How AI Makes Me a Better Writer
And probably not for the reasons you think.
TL;DR
Content creators are panicking about how good AI is becoming. Not me.
Because it’s forcing me to improve at:
Reader experience
Clarity
Actionable messaging
For years now, you could get by making income as a writer without having to be particularly great.
How do I know this?
Because besides ghostwriting and book coaching, I also edit books. About half of them are ghostwritten books and all too often, the results are disappointing despite the author “hiring a professional ghostwriter.”
Along comes AI and content creators have one of two reactions:
“The sky is falling!”
“The Messiah has come!”
For Group 1, they feel like they have to compete head-on with AI to “be better than AI.” There’s some truth to that, but it’s not the best approach.
For Group 2, they see AI as an efficiency tool, capable of generating a ton of content they can use and reuse in a fraction of the time. Also has some truth, but not the best approach.
The best approach I’ve found is to use AI to figure out where the gaps are in my own skills. And to demonstrate this, let’s get into this past week’s AI Action Figure trend.
Attempt 1:
There’s a lot wrong with this. But the biggest thing I realized about the prompt I wrote failed to give Chat enough direction. Hence, the reason Chat guessed I was a “Web Developer,” not a ghostwriter.
Also, the face looks nothing like me even though the rest of the body came directly from the headshot, so I realized I needed to give it a different option to work with. Don’t get me wrong…the face they went with is better than mine. (Thanks for the humility, Chat.)
Lesson 1: Need to direct the experience more rather than assume that Chat will just “get it.”
Attempt 2:
Still doesn’t look like me and is far too photorealistic for the “action figure” vibe needed. Now I realized I needed to provide more clarity around where the accessories should be and the appearance of the action figure’s face.
Lesson 2: Be more clear.
Attempt 3:
Okay, now we’re starting to get somewhere. But you’ll notice Chat decided to give me a shave and there is no packaging around the figure itself. Also, I realized, “Wait, why am I telling Chat to put the LinkedIn logo on there? I should be promoting myself! I should use my logo!” So my adjusted prompt was more action focused with exactly what changes I wanted Chat to make.
Lesson 3: Be more actionable in the writing.
Attempt 4:
Ah, there we go. Even though the hair’s not quite right, the forehead and square-shaped frame are maybe a little too accurate. And since I reached my image limit for the day, I decided to call it quits here. But if I were to iterate further, I’d look at how to make the packaging more dynamic by adjusting the color and maybe even adding on some faux marketing copy like “As Seen on LinkedIn.”
Lesson 4: Know when to quit. Progress over perfection.
Rather than fear AI or feel competitive against it, this exercise helped me notice where I can still improve in my writing for clients:
Double down on the reader experience.
Clarity, clarity, clarity.
Be more actionable.
Now, here are this week’s content ideas:
What’s an AI trend you’ve participated in?
Are you an AI-dvocate, AI-gnostic, or AI-theist? (Okay, that was too clever, not clear: Are you an AI believer, AI agnostic, or AI atheist?)
What’s your favorite AI tool you’ve tried and how do you use it?
How are others in your industry using AI the wrong way?
How do you see others in your industry using AI the right way?
And if you’re a subscriber, I’ve got bonus content ideas for you down below.
Still looking for content ideas? Visit my Stan Store to Go from Zero to 100+ Content Ideas with 25 Questions.
Until next time, keep changing the world—one story at a time.
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