I’ve finally crossed a threshold where some parts of what I write - particularly memos at work - has some degree of content generated with AI. I used to joke that the only way in which AI helped my writing process was show me dozens of ways not to write what needs to be written, to frustrate me into a slightly angry “step aside and let me show you” frame of mind.
What changed? Two things.
1. Claude
Sonnet 3.5 is incredible. I gave up my ChatGPT Plus subscription some time ago in favor of it because it just… feels better. Particularly for writing tasks.
2. Workflow
Instead of giving it a prompt and asking it to write from scratch, I now start writing, and at various checkpoints paste the memo into Claude and ask it to give me feedback. I explicitly ask it not to correct my writing or provide alternatives, but point out what’s going well and what can be improved. In essence, Claude’s acting like a reviewer dropping comments for me.
Then at times, when I’m struggling with a section, I might ask it to rewrite a paragraph or two that’s not coming together well. That entire long conversation, back and forth, etc might be helping Claude get a better understanding of not just what I want to say but how I want to say it. And I’m now able to lift some bits and paste it in (and tune it for the last mile).
More than anything it feels like I’m facing fewer writing blocks in the middle of something I’m working on and able to keep the momentum from the start of an effort. That means more time for editing, which in turn means higher quality work.