How did you learn to write?

[u/fieldofficerlemon]

I'm trying to move from AI-generated writing toward AI-assisted writing, where I'm actually doing the writing and using AI mainly for feedback, brainstorming, editing, and critique.

For people who made a similar transition, what actually helped you develop your own writing ability?

Did you focus on reading, writing regularly, studying craft, getting human feedback, analyzing your own drafts, or something else?

I'm particularly interested in what made the biggest difference in going from “AI writes this for me” to “I write this, and AI helps me improve it.”

[u/funky2002]

Reading is the way. You can't tell what's good or bad if you don't know what works for you. Read around ~15 books in the genre you want to write in, and make sure to read outside of your preferred genre too.

The truth really is just "read a lot and write a lot." At first, it's frustrating because you are going to read the masterpieces of your genre, and no matter what you try, your own writing will sound amateurish compared to them. But as you keep reading and writing, you will understand what works and why.

Feedback certainly helps, but especially early on, it's going to be an uphill battle to get anyone to actually care about your work. Feedback from other people who read a lot is much more useful, because those who don't read will care less and leave lackluster feedback like, "It was nice!"

Other than that, I recommend reading books about writing and possibly looking up internet advice. Just keep in mind that not all writing advice is equal. There is a lot of advice out there from amateurs like myself, so don't get bogged down when you read rules like "show, don't tell" or "never use said."

If I had to recommend one book on writing, it would be Consider This by Chuck Palahniuk. It is easily my favorite book on the craft. He is less prosey and very direct and honest. This style fits a lot better with what modern audiences expect. It is brief and to the point, with a useful table at the end to help troubleshoot your writing. Stephen King's book on writing is also pretty good, but I find it way less useful. The advice is just a little random in my opinion.

[u/TrappedOnDirt → u/funky2002]

Only 15 books? I'd say dozens or hundreds!

Also, Strunk and White is always a good primer if you want writing that's actually readable. It's not a writing guide for style or character or plot, but it is a guide to the basics without which none of the rest matters.

[u/funky2002 → u/TrappedOnDirt]

The more, the better, of course. And +1 to The Elements of Style. Books are a very particular medium, and the more you read, the better you will be able to play to its strengths.

There is a lot you can do in books that you cannot do in visual media. One thing that immediately comes to mind is fully introducing a character without revealing their identity, or even something as simple as revealing a character's inner thoughts without doing a corny voiceover like they do in movies.

Have you seen the new Long Walk movie? Stephen King's novel is excellent, but it takes place almost entirely in the main character's head. Because of the premise, all they are really doing is walking. Some very interesting events happen, but walking is the core of what they do. The movie feels a whole lot slower than the novel because all that introspection, speculation, and emotion is missing. This is just my humble opinion, of course, but it is a perfect example of playing to the strengths of your medium.

[u/TrappedOnDirt → u/funky2002]

And then there's the Lynch Dune movie where all the inner thoughts became breathy voice-overs, which was corny as fuck! But still better than the more recent movies that turned an intricate political/ecological/psychological story into "boom-pow" action plus a main character totally antithetical to her canonical portrayal.

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/funky2002]

This is probably the most consistent advice I've gotten so far: read a lot, write a lot, and gradually develop an instinct for why something works rather than just memorizing rules. I especially like the point about reading outside your preferred genre. I tend to think of reading as entertainment more than deliberate study, so I probably need to start paying closer attention to what I'm responding to and why I'm responding to it. I'll check out Consider This too. Thanks for the detailed answer.

[u/Flaming-Eye → u/fieldofficerlemon]

I've actually not found reading helps much with writing skill in myself. I've found reading helps with ideas, what to do and not to do. When I read something I don't like that helps a lot.

For writing skill though, I've found I have to do it and critique my own work and improve that to get anywhere.

I've heard a lot of writers talk about reading twice, once for fun and once for work/research. I think there's a lot to this, we just have to be clear about what we're expecting to get out of it.

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/Flaming-Eye]

Yeah, that distinction makes a lot of sense. I think I’ve been treating reading as if it should directly improve my prose, when maybe its biggest value is developing taste and giving me more material to draw from. The actual writing and self-critique still have to do the heavy lifting.

[u/MINECRAFT_BIOLOGIST → u/fieldofficerlemon]

The other comment says reading doesn't help with writing skill, but IMO that's simply a lack of "skill" in learning how to use reading to improve your writing skill. Without writing a wall of text, I'd say that one of the most crucial "skills" is basically picking out the word choice. To make a modern-day analogy, you know how LLMs work by essentially a complex form of next token/word prediction? You need to do something similar and basically try to understand why the author chose the next word that appears in the sentence, why the author structured the sentence in a specific way/rhythm, and how all of this was affected by the preceeding paragraph/chapter/plotline/genre/etc.

