I was a Gotham Writers student for a month. The fun thing about Gotham Writers is that there’s a strict “no AI use” policy at the very opening of your virtual classroom. In fact, you very much do have to tick the “I will not use AI” box at the start. I found it quite fun, but surprisingly tempting as I proceeded with the course. 

I’ve used AI in one of two ways previously:

• To help me edit (basic grammar, punctuation, and such)
• To give me feedback on ideas (general, but they still help as a second opinion)

Some would say my reliance on it is minimal, but even here, I decided to stick to my promise and avoid using AI for any purpose with this non-fiction class. 

I used to find it very difficult not to use AI when writing in the comforts of my home. Gemini and I had become best friends at one point. Sometimes, I would ask it how it’s doing, and it would bounce it back to me to answer (just to make sure we were on the same page). And so my days went, in a melodic rhythm, hand in hand with Gemini. The thing about AI is that your usage of it doesn’t stop at grammar and feedback. You inevitably venture into a codependent state — writing without it made me feel bereft of my personal virtual assistant. 

The thing I discovered two weeks into my Gotham Writers course (and two weeks into my AI withdrawal) is that in relying on Gemini and the like, I have robbed myself of some key core skills. I’ve forgotten where to punctuate and how, and had to ask two different people for their opinion before I felt confident in my pieces. That is no way of living, and no way to become a better writer. 

In producing essays, memoir stories, and articles, I realized I do not need AI in my writing life. Writing is to be lived, experienced, and celebrated for the imperfections and messy first drafts. If you really have to, work with a real editor for your work. Otherwise, close those tabs and commit to not using AI for writing. 

Everything has to have intention. And it usually starts with you and a blank screen. As I stare at this blank screen, I see a hovering Gemini icon, and it is so difficult to not click on it. Today, using AI is force fed to us through work, corporations, and faceless entities that broadcast how great it is in day to day life. When it comes to writing though, I beg to differ. 

Pursuing writing today means that you are on your own. And that’s okay.

The best judge of our writing is not a blank screen, but a blank piece of paper. I find that I revert back to how things should be and practice my writing in a notebook with my favorite fountain pens. A part of me feels that that is right, even if the writings will never see the light of day or have any editor meticulously go through it. The writing is mine.

I can write, cross out, rewrite. I can sketch on paper, lose thoughts, emotions, notes on the margins. And I think that’s beautiful. Here, on page, I discovered that I can be the writer I’ve always aspired to be. But on my terms, and in a time-space reality that can’t be replicated on a computer. Please mind that I do transfer my more laborious pieces to a screen, but that’s secondary and a necessary step to working with text post-first draft.

Writing as a whole is very introspective – whether you’re writing fiction or non fiction. Digging deeper into yourself, finding the words for your thoughts, memories, feelings – that is impossible to replicate with tools available to us today. Sadly, even the publishing world has partially resorted to accepting AI work. When this becomes the norm, we’re in trouble because it cheapens writing. No AI tool to date has written anything close to the masterpieces by humans that we see on bookshelves and in the works.

You would think us writers get disheartened, but it’s quite the opposite. My experience with Gotham Writers showed me there is a different way, a better one to approach writing.

It all started with that ticked box, a promise to not use AI.

I tried something new. I worked with an editor for minor edits and wrote my heart out, focusing on my craft. The feedback wasn’t always “great job” and neither should it be, but I did get useful insights out of honest feedback. 

The great thing is that most of the critique came after the ideas, concepts, and structure. It helped me rework pieces to be publishable. There’s a lot to work on, as most writing goes. But I took that train and never looked back. 

As I write this, I’m deeply saddened by the pace of AI and how invasive it is in everyday life. Namely, how some corporations enforce AI and almost force-feed it to you as “progress” and “innovation.” In reality, it’s likely just another bubble that’ll burst. 

The saddest part at work is that I have to stand on the sidelines as good writers struggle finding any creative work to do anymore. What’s left to them is AI garbage to clean up in order for corporations to scale, move faster, and deliver on their fictional “key results.” The people though, the ones that do “the work,” end up being the ones most affected by the great contemporary scam. 

And you may have gotten this far thinking I’m going off on a tangent, but that is the reality of letting AI into our lives — both personal and professional. 

That’s also the reality of letting AI in on your creative writing. Once you start, you’re hooked. And before you know it, you’re reliant and forgetting your core skills. I encourage any writer to completely ignore the existence of Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, and the like for the purpose of writing, editing, and proofreading.  

Write because you want to! Write for the joy of it. Write like your life depends on expressing yourself with every word. Finally, write with heart and soul. Nothing beats truth, even your personal one. 

For this reason, when I’m tempted to get a second opinion from a tab I can open in 1 second, I opt out to writing to my editor instead, to bother him just this once for a piece I really believe in.

AI may be “quick,” but you’ll eventually find that the process of writing is what makes you a better writer. So write by hand, write from the heart, type it away— but make mistakes.

You’ll be a better writer for it.