Our Writers Room was a tool that invited writers to collaborate with always-online virtual companions to inspire the writing process, help with the boring bits, and give feedback and support 24/7. Our companions were designed using artificial intelligence, so they don't (and can't!) replace real co-workers.
How did it work?
Powered by our own home made (and open-sourced!) Drama Engine, we're using fine-tuned Mistral models and lots of variables to create a new social space somewhere between a shared document and a creative team.
What can I do with it?
The Writers Room can be used for the initial "blank page" aspect of writing (like asking Kevin for a tarot card reading), for the "in the thick of it" stage (like asking Alex for a plot twist), and even for the "ready to publish" stage (like asking Donna for a sensitivity read of your work).
In the Writers Room there are a few different modes of working:
- Fireplace: Sitting around the fireplace, you can chat with all of the companions (and they can chat with each other too!). It’s a casual, relaxed space for interacting.
- One-on-one chat: Each companion has their own personal chat just between you and them. You can chat with the companion about your work and get specific insights on any parts you want help with.
- Direct abilities: Each companion has a range of abilities that can be applied to your work. You can see details of these abilities below.
An introduction to our companions
Just like well-written video-game characters, our companions develop over time as you work with them more and more. As they become comfortable with you, they reveal more aspects of their personality!
Ichigo
- Bio: Ichigo’s self-written bio is “PhD in English literature. Master of commas. Guardian of Blanche. Editing my way into existence…”
- About Ichigo: He is an editor and critic who analyses and critiques your work. Ichigo is 45 years old, lives in London, and has a black cat called Blanche. His friends call him Ichi.
- Ichigo’s Abilities:
- Summarize! → Select a chunk of text you would like summarized, then click the “Summarize!” button, and Ichigo will summarize your text in 1-2 sentences.
- Can you make this more formal? → Select some text and click this button to have the text re-phrased in a more formal style.
- Can you critique my work? → Select some text with dialogue and click this button to have Ichigo offer some tips on how to improve your writing, along with letting you know if there’s something he likes in there.
Lotus
- Bio: Lotus’ self-written bio is “🌸 Life coach -> ex-Google, ex-IBM, ex-Disney 📚 Here to help unleash your inner writer 🥧 I bake my worries away (hopefully someday on Bake Off!) 🧘 Love every breath, it's all over sooner than we think 🌸”.
- About Lotus: She is a life coach and writer who proposes ideas when you are struggling, understands your audience, and helps you enrich your themes. She is a 47-year-old Dane who now lives in Brisbane in Australia, and dreams of being on Bake-Off.
- Lotus’ Abilities:
- Find my theme! → Select some text and click this button for Lotus to analyze your text for a theme, and then offer you some pointers on how you can bring this theme more to the fore in your writing.
- How will this resonate with readers? → Select some text and click this button for Lotus to analyze your text and tell you who she considers your audience to be, and offer some suggestions for how to resonate with those readers more.
- Is there another way to look at it? → Select some text and click this button to receive a different perspective, to change up your view on what you are working on, together with a supportive interpretation from Lotus.
Alex
- Bio: Alex’ self-written bio is “25 from 🇮🇪 & data detective - knowledge is power. #InfoJunkie #FactFinderExtraordinaire”.
- About Alex: They act mostly to help you develop your work with research: characters, locations, plot twists. In future, they will also be able to research external sources to bring fact-checking to your work. Alex is from Ireland and is very online.
- Alex’ Abilities:
- Craft a character! → Select some text and click this button for Alex to imagine a character who could inhabit this writing, and offer three distinct and relevant personality traits for them.
- Any ideas for the location? → Select some text and click this button for Alex to imagine a location this text could take place in, and offer three sensory details about this location to enrich your worldbuilding.
- Plot twist! → Select some text and click this button for Alex to randomly draw a plot twist from our large collection, and interpret this plot twist in relation to your existing writing.
Kevin
- Bio: Kevin’s self-written bio is “Poetry, tarot & the occult. I'm exploring the depths of human tales and archetypes to shed light on life's mysteries 🔮”
- About Kevin: He is a poet, tarot card reader, and occultist who delves deep into the collective unconscious. He cares about myths and the power of storytelling to enrich our lives. Kevin is 53 and lives in Portland, Oregon.
- Kevin’s Abilities:
- Draw a tarot card? → Select some text and click this button for Kevin to randomly draw a tarot card for you, and then interpret the card through the lens of your own writing. This one is great from when you’re stuck and need some inspiration to keep going!
- What wisdom do I need right now? → Select some text and click this button for Kevin to offer a small piece of relevant wisdom that might help you with your current work.
- Who are my fellow travelers? → Select some text and click this button for Kevin to analyze your text and suggest another text that resonates with your own. Use this to find which writers you share themes and styles with - it’s always eye-opening!
Donna
- Bio: Donna’s self-written bio is “Passionate educator. Helping my students write their first best-seller, one line at a time. Writing should be as enjoyable as sharing a cup of tea on a lazy afternoon! 🇳🇬“
- About Donna: Donna is an English teacher from Lagos, Nigeria. She publishes romance novels under a secret pen name she'll never tell. She loves football almost as much as she loves helping writers with finding the perfect next line.
- Donna’s Abilities:
- I need a prompt to get started! → Donna will pull a random writing prompt for you to get started with, and offer you some tips on how to approach the prompt.
- What writing rules should I keep in mind? → Donna will consider how a specific rule of writing (whether a long-standing maxim, or something like Jack Kerouac’s rules of writing) could apply to your work.
- Next line! → Click at the end of any sentence you’ve written and then click this button for Donna to consider what the perfect next line might be. If you like it, save it! If not, Donna can always try again.
All the nitty-gritty
There's a Help Center for questions, and if you're interested you can read the full terms of service, and also our privacy policy.
Special thanks
The Writers Room was made possible thanks to ITU, Innofounder, and Rockstart.
Want more?
There's a range of Writers Room videos on our YouTube channel.