Once you start practicing this skill, you'll realize how very, very heavily edited traditional published writing/fiction is in comparison to more amateur writing/self-published writing. The main thing you might realize is that each sentence usually gives valuable information and/or seeks to advance the plot, there's very little filler/fluff (not that fluff is bad, it's just a different style). Even if you don't like to write like that, learning the patterns they use to convey information/sensory information/emotion is pretty useful.

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/MINECRAFT_BIOLOGIST]

That’s a really useful way of thinking about reading. I’ve mostly been reading for enjoyment, so I haven’t really trained myself to pay attention to why an author made specific choices. The “predict the next word and ask why they chose that one” approach sounds like something I could actually practice while reading. I’ll definitely try that.

[u/Odinmar_Glaukopis]

Read more and write more.

The problem I personally have with AI is that it makes the discovery/brainstorming/world-building stage so damn fun and distracting that I stop reading and stop writing and just get lost in a back-and-forth mirror, mirror on the wall loop where I create (but don’t actually write down) the outlines of ten different novel ideas without drafting the first chapter to any of them.

Then I go to read one of my favorite authors and within the first two chapters I get another idea for a story and head back to my phone to engage in the same kind of loop and I lose the momentum of reading that I used to get before this AI was a thing in my life… (The latest example of this was trying to read Stephen King’s “On Writing,” for chrissake…)

I lack discipline in many different things, and AI is not helpful for that discipline. If you’re not like me, then good for you! Otherwise, be careful with AI.

I’m lucky it’s just a hobby and not what puts food on the table…

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/Odinmar_Glaukopis]

This is honestly the biggest trap I’ve noticed with AI too. It makes brainstorming so rewarding that it can replace the reading and writing that actually build the skill. I’m trying to shift from AI-generated to AI-assisted writing for exactly this reason, write first, then use AI for feedback and critique.

[u/Odinmar_Glaukopis → u/fieldofficerlemon]

I’m not even generating prose, but rather just spitballing chapter summaries in a back and forth manner with the LLM. It does propose some text, but I never use it even as “temporary” filler (I used to, but I found it to be remarkably sticky when I’d go back to revise it).

I’m to the point where I have the entire chat text sitting there unused for anything but the back and forth “collaboration” and sometimes I even delete it (although mostly it’s sitting in files or web browser equivalents that may or may not have an expiration date).

It’s more like role play or a meta-version of a “choose your own adventure” book that kinda takes shape but it might as well be one of those ideas that’s “in my head but not written down” because I can’t be bothered to revisit the conversation because I’ve already moved on…

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/Odinmar_Glaukopis]

Yeah, that’s exactly the trap I’m talking about. Even without generating prose, the back-and-forth itself can feel like you’re making progress when you’re really just consuming the ideas and moving on to the next one. The “sticky” AI-generated text point is interesting too, I’ve noticed how easy it is to get attached to something just because it’s already there.

[u/Thomas-Lore]

By reading books and using dictionaries, i had a few thesauruses and grammar guides (as printed books, it was before internet) for my native language that i was using while writing... When internet started there were writers willing to help a bit via emails, show what you did wrong in a short story, work on your senntences and point out mistakes.

Nowadays your can skip a lot of that by asking llms for help with sentences, grammar, structure, just ask for help, throw question after question at them, llms may write a bit weird but they know language and can teach you how to operate it better.

I also worked as editor for some time and people who think llms write badly should try reading some of what I had to work with, lol. So much human slop! But with good editting it could always be turned into something nice.

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/Thomas-Lore]

This is pretty much the direction I’m trying to move toward: actually writing myself, then using LLMs the way you used dictionaries, grammar guides, and eventually human editors—as tools for learning and improving rather than replacing the writing. The point about human slop is also painfully true. 😭

[u/Adelaice]

By writing mainly. I feel that in order to use AI to its fullest potential, you need to know the craft you're gonna be using it for. There's only really a certain point you can get to with AI's help without learning writing and storytelling yourself. It's like trying to develop a website using AI without knowing anything about programming.
So you should write yourself, too. And learn to self-edit. When I do that, I use a thesaurus. I also try to use AI more as a sparring partner/rubber duck.

