"I encountered him only at rare intervals. I went to him. I had asked him nothing."

[nqpz]

I just coded a story intensifier. It extracts all sentences of the structure "I ... .", e.g. "I eat.", "I walked away.", or similar from one or more text files, and puts them together in somewhat random ways. Currently very primitive.

This is a pretty representative excerpt (mixed from three books from Project Gutenberg):

I clutched his hand.

I followed him. I regarded him with intense excitement. I encountered him only at rare intervals. I went to him. I had asked him nothing.

I informed them of Captain Nemo's proposition. I hear such different accounts of you as puzzle me exceedingly. I was ready to die of laughter. I would keep a pack of foxhounds. I roused.

I do not like to boast of my own child.

First result (way too short and not done): http://hongabar.org/~niels/nanogenmo14/story0

Code: http://git.metanohi.name/nanogenmo14.git/

[moonmilk]

That's off to a good start!

[MichaelPaulukonis]

I read it.

[nqpz]

I have improved the code a small bit and made it generate longer stories, and here's the final story: http://hongabar.org/~niels/intensifier/story1

I don't think it's a very engaging story, but there are some pearls:

I discussed the question of Atlantis with the fervor of a man who no longer had any doubts. I judged that that piece of paper meant that Miss Sophia was to meet Harney somewheres at half-past two and run off.

This one even makes some sense:

I had not the smallest idea of their being ever felt in such a way.

I wonder he does not marry. I am most seriously displeased. I had often seen him in love before. I never heard of her existence till the day before yesterday.

I conclude that this way of generating novels is fragile and needs to be used together with other methods.