Stop relying on AI for writing: draft first, then ask
Write an ugly first draft yourself, with the AI closed. Then bring it in as a reader, not a writer: ask what works, what is unclear and what to try, and tell it not to rewrite. You keep your voice, and you can actually remember what you wrote.
What goes missing when the AI drafts
Two things, according to the studies. The first is ownership. In one session of a small MIT Media Lab preprint (54 people), 15 of 18 ChatGPT users could not correctly quote their own essay minutes after writing it. The second is difference. In an experiment with 293 writers, AI ideas made individual stories more creative, and made the stories more like each other (Doshi and Hauser, Science Advances, 2024).
The people who wrote alone first and used AI afterwards looked better on the first measure. So the routine below is about order.
The draft-first routine
Say it badly, on purpose
Ten minutes, AI closed. Write what you think in the plainest words you have. Do not fix anything. A bad draft that is yours beats a good one that is not.
Find your one sentence
Underline the sentence that says what you actually mean. If there is none, write it now. That is your piece.
Ask for a reader, not a writer
Give the AI your draft and ask: what works, where did you get lost, and what one change would help most? Tell it not to rewrite and not to supply sentences.
Revise with the chat closed
Make the changes in your own words. If a suggested phrase is perfect, retype it rather than pasting. You will often change it on the way.
The writing pad has a "feedback, not a rewrite" button that builds that request for you.
Keep your history
A draft history is useful twice. It lets you see your own thinking develop, and it is the honest answer if anyone ever asks whether you wrote something. The writing pad keeps one on your device as you type, with pasted parts marked as pasted. Nothing is uploaded.
When it is fine to let the AI write
Plenty of text does not need to be yours: a form reply, a meeting summary, a product description nobody will remember. Save the draft-first effort for writing where the thinking is the point, or where your name on it means something.
Questions
I freeze on a blank page. Is it wrong to ask AI for a start?
Try this instead: ask the AI to interview you. "Ask me five questions about what I want to say, one at a time." Your answers are your first draft, in your words.
Can I still use AI for grammar and spelling?
Yes. Fixing typos is not thinking for you. Ask for a list of errors rather than a corrected version, so the sentences stay yours.
How do I get my own voice back?
Write short things with no AI at all for a couple of weeks: messages, notes, a paragraph a day. Voice comes back with use.