How I Write with Large Language Models (My Draft)
Back to the original:
OpenAI's ChatGPT 3.5 transformed my writing process when it came out. After years of experience using it, I've further refined my method of using LLMs. This post explains how.
ChatGPT 3.5 came out just over 2 years ago and kicked off a storm of Large Language Model (LLM) development. Dozens of companies released the own models and the state of the art advanced by the hour.
At the time, I wrote about how I used ChatGPT to write. My method was primitive. With years of experience and model advancements, I have refined how I use LLMs for editing text. Here is my new method.
Drafting
I write the first draft entirely by hand. I find this helps preserve my voice and keep the writing from being pulled too much by the LLM. It also achieves the main goal of why I write: to help clarify my thinking. But whereas I used to write, edit, write, edit, write, edit, etc. until I was close to 100% happy with my work, I now stop earlier and add in an LLM editing pass, because the thing I like the least about my early drafts—generally how my paragraphs flow from one to the next—is something LLMs are quite good at fixing. They are also great at fixing spelling and grammatical errors that less sophisticated programs miss.
The Prompt
The prompt you use with the LLM is important, as it defines how the model will edit your writing. The promp is what keeps the machine from completely filling my writing with “delve”, “showcasing”, and “underscores”. I use slight variations of this prompt currently:
Help me edit this blog post I’m writing. Fix errors, make it clearer. Reword to make the arguments and sentences more coherent. Use the same sort of words I’m using, don’t substitute fancy synonyms. Maintain my voice. My work is below. Keep the formatting and wrap your output in ```.
Editing
Once I have the LLM’s version, I put it side-by-side with mine to compare. In some cases, the edited version is great and I’ll take a paragraph wholesale. In others, I’ll take some ideas about how to structure a paragraph or a transition but rewrite it. Other times the LLM tries to fix what isn’t broken and I ignore it.
After that I go through and do another human editing pass, just to make sure my voice comes through in each sentence. Sometimes I’ll go through another full pass with the LLM, but more often I’ll have it focus on specific sentences or paragraphs that I still don’t like. Once I’m happy, I commit my changes and publish.