Topic
Writing Tips
Top 6 Helpful Tools for Writing
If you’re a writer looking to stay organized and improve your writing, these 6 proven tools actually make a difference.
How to Avoid the Trap of Self-Plagiarism
What is self-plagiarism, and why does it matter so much? Learn how to recognize it and how to steer clear of committing it.
5 Common Types of Plagiarism (And How to Avoid Them)
Think you know what plagiarism looks like? Learn about the lesser-known ways that cheating could be happening.
Techniques for Achieving Natural Time Transitions in Writing
AI Writing Tip: To sound more human in your writing, travel through time. Human writing can flow naturally between past, present, and future. AI writing tends to be chronologically linear. 0:00 /1:41 1× Human writers tend to weave through different time frames, much in the same way a human mind can wander. Writers have no problem traveling between past, present, and future. By contrast, ChatGPT often struggles with fluidity. It feels better to stick
How to Make Your Writing Interactive and Engaging
AI Writing Tip: AI lacks the critical engagement made possible by human writing. AI won’t ask questions or challenge their audience. So, prompt reflection directly with your reader. Pose a tricky hypothetical, and implore them from the page to consider how they’d respond. Ask a question. Present a conundrum. Catalyze a deeper level of thinking. Robots were not trained to do that, but humans can. Engagement is a key component of effective writing, especially when it comes to connecting with rea
Ways to Embrace Imperfection in Your Writing
AI Writing Tip: Humans can embrace imperfection and vulnerability. AI writing doesn’t have that capability. To sound more human in your writing, be “imperfect.” Embrace a distinctive, relatable voice. After an AI is prompted, it outputs meticulously polished and perfectly organized language. That’s because AI algorithms adhere to rote grammatical norms and stylistic conventions. Perhaps with a bit of creative prompting, you can get AI to mimic a certain tone of voice or a more creative personal
Tips to Avoid Creating Static, One-Dimensional Characters
AI writing tip: In order to differentiate your writing from AI, imbue your characters with rich inner lives and allow them to grow and change in response to the events of your story. Pay special attention – not just to their exterior journey – but also their motivations, fears, and hopes, and how those evolve as the narrative does. If you’re trying your hand at fictional writing supported by AI, you’ll find yourself coming up woefully short on character construction. That’s because when AI con
Embracing Controversy to Differentiate Your Writing from AI
Writing Tip: AI writing shies away from controversy. It will never default to serving as a platform for advocacy or debate. To make your writing sound differentiated from ChatGPT, take a stance. AI writing stands out for its cautious approach, particularly when it comes to “controversial” or contentious issues. AI systems are programmed to maintain neutrality and avoid inflammatory rhetoric. While this tendency probably helps the organizations creating these AI systems to avoid legal issues
Summarizing Your Points Without Using AI-Like Phrases
Writing Tip: Steer clear of phrases like “In conclusion” when you’re wrapping up your thoughts in a paper. These phrases are hallmarks of AI writing tools, which use very obvious, formulaic transition phrases to signal the end of a thought. Instead, opt for something more nuanced or personal to summarize your points. ChatGPT tends to put a summary sentence at the end of any response, even if it's just writing a few simple sentences. For example, if you ask: “Why is the sky blue?”, it will give
Avoiding Unnecessary Explanations To Keep Your Writing Engaging
Writing Tip: To differentiate your writing from AI, skip the detailed explanations of everything, and save them for the subjects that require them. Thoroughness across the board is robotic; applying selective, strategic thoroughness is a valuable human skill. If asked a simple question, like "Why is the sky blue?" ChatGPT doesn't just answer with an equally short explanation. It will defer back to that listicle-style response. AI writing tools default to an in-depth, robust explanation for thi
Adding Depth to Your Writing Without Repeating Ideas
Writing Tip: If a body of writing repeats ideas and lacks a genuine progression of the thesis, it sounds like AI. Make sure your “new” ideas are actually new, and aren’t just the same idea with reordered phrasing. Insert research, opinions, quotations, and/or references to deepen your argument. Go further into the context of what you’re presenting. One characteristic of ChatGPT is its propensity for repetition. This isn’t just about using the same word too many times, although that’s certainly
How to Add Vivid Details to Your Writing Without AI
Writing Tip: ChatGPT lacks the sensory details that humans bring, since it doesn’t technically have “senses.” To differentiate your writing from AI, inject sensory details about what something feels like, sounds like, or looks like. Be creative, and draw on your own memories and experiences. One of the more subtle but telling distinctions between human and AI-generated text lies in the absence of sensory detail. Humans experience the world through senses —sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste.
How to Use Slang in Writing to Avoid Sounding Like AI
Writing Tip: Incorporate slang into your writing. Reference cultural phenomena that anchor your writing in a specific place and time. If done correctly, you can transport your reader to another place, and encourage them to see things from a different perspective. ChatGPT doesn't use regionalized language, slang, or any quirky wording; even to the degree that it seems totally impersonal and inauthentic. But cultural references and slang are powerful tools in a writer’s arsenal. They reflect t
How to Break Free from GPT's Rule of Three in Writing
Writing Tip: Embrace unpredictability in your sentence structure. Sure, say three things in a sentence sometimes. Other times, just stick to one thing. Consider the rhythm of your writing as music. Embrace tempo changes and emotional swells and contractions, rather than following a metronome's unchanging beat. When AI writing tools write long-form responses, they tend to favor sentences with three objects. They like to say three things per sentence. For example, "OpenAI continues to develop a
How to Avoid a Neutral Tone in Your Writing
Writing tip: ChatGPT doesn’t have opinions. Boldly state yours, and defend it throughout your writing. "Generally." "Typically." "In some cases." AI-writing tools are intensely neutral. Almost to the point of seeming indecisive. There is a telltale lack of boldness in all AI writing. Even with the most opinionated prompts, AI writing is always giving itself a way out from what it is saying. AI doesn’t have polarizing opinions. AI writing is intensely neutral by design. The neutrality is not