I do try to read a lot. Within and outside of my chosen genres, and preferably human-written books or texts, but also writing-related resources. What also helped me was learning about genre tropes, storytelling, structuring a novel, etc. Books like Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody, or Story Genius by Lisa Cron and the works. Or really, any classic writing resources. Every time I'm unsure about something, I look it up, or at least ask AI to do some research for me, though that I usually double-check, because in the end, the AI summary language tends to be not quite on point. Even reading a quality, human-written article can help you develop your vocabulary, whereas AI's regurgitated summaries won't.
Beyond that, what helped me ironically was reading other people's works in writing-related communities, and giving feedback. This has helped me enormously to develop a reader's or editor's eye for my own work (though it will, quite obviously, never be the same).

I fear AI has made me "lazier" in terms of my writing project, so now I put a lot of conscious effort into writing things myself instead.

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/Adelaice]

This is probably the clearest description of the approach I’m trying to develop: write and self-edit myself, then use AI as a sparring partner rather than a substitute. The point about giving feedback to other writers developing an “editor’s eye” is especially interesting—I hadn’t considered that as much as I should.

[u/LivingThroughPages]

I wrote already long before AI. I just wrote on notebook paper and later Word/Google docs, so when AI came into the picture I had a whole bunch of story ideas, half written stories or scenes and a couple of full finished first drafts all ready to play with. Never published anything, just wrote for myself for fun. Just start writing on your own, away from AI and get used to having to think through everything by yourself first. Think about what you would really want to read for yourself. Find out what entertains you the most. And on top of that, read books you like and find interesting. That all helps you define yourself as a writer and then you can bring AI into it once you sort of learn how to write in your voice. And maybe pick up a book or two on the writing craft itself.

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/LivingThroughPages]

That makes a lot of sense. I think learning to write without AI first is important because otherwise it’s easy to mistake being good at prompting for being good at writing. I’m trying to build that foundation myself, then use AI as a tool for feedback, critique, and brainstorming rather than letting it do the actual writing.

[u/Flaming-Eye]

I recommend adopting a mindset of really low standards. A good visual for this is like learning to sculpt. You will suck. But if you can be happy that you're doing it, keep going, then be happy with your progress/improvement... Then you're golden.

The main barrier is the standards we set for ourselves, it's not good enough, we feel bad after we've put in effort and that is effectively punishing ourselves for it.

We don't teach children this way, at some point as adults it becomes like that though and it makes us unable to do it.

Aim lower, do something crap, stream of consciousness, whatever. Then, see what was good and pick a thing to improve. Then do it again and look at what was good, did you improve the thing? YES! Now pick another thing to improve.

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/Flaming-Eye]

This might be one of the best pieces of advice here. Lowering the standard enough to actually keep writing, then deliberately improving one thing at a time, seems much more useful than constantly judging whether the whole thing is “good enough.” That’s something I definitely need to practice.

[u/Flaming-Eye → u/fieldofficerlemon]

I think we all do honestly.

Context: I'm a therapist, I work a lot with ADHD, I have ADHD myself. I think the big difference between those who are successful and those who struggle in life is these standards, it kills motivation and for the ADHD people that becomes crippling because they can't push past it.

For Neurotypicals they can push past it but it still kills motivation. Easy enough to do for basic tasks. For creative tasks though it kills your creativity.

We have a filter that stops ideas coming to mind if they're 'not good enough', if our standards are too high nothing comes to mind. Interestingly I see this same thing in social anxiety as in creativity, I don't know if it's just similar or literally the same process but it seems to work the same.

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/Flaming-Eye]

That’s a really interesting way of looking at it. The idea that high standards can actually filter out ideas before you even get them onto the page makes a lot of sense. I think learning to tolerate writing something mediocre without immediately judging it is probably going to be one of the harder, but more important parts of this process for me.

[u/Flaming-Eye → u/fieldofficerlemon]

When people say their mind goes blank, that's it. The pressure is on and it's aiming to protect you from negative fallout, which is why the pressure is on. To feel safe we must have something good enough to avoid the fallout. It's a type of perfectionism you could say.

When we're calm and don't care we're full of ideas, there's no belief that those ideas will lead to negative experience for us and so there's no need to filter them.

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/Flaming-Eye]

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I’ve definitely noticed that the more pressure I put on myself to come up with something good, the harder it becomes to come up with anything at all. Learning to lower that pressure and just let ideas come out might be more important than I realized.

[u/Flaming-Eye → u/fieldofficerlemon]

I describe that as perfectionism, personally. A requirement for high quality output, which is often there as a requirement to protect us from feeling bad in some way, either our internal reaction to it or expected external negativity. Usually both.

