The introduction to a series of articles about creative writing and generative AI has been posted on Medium. The series will look at how ChatGPT 4 and Claude 3 can be used as writing assistants for writers who prefer one of these approaches to writing:
- Pantsing Writing Method
- Outlining Writing Method
- Snowflake Writing Method
- Snowball Writing Method
- Snowplow Writing Method
- Chapter-by-Chapter Writing Method
https://lnkd.in/e3zARX-k
Open for Freelance. Editor @ The Short Place(fiction) Kitchen Tales, (food) The Memoirist (nonfiction), The Age of Empathy (nonfiction essay) The Book Cafe (Book Reviews). Writer-fiction/Nf/food/recipes/pop culture.
(edited) Content & Communications Strategist |
I help teams build the kind of communications that stretch, flex, and still hold up—creating meaning and momentum, structure and story.
As an AuDHD writer, I often feel like neurotypical criticisms of AI-generated content sound eerily familiar to criticisms of neurodivergent folks’ writing.
After all—I too am just a product of everything I’ve ever heard or read—stitched together with some excellent pattern recognition.
Recently, the argument has been around the em dash. Do humans really use these funky characters?
The em dash allows me to write the way I think—capturing ideas and interrupting my own train of thought—something I’ve long worried made me somehow seem “less human” to my peers.
I sometimes feel like my neurodivergent writing style gives neurotypical folks some “uncanny valley”—which instead of being addressed directly—is being explained away as a healthy skepticism around “the rise of AI”.
Since I was a kid, I have searched for the most concise, accurate way to communicate what I mean. That has caused me to speak—and write—using words that make some people say, “WHO EVEN TALKS LIKE THAT?” I’m sure my autistic peers can relate to the experience of being affectionately referred to as a “human dictionary”.
Language models have the ability to make lots of connections at once, choose words precisely and use grammar in a practical and pragmatic way.
They also have the ability to write in circles, try too hard and add unnecessary fluff to try to make you like them.
Honestly, I relate deeply. How much is too much when it comes to communication? How do humans write? I’m still searching for the answers myself.
These are important questions for us to consider as AI continues to evolve. But let’s make sure we’re considering ALL humans when we talk about writing like one.
Top — Voice | Plug-and-Play Marketing Director for Chaotic Startups | Top 1% Creator | Social Media Manager for People Who Hate Social Media | #AllisonWith2Ls
The em dash isn’t just punctuation—it’s a lifeline for neurodivergent writers.
For many of us, life doesn't follow a straight line. Ideas jump around excitedly, and thoughts connect unpredictably.
—
The em dash gives us space.
It allows our writing to shift gears along with our thoughts—without causing a 10-car pileup of confused readers.
It turns tangents into clarity and allows space for conflicting ideas in the same sentence—because BOTH can be true.
—
And here's the thing: neurodivergent people aren't broken—we think differently.
And that's OK.
—
Yesterday (and on plenty of other days), you may have seen me defending the em dash from the exhausting narrative perpetuated daily by these AI detective trolls—that punctuation is somehow a sign of AI.
These “distract and deflect” tactics are just attempts to prove their own humanity by attacking others for writing like… humans. And they are missing the point entirely.
—
So, next time you get all judgy judgerson about someone else's writing style, take a step back. Not everyone thinks—or writes—the same way.
And that's (more than) OK.
—
PS. Em dashes are often misunderstood. So are neurodivergent people. But both are absolutely necessary.
#AllisonWith2Ls#NeurodivergentThinking#GrammarNerd#PunctuationPrincess#EmDash4Lyfe
Grammar is important.
But oftentimes we allow grammar to dictate what and how we write.
And if you don't understand context or how to tell a story, even in business, you'll never hook a reader.
Grammar can be fixed with AI.
Context and storytelling? Not something AI can do.
#writing#business#humantohuman#storiessell
