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A week of writing everything with a model beside me.

Seven days, every email and document drafted with help. What got faster, what got worse, and the one thing I will keep doing.

SOSam OkaforHead of communications

12 Aug 20265 min read

I write for a living, so I was sceptical. For one week I drafted everything, from two-line replies to a ten-page briefing, with a model open next to me.

01What got faster

Starting. The blank page problem disappeared. Even when the first draft was poor, having something to react to got me moving.

02What got worse

Voice. By Wednesday a colleague asked if I was feeling alright, because my emails had gone strangely formal. Models default to a register that is polite and slightly dead. I had to edit that out every time.

It made me faster at starting and slower at sounding like myself.

03What I will keep

Using it to critique, not to write. Pasting my own draft and asking what is unclear turned out to be the most useful thing I did all week.

Try this on Monday.

Write something yourself first. Then paste it in and ask only: what would a reader misunderstand here?

SOSam OkaforHead of communications

NextThe difference between knowing about something and knowing it.

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