How to Supercharge Your Writing With AI Tools - Ep. 33 with Evan Armstrong
Sep 4, 2024
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Evan Armstrong, lead writer at Every and creator of the column Napkin Math, joins the discussion to explore the art of combining writing and AI. They dive into how AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude assist in refining personal taste and overcoming writer's block. Evan shares his secrets for maintaining productivity, including his unique writing routines. The conversation even touches on crafting viral content and the ethical implications of using AI in writing, making it a dynamic blend of creativity and technology.
AI tools help writers understand their personal taste, allowing them to articulate what makes writing resonate and excel.
Choosing a compelling writing topic can be enhanced by AI-assisted brainstorming, as well as reflective mental exercises in relaxed settings.
Engaging audiences successfully requires leveraging AI to adapt content across platforms, ensuring messages are impactful and resonate with readers.
Deep dives
Understanding Taste in Writing
Taste in writing is defined as the ability to articulate what makes something good. It goes beyond following trends or popular opinions, focusing instead on personal enjoyment and clarity in expression. Writers are encouraged to reflect on their preferences and influences, illuminating their unique viewpoints. This process can be enhanced by using AI to analyze writers they admire, helping them crystallize their own tastes and preferences.
Selecting Topics for Writing
Choosing a topic to write about can be facilitated through mental exercises or structured routines. One effective method involves taking time to relax and let ideas bubble up naturally, such as during a sauna session. This approach contrasts with AI-assisted brainstorming, where writers can voice their thoughts and have AI help them refine and select the most compelling ideas. Ultimately, the goal is to find a topic that resonates personally and engages the intended audience.
Crafting the Written Word
The craft of writing involves various stages, including drafting, editing, and revising. Tools like AI can streamline the writing process, helping authors generate text, find metaphors, or expand on their ideas effectively. AI can serve as both a writing partner and a way to overcome creative blocks, allowing writers to enhance their drafts without heavy lifting. This collaboration encourages writers to focus on content while AI assists with structure and language.
Reaching the Audience
Engaging the intended audience requires an understanding of both demographic preferences and algorithmic behavior. Writers can leverage AI-based tools to transform their content for different platforms, ensuring that messages are tailored for maximum impact. Automation can alleviate the repetitive nature of crafting social media posts from longer articles, thereby enhancing distribution strategies. Adapting content for various formats is essential to grow visibility and engagement while maintaining authentic communication.
Navigating the Ethics of AI in Writing
The integration of AI into writing raises important ethical questions about originality and attribution. Balancing the use of AI-generated content while maintaining originality is essential for writers who want to uphold their integrity and avoid plagiarism. Acknowledging sources and properly citing information are crucial practices that help navigate the blurry lines of content creation. As technology evolves, it will be important to establish new ethical standards to guide writers in responsibly utilizing AI tools.
Harnessing AI for Continuous Improvement
AI can play a significant role in providing feedback and suggestions that enhance writer development. By consistently using AI tools for reflection and critique, writers can refine their skills and elevate their work across various writing forms. This iterative process of feedback leads to greater clarity in writing and helps identify areas for growth, ensuring writers evolve their craft over time. Writers who embrace this technological collaboration will likely find it easier to adapt to changing audience expectations and industry standards.
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.
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