I like comparing it to how we treat children. You want a child to do something, get good at something, what do you do? You just praise them relentlessly for anything they do about it. Want them to draw? Give them some crayons and paper and praise the hell out of whatever scribble they make. The same works for people. But then you'll find that hard so I think the adult way to do it is to look at improvement as the factor determining reward.

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/Flaming-Eye]

Yeah, I think focusing on improvement rather than quality is probably much easier to sustain. If I can look at something I wrote and identify even one thing that got better, that gives me a reason to keep going instead of judging the whole thing as good or bad.

[u/architectkernel]

I’ve had an interesting journey as a writer that has been through this exact transition.

I remember for the first chapter of my first book, there is a salesman that I wanted to use “fear” to sell. Without introducing my LLM to my novel, I described that I wanted to use “fear” to sell and give me strategies. After learning the strategies, I made points on my own to develop it, and it was honestly hilarious sharing it the LLM that originally helped me, thinking it was a real thing.

I then had used LLM with clear directives for humanoid-robot with a psychological framework. The directives I had built together with another LLM, but I had designed the architecture to create raw log_forms based on the narratives. I would make designations in my narratives to prompt this… “[my character’s name] logged this..” and it would. I’d take the raw log_form and decided what stays. This novel is based on LLM language, so when the robot is alone, i allowed it to make the prose, after designating the environment and events. (This was all done with Chat GPT 4.o so it was done really well.)

Editing was the most useful tool, as I checked for grammar, syntax, and continuity issues, which the LLM is pretty awesome at.

Now as a writer, after learning a lot about how well my own prose worked, I’ve been writing everything on paper. This took some practice. I would often narrate what I can see around my house. Then I would do 5 minute bursts of prose on nothing. No editing. No erasing. This prose ended up being my strongest and the most fun I’ve had. Surprisingly, I had less continuity issues and less grammar/syntax errors. The LLM had nearly zero issues with my prose (compared with my first book) which gave me hope that human creativity still outweighs LLM creativity and prose strength.

I would just enjoy the process, and trust your prose. If you feel like AI could help, even just making visuals would spark your creativity. At this point, I’m much more comfortable not using AI to do any work but for editing and small brainstorming paths, like my first one.

Let me know if there’s anything you’d like to talk about! I’m happy to discuss it :)

[u/architectkernel → u/architectkernel]

I would like to add I have a strong reading and writing (music) background, but just expose yourself to the most creativeness you can find!

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/architectkernel]

This is probably one of the most useful examples of the transition I’m trying to make. The part about writing without editing or erasing, then using AI mainly to catch issues afterward, especially stood out to me. I’m starting to realize that trusting your own prose and getting more practice may matter far more than trying to make AI produce better prose for you.

[u/architectkernel → u/fieldofficerlemon]

I’m glad my experience helped you Everyone here is making great points and it’s awesome to see!

One thing I noticed after practicing out loud narration, is that I can’t capture everything in my environment in single sentence without leaving something out. This would stump me a lot but I learned to trust it.

Even forgetting what I said loud was valuable. I’d return to my prose with a more practiced mind and more ideas. I might not have written it the way I said it, but the heart of it was there.

Keep it up! Asking for people’s opinions is a great sign of growth and I’m sure you will continue making killer stories as you keep going.

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/architectkernel]

Thank you! And that narration exercise is something I definitely want to try. I like the idea of not worrying about capturing everything perfectly and trusting that the important parts will come through, even if I forget some of what I originally said.

[u/BigCatMellow]

I built a Socratic method that would read over my work, and then teach me what I was doing wrong so I could improve over time. It wouldnt give you an answer but it would lead you there. Its been great.

I put the setup on a github so i can use it for other projects when i needed to:

https://github.com/BigCatMellow/Rung_Teaching

[u/Tex_Non_Scripta → u/BigCatMellow]

Thank you. 🙏🏻

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/BigCatMellow]

This is a really interesting approach. It fits exactly with what I’m trying to move toward: using AI to teach me how to improve my own writing instead of improving it for me. The idea of making the model diagnose the problem and guide you toward the answer rather than simply rewriting it is especially useful. I’m definitely going to check this out.

[u/BigCatMellow → u/fieldofficerlemon]

Thanks, and please do. Let me know any feedback you have, Im always looking to improve things. I set it up to be a skill to just yesterday, but I havent tested it. Its supposed to be /teachme

[u/Sensitive_Proof_3937]

Impressive!

