Which AI model writes novels best? Use one model to plan the plot and another to write the prose, and compare them on your own text first.
Why Chat and Drafting Should Use Separate Models
When writing a long novel, a model has to do two very different kinds of work:
- Discussion and planning: understanding your requests, reading earlier text and archives, laying out outlines and chapter outlines, and deciding the next step. This step values comprehension, following instructions, and picking out what matters in a long context.
- Drafting: turning a chapter outline into a chapter people can read. This step values prose, dialogue voice and pacing, and sticking close to how your earlier text is written.
The same model isn't necessarily the best at both. So in Maliang Writer, the model you chat with and the writer model that drafts the text can be chosen separately: one for discussing the plot, another for drafting, matched to what your book needs.
How to Pick a Drafting Model: Same Earlier Text, One Passage Each
A model's prose is hard to judge from a spec sheet, and the most reliable method is a side-by-side comparison on the same task:
- Choose a passage you wrote yourself that best represents your book's style;
- Using the same chapter outline, have two or three models each write a passage;
- Compare: do the characters sound like themselves, do sentence length and rhythm feel like yours, and are there vague summaries, formulaic endings or repeated catchphrases;
- Then check how many credits each passage used, and pick one whose prose and budget you can both accept.
Results may differ by genre, so it's worth comparing again when you switch books. For a more complete comparison method, see the writing model selection guide.
How to Read the Cost
Models deduct credits by actual usage, and different models have different prices; writing the same chapter with different models can cost many times more or less.
- Drafting is usually the biggest cost, so the drafting model you choose affects the cost most;
- Reading earlier text and archives also uses credits, and the longer the story so far, the more is read each time you continue;
- After each round you can see what that round actually cost, which makes it easy to adjust to your budget.
Prices and availability for each model are as shown in the in-app model list and on the subscription page.