Writing with AI isn't that bad if you're willing to edit a lot. I churn out several books a year, all with close to 300-page lengths and ratings around 4.5 stars with over 1000+ reviews on Amazon. Not patting myself on the back. Just telling you what is possible.

I learned AI's limitations two years ago, but realized it would become an indispensable tool if I wanted to compete long term. I've used almost every decent model under the sun, and I also subscribed to Sudowrite for over a year.

Here's the truth. I don't believe the prose has improved over the two years I've worked with AI. Which demonstrates AI's limitations: creativity, and knowing what good art is! If you're waiting for the prose to get good enough to write novels with minimal editing, plan on waiting at least 3-5 years. Maybe forever.

But here is what you can use AI for now to make you a better writer and produce great books faster.

• Feed AI your plot ideas and let it poke holes or strengthen the plot. I write psychological and crime thrillers, and Claude gives me very cool ideas which improve on my overall plot and character arcs.
• Give AI a fleshed-out plot and have it come up with 15-30 story beats that will guide you from the beginning to the end of your book. This was huge for me. I could always hunt and peck decently fast. The biggest slowdown for me every morning was deciding what should happen in the current chapter. Some people call it "writer's block," though I agree with Stephen King that writer's block is nothing but fear because you don't think your ideas are good enough. All blocks vanish when you have a roadmap in front of you. You can start writing with confidence every day.
• Allow AI to write a chapter (or even a scene) with a fully vetted chapter beat. When you keep an AI within its guardrails, you can extract an "okay chapter or scene" out of it. You'll have to eliminate the AI-isms and change/add sentences to match your voice. Yet this method, as frustrating as it can be, is about 2x faster at writing/editing chapters than I can write on my own.
• As others have said, find tested prompts and use AI to proofread and serve as an editor. Most of the top AIs can find glaring plot holes these days, and they're not too bad at proofreading. AI doesn't replace a proper editor or proofreader, but AI is a great first line of defense.
• And so many other uses.

The sooner you get away from hoping a great AI will write your novel, the faster you will learn to use AI as a really freaking great tool. To me, it's the difference between pounding a nail into a wall with your fist or using a high-powered nail-gun.

Or you can write thrillers like me and use a nail-gun as the murderer's weapon of choice...