Controlling Style and Tone for your Writing with AI

Jeremy Morgan
4 min readNov 19, 2024

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Do you ever feel like your writing is just okay? Like it’s good, but not exciting enough to make people want to read it? Don’t worry — lots of people feel this way. My first drafts are always snoozers. These days, there’s so much stuff to read online that it’s hard to get noticed. But here’s some good news: AI can help you write better. Let’s learn how!

Note: This is part of a course at Prompt and Prosper — a content creator community focused on using AI to make better content. If you sign up and join now it’s free for life! We’ll start charging for it in 2025.

Why Writing Style is Important (And Why It’s Hard to Get Right)

Here’s the truth: anyone can write something. But writing something that makes people care? That’s harder. If you write too formally, you might sound like a computer. If you’re too casual, people might not take you seriously. Finding the right balance is tricky — like trying to walk on a tightrope!

That’s where AI comes in to help. With the right AI tools, you can make your writing fit exactly what you need. Pretty cool, right?

How AI Makes You a Better Writer

AI isn’t just a robot that writes boring stuff. It’s like having a helper who can make your writing sound just right for your readers. Here’s how it works:

1. Style Guides: Like a Map for Your Writing

Think of style guides as directions for your AI. They tell it exactly how you want your writing to sound. For example:

Write this like a fun YouTube video, but make sure it sounds smart like a business article.

When you tell AI exactly what you want, it knows how to help you write better.

Example:

Write like a friendly tech blogger. Use short, simple sentences, add some jokes, and make hard tech stuff easy to understand.

When you do this, your writing sounds more like you, and what you want to sound like.

Use these prompts to create the “bones” of an article, but then flesh it out and write the article with your own voice. Then use ChatGPT or AI to review it for

2. Choosing Your Writing Style: Friendly or Professional?

Think of writing style like a volume knob. On one end, you have very serious business writing. On the other end, you have fun, casual writing with lots of jokes. AI helps you pick the perfect spot between these two ends.

For example, let’s say you’re writing about computers. Want to make it fun and easy to understand? AI can do that. Need to make it serious for school? AI can do that too!

3. Writing for Different Places

Blogs, tweets, and formal letters all need different kinds of writing. AI works best when you tell it exactly what you want, like:

  • Blog Post: “Explain X using 800 words. Add headings and examples, and keep it fun.”
  • Tweet: “Tell people about X in 280 letters, and make it interesting.”
  • Email: “Write a nice, professional message for our readers.”

It’s like having a tool that can help you write anything!

Why AI Writing Works So Well

Let’s see why this helps you write better.

People Like It More

People who use AI to help them write get more clicks, shares, and comments. Why? Because writing that feels personal makes people want to read it. It’s also generally more thought out and organized.

Same Voice = More Trust

When your writing sounds the same (like your blog, social media, and emails), people trust you more. AI helps you keep everything sounding the same. You can use ChatGPT or Claude for instance, to review your writing using a strict set of rules to make sure it’s using your void

Real Examples

Let’s see how this works:

Making Hard Stuff Easy

Prompt:

Explain blockchain like you’re talking to a 10-year-old who loves YouTube.

What AI writes: “Imagine a digital notebook that everyone can see but no one can change without everyone saying it’s okay. That’s blockchain!”

Writing Good News

Prompt:

Write a LinkedIn post about our new product. Make it professional but exciting.

What AI writes: “We’re so happy to show you our newest creation — made to make your life easier and better. Stay tuned for what’s coming next!”

How to Start Using AI for Your Writing

Here’s what to do:

  1. Try Different Things: Start simple. Ask AI to write like your favorite blog.
  2. Test Different Styles: Write something two ways (serious and fun) and see which one people like better.
  3. Write for Different Places: Write a long blog post, then use AI to make it shorter for social media.

The more you practice, the better you’ll get at telling AI what you want!

Want to Write Better?

Writing doesn’t have to be hard. With AI helping you, you can make your writing sound just right and get people’s attention. Don’t have ChatGPT write articles for you, but rather use is as your editor, or co author. Have it review your writing for different styles and approaches.

What do you think? Want to try using AI to help you write? If you have questions — or want to share how it worked for you, feel free to start a thread in our community.

Good luck with your writing!

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Jeremy Morgan
Jeremy Morgan

Written by Jeremy Morgan

Silicon Forest Hacker / Developer. I talk about: Programming, DevOps, Generative AI, and much more. More stuff at JeremyMorgan.com

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