Stop Publishing Like a Bot. Edit Like a Writer.

Your AI output deserves more than autopilot. Here’s your writer’s checklist.

I’ve been screaming a lot lately online about “edit your outputs.” What do I mean by that?

Well, as a book coach to first-time authors for years, teaching writers how to edit isn’t exactly a foreign notion to me. Being a professional writer since the days of eMachines and AOL, has hardwired this truth: Publishing a rough draft (even just on social) is enough to trigger a mild panic attack for me.

Yet here we are, in an age where AI can draft anything in seconds, and the temptation to hit publish is real.

For those of you who do collaborate with LLMs, let’s make sure you’re not just adding to the noise.

My Top #EditYourOutputs Tips

1. Reduce, Rephrase, Elevate

• LLMs love their comfort zones: em dashes, antithesis (the “it’s not X, it’s Y” move), and metaphors as obvious as a billboard. But what emotion do you want your reader to feel? Surprise? Admiration? Avoid what reads like AI default. Upgrade your antithesis: instead of “It’s not speed, it’s depth,” try “Speed dazzles; depth anchors.”

2. Remove Inappropriate Usage

• AI often adds writing tics that don’t match your voice or intent. Even if you’re not a pro, your ear catches when the same structure, device, or tone repeats. If it doesn’t sound like you, highlight and cut. In writing, simplicity wins.

3. Match Your Unique Voice

• Build a micro-checklist for your drafts:

  • Cadence: Does this sound like your rhythm, or an algorithm’s? (Test: Read a sentence aloud. Does it land with your usual energy, or does it feel “off” or generic?)
    

  • Signature Moves: Are your go-to turns - favorite metaphors, quirky connectors, or signature motifs - actually showing up? (Or did AI default to stock phrases?)
    

  • Voice Integrity: Would a longtime reader know this is you by tone alone, even without your name on it?
    

• Compare your AI draft against these. If it’s “off,” edit until it’s unmistakably you.

4. Shape Your Writing

• Flat writing is a dead giveaway, AI or not. Add arcs and shape: even a LinkedIn post benefits from a beginning, middle, and end. Are you building to a twist? Framing a mini-story? Choose a structure (classic 3-act, problem/solution, or even question/answer) and bend your draft into it. The key is intention, not just going with the default.

How to Choose Your Writing Shape:
Ask yourself: Is my goal to persuade, inform, entertain, or provoke? For persuasion, think arc: problem, insight, solution. For story, escalate tension or curiosity before release. For reflection, try a loop - circle back to your opener for closure. What’s the feeling you want your reader left with?

5. Seek Meaning Relentlessly

• Don’t just “sound good.” What’s your premise, your North Star? AI slop reads well at a glance but says nothing new. Ask: What’s the one thing I need my reader to remember? Make every sentence serve that. Paragraph, page, chapter, or post, the “why” is everything.

Not Exactly Breaking News

None of this is new. Ask my clients, I’ve been coaching the art of self-editing for a decade, long before AI. The real shift is that now, “acting like a writer” is a strategic advantage for anyone creating content with LLMs. If you treat every AI draft like a rough manuscript, you’ll stand out from a sea of copy-paste sameness.

Writers have always known the secret: Stand out by knowing your voice, your message, and your reason for writing. I’m just expanding the call to a bigger crowd.

The Human-AI Sweet Spot

Collaborating with AI should make you a better writer, but only if you treat it as collaboration, not delegation. That’s where the magic (and the competitive edge) lives: Use AI as your thinking partner, not your ghostwriter.

So…

Editing isn’t about making AI outputs “acceptable.” It’s about making them yours. Don’t just publish faster - publish sharper. Because in a world drowning in AI drafts, the authors who thrive will be the ones who still know how to write.

What’s the one thing you don’t want AI to take away from your writing? Hold onto that, and edit like you mean it.