AI as a Writing Coach
Can it make a difference?
Love it or hate it, when it comes to AI, denial has no place. Artificial Intelligence is here to stay. On the one hand it risks becoming the thief of creativity; on the other it could be a partner for professional development.
Don’t get me wrong. My absolute non-negotiable is that writers are the masters of their craft and should remain so. I would never ask AI to write a creative piece on my behalf, nor use it to edit something I’ve already written. Why feed the algorithm with my work as fodder? But it does have its place as a tool, just like the dictionary, thesaurus and a host of other resources.
I’ve been involved in many discussions about the potential of AI, across the generations. On a scale, these range from ‘it’s my career co-pilot’ on the left to the totally dismissive ‘don’t go there’ on the right. When AI first came on my radar I was firmly in the latter camp; with its rapid development I’ve shifted left.
The co-pilot discussion was with my youngest son who uses it to upgrade his business communication. Sometimes he’ll draft an email that needs refinement in tone – his writing is pretty good and he rarely has problems drafting in the first place – and then he might ask ‘can you make this email less formal’, or vice versa. Within seconds he has a second draft that, with a couple of tweaks, is ready to go. Then he moves onto the next item on his ‘To Do’ list. He’d be the first to argue he is more productive as a result, not having spent ages agonising over a task that technology resolves in an instance.
For my own part, I recently had a short story published in print but when I received a final copy, it was full of errors. As you can imagine, my overarching joy tripped down a staircase of despair as I spotted each mistake, culminating with a full-on tumble to the basement when I realised the final paragraph was missing altogether. The ending didn’t make sense without it! In this instance a quick question to ChatGTP - is this an acceptable editorial trade-off for publication, if not, what are my next steps - brought an immediate response.
No, it is unacceptable. This is what you should do.
The advice led to prompt action, a rapid response, and restoration of my creative integrity. Plus, of course, I felt so much better about the whole incident than I would have done had it been left to fester.
Anyway, I’m about to step away from my online writing group for three months as time zone differences will make participation impossible. I’ve written before about the challenges of giving and receiving constructive feedback and recently I suggested we could consider a coaching approach. The response to this idea ranged from genuine curiosity to rejection, but I remain convinced it has a place. But it was difficult to articulate my argument in the moment and we moved on.
The seed was sown, though, for a question to ChatGTP: give me a list of coaching style comments for constructive feedback on writing. This is what came up with.
Here are examples of coaching-style feedback comments you can use or look for—notice they focus on reader experience, questions, and options rather than blunt judgment:
Clarity & Focus
“What do you want the reader to understand by the end of this section?”
“I’m a bit unsure what the main point of this paragraph is—can you sharpen the focus?”
“This idea feels important—would you consider bringing it forward or expanding it?”
Structure & Pacing
“My attention dipped slightly in the middle—what role do you want this section to play?”
“Where do you see the turning point of this piece?”
“Would tightening this section help maintain momentum, or is the slower pace intentional?”
Character & Detail
“I found myself curious about this character beyond what’s on the page—how much do you want us to know?”
“What’s the most important thing we should feel or understand about this person here?”
“Are there specific details that could make this character feel more distinct?”
Reader Experience
“At this point, I was expecting X—was that something you intended?”
“This moment made me pause—can you guide the reader more clearly through it?”
“What question do you want the reader to be asking right here?”
Tone & Voice
“The tone here shifts slightly—should it feel different from earlier sections?”
“This voice is strong—are there places where it could be more consistent?”
“How formal or informal do you want this to sound overall?”
Language & Style
“This sentence is doing a lot—would breaking it up make it clearer?”
“Are there places where more precise wording could sharpen the impact?”
“This phrasing is interesting—do you want it to stand out or blend in?”
Development & Depth
“This feels like a key idea—would you like to explore it further?”
“I’m left with questions here—do you want to answer them or leave them open?”
“What’s the takeaway you want the reader to leave with?”
Revision-Oriented Prompts
“If you had to cut 20% from this, what would you remove?”
“If you expanded one part, which would add the most value?”
“What’s the core of this piece, and is everything supporting it?”
There I have it. A strategy for self-coaching whilst I’m away from the group and perhaps one to develop when I return.
“Coaching is about unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching them”.
· Sir John Whitmore (2017)
More thoughts on giving and receiving feedback can be found here
This is very informative—thanks for sharing. My wife is a software engineer who works on AI tools for governments and NGOs. She convinced me to try AI for exactly what you described. This was a few months back, so the tools may have improved, but I found ChatGPT and Gemini to be dangerously overconfident. In fact, Gemini was a complete idiot. I found myself prompting it to "slow the F down and understand the task."
I was using it to generate the art, not the dialogue, for my "Bibi and Boob" project. I had to stop because it kept messing things up. So now I don't even bother with cartoon art. I just write my dialogue and present it like a short story.
I'll have to give it another try.