GraphStory: Collaborative Story Writing through Event-Based Narrative Editing
2026-06-15 • Human-Computer Interaction
Human-Computer Interaction
AI summaryⓘ
The authors created GraphStory, a tool that helps writers plan and explore their story ideas using a visual graph of plot points. Unlike typical AI writing helpers that mainly focus on producing text, GraphStory lets users connect ideas, try out different story paths, and check how the story evolves. In tests, writers found it easier to organize their stories and be creative compared to usual AI writing tools. The system aims to support early brainstorming and structure work in storytelling.
story writingAI writing assistantsnarrative structureideationgraph-based representationplot pointsstory branchingcreative writinguser studystory generation
Authors
Xuan-Vu Le, Minh-Loi Nguyen, Khanh-Duy Le, Minh-Triet Tran, Trung-Nghia Le
Abstract
Story writing is a popular yet complex creative activity that requires organization of ideas and iterative exploration, particularly during early-stage ideation. While many AI-based writing assistants have been developed, existing approaches primarily focus on generating long-form coherent text and improving user controllability during text production, providing limited support for brainstorming, connecting ideas, and validating alternative narrative flows. We present GraphStory, an interactive writing support system that leverages a graph-based representation to provide a comprehensive view of narrative structure and facilitate ideation. The system enables users to organize and connect plot points, explore alternative branches, and validate evolving narratives through an integrated story generation workflow. It further provides a structured interface to support efficient iteration over multiple story paths. Results from a user study with professional and semi-professional writers show that GraphStory reduces the effort of organizing narrative structures and better supports creativity and exploration compared to normal AI-based writing workflows.