You already talk better than you write. The 20-minute ramble to a friend is usually the real post. The blank page is where you start performing.
AI is useful here as an intern. It can outline, cut, and point at the mush. It should not write the piece. The second you ask it for “a draft,” you get the slop voice: smooth, empty, and not yours.
This is the method. Record. Transcribe. Ask for structure. Keep your sentences. Publish the ugly version, same rule as the first ten.
Record one question, not a show
Pick one title from your list. Say it out loud as a question. Hit record on your phone and answer it like you would in a kitchen, not on a stage.
Twenty minutes is plenty. Ten is better if you already know the point. Walk if you have to. Don’t script it first. The whole point is to catch the words you actually use.
If you’d rather look at a lens, film it with the phone-only setup and pull the post from the same file. One ramble can feed both. Don’t make two projects out of it.
Get a transcript, then stop polishing
Use whatever transcript you already have: the phone, the editor, a paste into a chat. Clean enough to read is enough. You are not making a legal record.
Do not ask AI to “make this more professional” yet. That’s how your voice leaves the room. Save the raw text. That’s the source.
Ask for an outline, not a draft
Paste the transcript. Then ask for work, not prose.
Prompts that stay in the intern lane:
- What is the one point I’m making? Say it in one sentence, using my words if they’re in here.
- Give me a 5-heading outline. No new ideas. If I didn’t say it, don’t add it.
- Which two stretches repeat the same thing? Tell me which one to keep.
- Which two sentences are unclear? Quote them. Don’t rewrite them yet.
- List five title options that sound like a search, not a slogan. I’ll write the real one.
Prompts that wreck it:
- Write this up as a blog post.
- Make it more engaging / punchy / SEO.
- Add a hook, a story, and a call to action.
- Expand this into 1,500 words.
If you use those, you’ll spend the next hour sanding off someone else’s rhythm. That’s slower than writing the short post yourself.
Rebuild it in your mouth
Open a blank file. Put the outline at the top. Then write each section by stealing lines from the transcript, not from the model.
Talky is allowed. “Here’s the thing” is allowed. A short sentence after a long one is how you sound. The intern’s version will flatten that into even, polite paragraphs. Throw those out.
Cap it. 90 minutes to assemble, 30 to cut, same clock as the 30-day plan. If a section wasn’t in the ramble, it doesn’t go in the post. Research is a different day.
Read the whole thing out loud once. If you trip, the sentence is wrong. If you wouldn’t say it to a friend, cut it even if it sounds “clean.”
The slop test
A few tells. If you see two, you let the intern author:
- Every paragraph is the same length.
- Words you never say: delve, tapestry, landscape, unlock, elevate.
- A list of benefits nobody asked for.
- A conclusion that restates the intro and wishes the reader well.
- You couldn’t pick this out of a lineup as yours.
The fix is not a better prompt. The fix is going back to the transcript and taking a sentence you actually said.
What “done” looks like
600 to 1,000 words. One idea. A title a stranger would search. Live on the blog, not in a chat window.
If you also filmed it, publish the video on its own day. Don’t wait to “do them together.” Together is how both stay in a folder.
A quick example
Say the ramble is “how I’d start a blog this month if I had a job.” The intern should return something like: one sentence (“Start with one category and two posts a week, not a brand”), then headings for setup, the first three titles, the twice-a-week slot, and what to ignore. You write those sections from the tape.
If it returns a post that begins “In today’s digital landscape, launching a blog can feel overwhelming,” you used it wrong. That sentence was not in your kitchen. Cut the draft. Keep the outline. Write the first line the way you said it: “If I had a job and 45 minutes at night, I would not pick a niche for a week.”
Tonight
Pick one question. Record 15 minutes. Get the transcript. Ask for the one-sentence point and a five-heading outline. Write the post from your lines.
If the intern hands you a finished article, delete it. You already have the piece. It’s in the ramble.
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