How do two professional writers use AI to do the best work of their lives?

In today’s show, Every’s lead writer Evan Armstrong and I conduct an expert workshop on how we use ChatGPT, Claude, AI-powered word processor Lex, and the prompt builder that Every launched, Spiral, to feed our obsession with words—and help us write for more than 78,000 readers every day.

We talk about how AI helps us:

• Understand our taste—understanding what good is

• Pick a topic—knowing what to write about

• Craft our words—everything from sketching out an outline to writing and editing

• Build an audience—learn how to reach people

We get into:

• How I used Claude and ChatGPT to help me identify the kind of writing I like—and why that’s critically important for mastery 

• How Evan uses ChatGPT to explore his taste across books, movies, and paintings 

• The way I use Claude Projects to help me turn a vast amount of research into a clear thesis statement for major projects

• The routine Evan swears by to publish two pieces every week

• How Evan and I use Lex to push through writer’s block and catch common writing mistakes like passive voice

• My workflow inside Claude to craft emphatic metaphors

• How we use Spiral to write viral tweets 

Evan is the lead writer at Every who writes the column Napkin Math twice a week. He’s smart, funny, curious—and has the rare combination of business acumen, way with words, and crazy required to be a professional writer.

This is a must-watch for aspiring writers, or anyone whose job involves writing more than six sentences in a row.

If you found this episode interesting, please like, subscribe, comment, and share! 

Want even more?

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Timestamps:

1. Introduction: 00:01:04

2. How to develop good taste: 00:04:28

3. Dan uses Claude to articulate his taste in books: 00:13:34

4. How to use LLMs to explore art cross different mediums: 00:21:06

5. The way Evan chooses his next essay topic: 00:33:45

6. Go from research notes to clear thesis in Claude Projects: 00:38:20

7. How Evan uses AI to master new topics quickly: 00:46:51

8. Evan leverages AI to power through writer’s block: 00:59:21

9. How to use Claude to find good metaphors: 01:04:28

10. The role of AI in building an audience: 01:11:44

Links to resources mentioned in the episode: 

• Evan Armstrong: @itsurboyevan
• The column Evan writes at Every: Napkin Math
• Evan’s upcoming course about how to write with AI: https://www.writewithai.xyz/ 
• The piece Dan wrote about using LLMs to articulate his taste: "What I Do When I Can’t Sleep"
• Dan’s article about admitting that he wants to be a writer: "Admitting What Is Obvious"