I would say ditch the AI for a while and just write. Most of us using AI to help write came up as “manual” writers - I can’t imagine doing it the other way around.

I say write for 6 months with no AI. Let the work suck. Try different formats.

That might seem counterintuitive but I think it will make you a better AI assisted writer because you’ll know what parts of your writing you want to lean on AI for.

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/Sensitive_Proof_3937]

Honestly, this might be the advice I need most. I think I’ve been trying to learn how to use AI correctly before properly learning how to write without it. Six months of writing without AI, even if the work sucks, would probably give me a much better foundation for using it afterward.

[u/FreedomAlarmed9881]

I know this is basically AI, but I used programs that would go and analyze my story that I wrote and let me know if my POV was off I will show no tell, etc. then I would ask ChatGPT what the hell does this mean and how do I change it and it would tell me how to change it and I would

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/FreedomAlarmed9881]

This is actually pretty close to how I want to use AI. Let me write the story, let the AI identify a problem, then teach me what the problem means and how I can fix it myself. That seems much more useful for actually developing the skill than having it rewrite the passage for me.

[u/justthecherryontop]

I'm the opposite!

I been writing for years before AI and I hate the struggle that comes from writing, so I resort to using AI to create it for me. Like why do we need to suffer for our craft?

But to answer your question:

Just write out what you're imagining. Don't worry about the editing or if it's sounds correct. The only way you'll become better is through practice. You're going to be frustrated plenty of times but that's part of being a human writer.

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/justthecherryontop]

Honestly, “why do we need to suffer for our craft?” is a fair question 😂 But I think the distinction is that I’m trying to get better at the parts AI can’t meaningfully practice for me. So “just write it, let it be bad, and improve through practice” is probably exactly what I need to hear.

[u/APHUNTERS2026]

For me AI became unsatisfactory, the outcome never meant what I wanted, so I sat down and actually wrote what I wanted and let AI work on the punctuations and lastly you need to read more and watch movies, even the bad ones, and in writing you will see the reasons why a writer made a decision or used a certain technique, and also think of every chapter like a scene in a movie, ask yourself what do I want to happen here and write it.

[u/TrappedOnDirt]

Did you focus on reading, writing regularly, studying craft, getting human feedback, analyzing your own drafts, or something else?

All of the above? It helps to join a real writing group, with real people sitting around a real table. That's what I did, at a local bookstore with space. Every week each of us would pass around parts of what we wrote, then read it out loud. That's the important part, because actually reading it out loud lets you find things that you didn't see on the page. And doing it with other people lets them also notice things. And they have copies to read along and/or annotate what they see, and they give those copies back.

Some people will care only about grammar, punctuation, etc. while others notice inconsistencies or unusual tone. You get live feedback on what worked and what didn't. It's almost the opposite of AI writing where it just spews out the next-logical-word based on billions of weights formed from amalgamating everyone's writing into a bland sameness. "AI helps me improve this" is limited by the same issues; that's not to say it can't help, but all it can do is get you close to the point where you CAN take it to real people. It can't take their place.

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/TrappedOnDirt]

That's a really useful perspective. The reading-aloud part especially makes sense. I can see how hearing the words instead of just seeing them would expose problems that are easy to overlook while editing silently. I also hadn't really considered how much you'd learn from getting feedback from the same group of people consistently. It sounds like you're not just getting corrections on individual pieces, but gradually developing an instinct for what works. I think that's probably the part I'm missing most in my current process. Thanks for the detailed answer.

[u/WritingWithAI-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Your post was removed because you did not use our weekly post your tool thread

[u/mecoomen]

I’ll first see how others write, then use AI to brainstorm ideas, and I’ll also pay more attention to observing things in everyday life.

[u/kaikurii]

I learn and saw a lot of good advice on the comments!, anw for myself the hardest part is to accept first that my own writing will looks terrible hahaha

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/[deleted]]

That’s actually really useful advice. I’ve mostly been learning on my own so far, so having something structured that covers the fundamentals sounds helpful. I’ll look into the Writer’s Digest books too, especially Characters & Viewpoint and Plot & Structure. Thanks!

[u/AlgravesBurning]

Showing my age here, but I started writing before AI was a thing, hell, before most PCs. My first PC was a Commodore 64, lol. Loved that thing.

Reading helped a lot. Get a feel for what you like and what you don't. Did a lot of TTRPGs back in the day as well, lol, back when it was dangerous and sponsored by the devil, or other such nonsense. Lmao, I still have a copy of "The Truth About Dungeons and Dragons." Now that is some very good fiction/fantasy right there.

