vague prompts like "write me a love story" produce generic output. One or two concrete details change everything.

Can't Think of Anything?

There's a dice icon next to the Prompt label. Click it. The Studio generates a random prompt idea and picks a random genre and challenge for you. It's a surprisingly good way to get past a blank page, and it surfaces combinations you wouldn't have thought of.

Step 2: Choose Your Story Length

Below the prompt you'll see Story Length buttons:

Flash is around 1,000 words and costs 1 credit. A complete short scene or vignette. Good for testing ideas and seeing how the AI interprets your prompt.

Short is around 5,000 words and costs 3 credits. A full short story with room for character development, rising tension, and a satisfying arc.

Start with Flash if you're experimenting. Once you find a prompt and setup you love, generate the Short version.

Step 3: Add Characters

The Characters section lets you define up to 3 characters for your story. This is, honestly, one of the most underused features. People write character names in the prompt and hope for the best. Don't do that.

For each character, fill in:

• Name (required)
• Appearance (optional, click "+ Add details" to expand)
• Personality (optional)

Example

The AI weaves these details directly into the story. Names, descriptions, and personality traits stay consistent throughout. That's way better than hoping the AI picks up on a name you dropped in the prompt.

Importing Characters

Click the Explore button next to "Characters" to open the Characters modal. If you've generated characters using the Character tab, you can import them directly. Their name, appearance, and personality fill in automatically.

Step 4: Advanced Settings

Click Advanced Settings below the Characters section. These are all optional, but they give you serious creative control.

Genre

The Genre dropdown sets your story's genre. Options are grouped:

• Adventure & Action: Adventure, Action, Superhero, Military Fiction
• Romance: Romance, Paranormal Romance, Fantasy Romance, Dark Romance
• Science Fiction & Cyberpunk: Sci-Fi, Cyberpunk, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Solarpunk, Dystopian, Utopian
• Fantasy: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Gaslamp Fantasy, Mythology, Magical Realism
• Anime & Light Novels: Anime-Inspired, Light Novel Style, Isekai, Shounen, Shoujo, Seinen, Josei
• Horror & Thriller: Horror, Psychological Horror, Gothic Horror, Thriller, Mystery, Noir
• Drama & Historical: Drama, Historical, Western, Slice of Life
• Comedy: Comedy, Romantic Comedy
• Other: Erotica, Fanfiction

Leave it on Any to let the AI decide, or pick a specific genre to lock in the tone and narrative conventions from the start.

Challenge

The Challenge dropdown defines the central conflict driving your story. Instead of describing a situation, you pick a narrative challenge that gives the story direction and stakes. This is unique to DeepFiction and it works surprisingly well.

Categories include:

• Adventure and Action: Find a Lost Treasure, Solve a Mystery, Rescue Someone, Escape from a Dangerous Situation, Pull Off a Heist, Save the World, Infiltrate a Secret Society, Live a Double Life
• Romance and Passion: Passionate Encounter, Love at First Sight, Forbidden Rendezvous, Seduce a Mysterious Stranger, Discover a Secret Passion, Reignite a Past Romance, Unrequited Love
• Betrayal and Conflict: Face a Moral Dilemma, Betray Someone, Confront Betrayal, Choose Duty Over Love, Sacrifice Loyalty for Love
• Mystery and Intrigue: Discover a Painful Truth, Follow a Trail of Clues, Investigate the Unknown
• Fantasy and Magic: Learn a Hidden Magical Power, Form a Bond with a Mythical Creature, Battle Against a Dark Sorcerer, Break a Powerful Curse
• Sci-Fi and Futuristic: Travel Through Time, Uncover an Alien Conspiracy, Lead a Space Rebellion
• Psychological: Survive a Haunted Past, Escape a Nightmare Realm, Face an Alternate Self, Question Reality
• Self-Discovery: Overcome a Personal Fear, Find One's True Calling, Seek Redemption, Embrace a New Identity

Leave it on Any or pick one to anchor the story around a specific conflict.

Perspective

The Perspective dropdown controls narrative point of view:

• First Person: I/We, Male Narrator, Female Narrator
• Second Person: You, Male Narrator, Female Narrator
• Third Person: He/She/They, Dialogue-Driven
• Scene-Setting: Prologue, Interlude, Flashback, Flashforward, Climax, Denouement, Epilogue
• Other: Letter, Diary, Stream of Consciousness

The Scene-Setting perspectives are great for building multi-part stories. Generate a Prologue first, then use Continue Story and switch to a standard perspective for the main narrative. You can finish with an Epilogue.

Visual Style

The Visual Style dropdown sets the aesthetic for any images generated with your story. Photo, Medium Format, Analog Photo, Digital Art, Painterly, and more. This doesn't touch the text. It's only for visual presentation.

Step 5: Generate

Click the Generate button at the bottom of the panel. Flash stories take a few seconds. Short stories take a bit longer.

Once done, your story appears in the gallery on the right side of the Studio. Click it to read the full text.

Step 6: Continue and Extend

After reading your story, you can extend it with Continue Story. The AI picks up exactly where it left off, keeping the characters, tone, and plot threads intact.

You can continue multiple times to build a multi-chapter story from a single prompt. Each continuation costs the same as the original length setting.

Step 7: Browse and Save

Every story you generate shows up in your History (top navigation). Revisit, re-read, or continue any story at any time.

You can also share stories publicly. Shared stories appear in the Browse section for other DeepFiction users to discover.

Tips for Your First Story

Start with Flash to test ideas. It's fast and cheap. Once you find a setup you love, generate the Short version for the full experience.

Use the Characters section. Seriously. The structured fields give the AI much stronger signals than a name dropped in the prompt. It's the single biggest quality upgrade most people miss.

Try the Randomize button when you're stuck. It surfaces genre and challenge combinations you wouldn't have picked yourself. "Pull Off a Heist" plays completely differently in Noir vs. Sci-Fi vs. Fantasy Romance.

Don't aim for perfect on the first try. Treat your first generation as a draft. Tweak the prompt, regenerate, or use Continue to build on what's there.

And keep prompts focused. 1 to 3 sentences is the sweet spot. Anything over 4 or 5 sentences tends to confuse the model. Specific but concise.

What's Next?

• Crafting Better Story Prompts for advanced prompt techniques
• Characters: Generate, Edit, Chat & Visualize for the full character system