Creative Writing with Claude: Novels, Screenplays, Catchphrases, and SNS Posts

Using Claude for creative work makes ideation and revision faster

Among text generation AIs, Claude’s strength is that it’s easy to co-write while maintaining longer context. For creative tasks, rather than having it write everything, you get more practical value from using it for ideation back-and-forth, organizing the structure, mass-producing rephrasing options, and tone adjustments.

Especially as of 2025, it works well for tasks like novels, video scripts, ad copy, and SNS posts—situations where you want to generate multiple options in a short time and compare them. The key is not to start by asking for “a single good piece of writing,” but to clearly specify the role, audience, constraints, and output format.

• What to write: short stories, scripts, post text, etc.
• Who it’s for: teens, B2B staff, existing fans, and so on
• What to protect: word count, worldbuilding, forbidden expressions, CTAs
• How to output: three options, table format, with headings, with improvement notes

Below, we introduce prompt examples and workflows that are easy to use, organized by purpose.

1. Co-writing a short story: first build the “design” together

When using Claude for fiction, you’ll reduce inconsistencies if you solidify the world, characters, the turning points (setup/rising/fallout), and the writing style first, rather than having it write the full text immediately. Think of it this way: humans decide the “core,” while Claude expands the range of choices.

Recommended workflow

1. Decide the theme and the intended emotional aftertaste
2. Define the protagonist’s missing piece and inner conflict
3. Map it into a three-act structure or the setup/rising/fallout pattern
4. Create summaries for each scene
5. Write and revise the prose in stages

You are an editor and co-writer for commercial fiction.
Please design a short story with the following conditions.

Theme: memory and forgiveness
Genre: near-future human drama
Length: 4,000–6,000 Japanese characters
Emotional aftertaste: bittersweet but hopeful
Protagonist: an archivist in their 30s who saves people’s memories
Constraints: no easy plot twists; keep specialist terms to a minimum.

Output:
1. Project concept (100 characters)
2. Settings for three characters
3. Plot covering setup/rising/fallout/turning points
4. Five candidate scenes that are memorable
5. Three directions for the writing style

Once the design is ready, it’s recommended not to generate the entire text at once, but to write and refine scene by scene.

Please write only the “turning point / the ‘rising to crisis’” scene from the plot above.
Conditions:
- Around 800 characters
- Dialogue should sound natural
- Don’t over-explain
- Include sensory descriptions in 2 places
- End with 3 “foil/foreshadowing candidates” that can be resolved in the next scene

With this approach, the writer can focus on deciding direction, while Claude handles suggesting options and draft support.

2. Video scripts: stronger for the first 30 seconds than for “long-form”

For YouTube, TikTok, and corporate explanation videos, Claude is suited to creating structure proposals that aim to maximize watch time. It’s especially good at breaking down an opening hook, chapter structure, narration drafts, and caption/overlay ideas.

You are a video structure writer.
Theme: “How to streamline meeting minutes creation with AI”
Audience: administrative/general affairs staff at small and medium businesses
Medium: YouTube 5-minute video
Goal: help people understand the service and generate inquiries

Please output the following.
- Five title ideas
- Three options for an opening hook (first 15 seconds)
- Chapter breakdown for the main body (3–5 chapters)
- Key points for each chapter
- Two CTA options at the end
- Five thumbnail copy ideas

In real-world work, it’s also convenient to convert it into a form that’s easy to shoot.

Transform the above structure into something that can be used as a filming script.
The columns should be “time,” “what to say,” “on-screen visuals,” “captions,” and “direction notes.”
Avoid specialist terms and keep each sentence short.

This makes it easier to refine from planning notes into something you can hand directly to a production team.

3. Catchphrases: produce in bulk, then narrow by evaluation criteria

A common mistake in copywriting is getting locked into the first idea. It’s efficient to have Claude generate many options with different angles first, and then narrow them down using evaluation criteria.

Please provide 30 catchphrases for a new household budgeting app.
Target: dual-income households in their 20s to 30s
Features: automatic categorization, sharing features, beginner-friendly UI
Tone: friendly, not pushy

Breakdown:
- 10 benefit-focused lines
- 10 empathy-focused lines
- 10 short, easy-to-remember lines

Then, ask Claude for help with selection.

Score the 30 options on a 5-point scale from these perspectives, and keep the top 10.
- Clarity
- Novelty
- Memorability
- Fit to the target
- Risk of exaggerated claims

Add a short commentary to each option.

With these two stages, you end up with a comparable candidate list, not just random inspiration. Ultimately, humans should verify brand consistency.

4. SNS post text: the “correct template” differs by medium

Even with the same content, SNS posts must be written differently to match each platform. A useful way to work with Claude is to take one source idea and restructure it for each SNS.

Please rewrite the following source idea for X, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Source idea: Announcement of a new feature release. Our internal knowledge search can now be done with natural-language sentences.
Goal: expand awareness and get demo requests
Conditions:
- For X: 3 options at around 140 characters each
- For Instagram: 2 options with body text of 150–220 characters, including hashtags
- For LinkedIn: 1 option at 300–500 characters, in the order of “intro problem → solution → lesson learned”
- Avoid being overly salesy

Claude is also good at post-publication improvements. For example, if you provide text that didn’t get much traction and ask “why didn’t it resonate” and “what should be changed,” the next iteration becomes much faster.

5. Brainstorming: separate divergence and convergence

When generating ideas, if you ask for “good ideas” from the very beginning, momentum tends to stall. With Claude, it’s easier to get results if you first ask for divergence, and then request classification and prioritization.

Please generate 50 ideas for a new podcast concept.
The theme is “how people work in the AI era.”
To avoid clichés, mix these angles:
- Stories of failure
- Changes by industry
- Personal career anxiety
- Tool demonstrations
- Future predictions

After that, group similar ideas and rank them by feasibility and buzz/topic appeal.

The important thing is to use Claude as a co-editor that expands and organizes thinking, not a “machine that outputs the correct answers.”

Tips to avoid failure in creative work

• Write the evaluation criteria first: don’t focus only on “how interesting,” but decide who you’re telling what to.
• Request in stages: move from planning → structure → draft → revision.
• Include prohibited items: avoid overly familiar expressions, hyperbolic ads, and excessive hype.
• Provide your own writing style samples: share features of past drafts or pieces you like.
• Make the final decision yourself: especially verify brand expression, copyright, and factual accuracy.

The biggest value of using Claude for creative work is not only saving time, but also meeting ideas you couldn’t have produced alone. Start with light back-and-forth like “generate 3 options,” “give me 5 more in a different tone,” or “point out the weaknesses of this idea”—and you’ll find it becomes usable both in real projects and in creativity.