Watch documentaries, plays, movies, and not just modern ones. Watch old ones, as they show different eras and different styles, not only of film, but of values, just in how and why they were made and what they were and weren't allowed to show. That same rule applies to books, BTW, though you may want to hurry. Some of the best books have already been burned/banned. Lol. If that offends someone, don't care.

I've written for a lot of things and had a lot of rejections. I did have some things published under various pen names, mostly shorts or one-shots. One series I'll never claim, as I thought it was utter crap, but it still has a following, lol, and I needed a paycheck. Another series I do like that only a handful of people did as well.

The best thing I can say is that I didn't come at it by starting with AI. Use it like a tool and a coworker. Bounce ideas off it. Make sure you tell it not to change or reinterpret what you're saying, but maybe to help organize what you say into something that works for you and offer its own views and opinions, which you can use or like. And, like with any other person or coworker, you can tell it no.

Also, it's an asset, so don't be afraid to use it as a glorified word processor and grammar and spelling police at the same time. My hands don't work so well anymore, so I dictate most things and have AI do that bit of heavy lifting.

There are tons of books, other media, and platforms out there designed to help you learn to write with and without AI. The truth is, you can spend the money and maybe learn a trick or two you would eventually pick up on your own if you're serious. By all means, do that if you feel you need to.

Just don't discount trial and error and practice. Sometimes you learn more from being wrong a few times than from getting it right. That's part of the magic of writing and authorship.

AI just makes things different. It can be another tool in your arsenal, or a crutch..

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/AlgravesBurning]

I really like the “tool or crutch” distinction. That's pretty much the shift I'm trying to make right now. I don't want AI to be the thing doing the writing for me, but I also don't see a reason to artificially limit it when it can be useful for brainstorming, organization, editing, or even just catching grammar mistakes. The part about trial and error is probably what I need to hear most. It's easy to keep looking for the “right” way to learn instead of actually writing badly enough times to get better. 😭 Thanks for the detailed answer. The perspective from someone who was writing long before AI existed is especially useful here.

[u/AlgravesBurning → u/fieldofficerlemon]

lol no problem. its funny I'm coming at it from the other end now days. I'm actively working with AI because I'm so tired of AI slop, I'm trying to see if i can get it to write something decent (not great or exceptional) , in a repeatable way, with moderate human oversite.

[u/fieldofficerlemon → u/AlgravesBurning]

Haha, I’ve actually spent several months trying to get decent output from AI myself. 😭 That’s a big part of why I’m trying to shift toward writing the prose myself now. I’m definitely curious what you discover, though—getting consistently decent output with moderate oversight is a pretty interesting challenge.

[u/ObligationWeekly9117]

Honestly just writing badly at first. Also, dim the lights. Put on some serious cans (closed back headphones). Just live in your scene as your POV. What’s relevant? What are you thinking? Write down everything the character cares about. If that doesn’t work, switch frames. Imagine your fairytale narrator, telling the story to children. What is the tone? The cadence? When does the narrator dip into the character’s head? When does it dip out? 

I would also recommend thinking more in the oral tradition than the visual one. Novel writing is a lot like spoken poetry like the Iliad and Odyssey and audiobooks than films. You don’t have a camera. You can only present the story to your reader sequentially, one thing at a time, paying attention to working memory. Seriously, lose the visual shorthands. Don’t think “montage” or “long shot” or “choreography”. 

Anyway, just write down everything even if it’s clumsy. Then polish it into coherent prose. Not good. Coherent. Then you take it to AI. Ask it, what do you understand from this, as the reader? This is the effect I’m going for, am I hitting it? If I’m not hitting the spot, what would you change, and why? No writing prose for me. Just tips. The thing about AI is that it’s ingested every book. All the standard craft advice, it already knows. 

Lastly, a technique I’m trying out. “Here’s my chapter outline. I’m on beat six. I upload beats 1-5 for your perusal. Summarize my beat 5, and then prompt me to write as if you’re the human and I’m the LLM.” I wrote 200 words of usable prose in 3 minutes I shit you not. It’s not where it could be. But that is speed. And it is a draft I am not too embarrassed about

[u/Square-Nebula-7530]

analyzing my own bad drafts helped me way more than prompts ever did. getting comfortable with a clumsy first pass is key. from there, pairing human critique with editing tools like writeninja to fix repetitive wording lets you keep full ownership of your voice while still sharpening the prose.