Sudowrite’s CEO on the Future of AI Writing

Summary (AI writing / Sudowrite interview)

What Sudowrite is

Sudowrite is a story-writing platform that uses AI to help authors write better long-form narrative fiction. The CEO positions it as author-focused, not a general-purpose chatbot for everything.

Why it was created (origin story)

The company began with a writer’s group experience. Even with weekly critique, writing often involves long lonely stretches—so the founders built AI to act like a partner that helps writers get unstuck between sessions.

Definition of “writing with AI” (practical use patterns)

Common ways authors use Sudowrite include:

• Staying in flow / unblocking

  • If a writer is stuck on wording or unsure what should happen next, they iterate with AI to keep momentum.

• AI as a mirror

  • The CEO emphasizes that AI can provide both solutions and “what’s wrong,” which often sparks the writer’s own insight.

• Different author needs

  • Users apply AI to parts of the book they dislike or struggle with, such as:
    • Drafting specific scene types they avoid (e.g., fight/sex scenes) to generate a first draft.
    • Outlining support for authors who hate outlining and later discover structural problems.
    • Description / visualization for writers who are stronger in dialogue/action than in prose description.

• Editing help

  • Editing is described as popular, though the CEO says it isn’t his personal preference.

What makes Sudowrite “special” vs ChatGPT/Claude

Sudowrite differentiates itself through:

• Fiction-specific tooling

  • Tools designed for long-form narrative fiction rather than general-purpose writing.

• Story architecture features

  • Structured ways to build story/world and plan/outline.

• Unblocking tools

  • Help tailored to common writing problems (including support that differs for planner vs pantser workflows).

• A fiction-tuned language model (LM)

  • Sudowrite uses its own LM, intended to sound more like what authors actually write.

• Safety / workaround for taboo topics

  • The product is described as offering ways around blocks some chatbots have around violence/sex/taboo topics.

Plugin ecosystem (product feature)

A key feature is that users can extend the product:

• Users can create custom buttons/features and share them as plugins.
• The community has created tens of thousands of plugins—far beyond what the founders originally imagined.
• Plugin creation is framed as simplified: rather than heavy prompt knowledge, it’s more like describing what you want and having the system generate the plugin workflow.
• Example community plugins mentioned:
  • Talking to characters
  • “Brutally honest feedback” bots

The CEO encourages contributing and points to resources for learning plugin creation and story-validation workflows.

Onboarding / learning prompting (reducing intimidation)

The CEO’s stance is that you don’t need to learn prompting to use Sudowrite effectively. The plugin ecosystem and “out of the box” setup are positioned as ways to avoid prompt-copying workflows common with tools like ChatGPT.

Interface + modes of interaction

Sudowrite offers multiple ways to work:

• Traditional app layout

  • Familiar areas for characters, world, outline, etc.

• Free-form chat/canvas

  • Can access the user’s documents and “story bible” for context-aware assistance.

• Story Bible auto-generation

  • A core workflow: importing existing manuscripts/notes to automatically generate a Story Bible (characters, world, outline, etc.).
  • Described as fast enough to save hours/days—or eliminate the need to outsource.

Unexpected use cases

While built for fiction, some users also:

• Write non-fiction/memoirs
  • Earlier models hallucinated more, but improved models reduce that issue.
• Repurpose it for one-off scripts and letters
  • Examples include YouTube/TikTok scripts and letters to family.

Future of AI writing (analysis)

The CEO challenges the idea that “one-click books” will ruin everything. Instead, he points to a bigger, ongoing problem: discovery and reader attention. The belief is:

• Tools will keep improving
• Writers will still need to find their true voice/story
• Writers will still need to reach the right readers

He also notes AI-assisted book trailers may grow as video generation improves (example referenced: OpenAI video model improvements like “Sora 2”).

Maintaining author voice (major feature)

A major new approach is “My Voice”:

• Users upload a manuscript/chapter to create a private voice model.
• The goal is to generate text that sounds more like the author.
• Privacy controls are emphasized:
  • Only the user can use it
  • It can be deleted
  • It doesn’t affect other voices or the broader system
• Development reportedly took around two years, and it’s presented as available to subscribers while still iterating.

Message to skeptics / writers on the fence

Rather than persuading everyone, the CEO encourages:

• Curiosity
• Trying specific tools to address specific pain points

He also uses analogies (e.g., film → digital; traditional → indie publishing) to normalize different adoption paths.

Learning resources

Sudowrite offers classes daily focused on craft and how to use the platform. Classes may also be hosted via Luma, with encouragement to watch how other writers apply the tools.

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Main speakers / sources

• Amit (Sudowrite CEO; co-founder mentioned; creator of the “My Voice” feature; fiction-focused product direction)
• Michael (podcast host; interviews Amit; also references his recommended tool list for indie authors)