Building an AI Writing Assistant: How to Transform Your Writing Process with ChatGPT

In this guide, I’ll outline my process for using ChatGPT as a writing assistant to help me quickly write new content and repurpose content for new channels.

Before we get into it, some ground rules:

✅ How I use ChatGPT

• Quickly iterate on copy
• Brainstorm on topics
• Generate ideas to use in my writing
• Build topic outlines
• Generate titles, hooks, and sentences
• Rewrite and repurpose for different formats

🚫 How not to use ChatGPT

• Writing full articles
• Verbatim copy that I’ll post or share directly
• Expect it to be factually accurate

Don’t miss 2 next-level resources for TOFU supporters!

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Quick Tips on Using ChatGPT as a Writing Assistant

👉 Keep the Conversation Going

Maintain “continuity” by continuing the conversation within a single chat “instance”. ChatGPT can reference earlier parts of the conversation to “learn” from what you’ve already shared.

👉 Ask the AI for Instructions

One key thing to know about ChatGPT is that you can ask it for instructions on how to best use it. Have the AI help you construct prompts by simply asking it to give you tips on how to interact.

👉 Have the AI Describe Your Writing

To help ChatGPT understand your writing style and voice, provide it with samples of your writing. Then, ask it to describe that writing.

Use those adjectives later to reinforce the voice you’re trying to achieve.

You can provide links to your writing online rather than copy and pasting snippets or samples entirely in the chat box. But only if the links were online prior to September 2021.

👉 Reference the Writing Style in Future Prompts

To reiterate the voice and tone you want ChatGPT to emulate, you can reference the past writing samples or tell the AI to refer to that earlier example.

👉 Give it Feedback Like an Editor

Once you have a piece of text generated by ChatGPT, give it feedback on how to improve the next draft. Use specific and precise instructions about what you want it to do differently.

Also try giving it broad style notes, like “make it more engaging” or “use relevant data points.”

👉 Iterate with Specific Instructions

Continue to iterate on the output by giving it specific feedback.

Things like: “Make the sentences shorter,” “Use more bullet points to break up the text,” or, “Rewrite it using a more conversational tone.”

👉 Ask the AI to Write Specific Sections

Rather than trying to iterate on a larger piece of text, it may be easier to break down your text into smaller sections and have ChatGPT generate smaller chunks.

Try having it construct hooks, paragraphs, stories, lists, or conclusions separately.

👉 Ask for Data and Sources to Quickly Fact Check

ChatGPT has an outdated database and it can make up stats and sources that don’t exist. But you can still use it as a research assistant to help you find relevant data points by asking it to find data about specific topics. Be sure to ask it to include links to where the data can be found on the web for easy fact checking!