Audit Five Things You've Written

You already have a writing voice. You've just never had to describe it. This lesson is a short, structured look at five things you wrote yourself, so you can see your habits clearly. Everything else in this module builds on what you find here.

Pick your five pieces

Choose five pieces you wrote without AI help, ideally from the last few years. Mix them up:

• Two pieces of the kind of writing you'll most often use AI for, like work emails or blog posts
• One piece you're proud of
• One casual piece, like a long message or a social post
• One piece written quickly, under pressure

The quick one matters. When you write fast, your natural habits show through. When you're careful, you sometimes write like who you think you should be.

What to count

Go through each piece with a pen or a highlighter and note the following. You can paste each one into the AI detector to get some of these numbers fast.

Look for patterns, not rules

Once you've marked all five, lay them side by side. You're looking for what stays the same across pieces, because that's your voice. What changes between them is just you adapting to different readers.

Write down what you find in plain sentences, like these:

I start emails with the request, never with "Hope you're well".
My sentences are short, around 12 words, but I'll do one long rambling one when I'm excited.
I use parentheses a lot (probably too much).
I say "honestly" and "to be fair" all the time.
I almost never use exclamation marks at work, but I use them constantly with friends.

Expect a surprise or two

Most people find at least one habit they didn't know about, like an overused word or a sign-off they use in every single email. Some habits are worth keeping because they're part of what makes you sound like you. Others you might want to drop. That's your call. The point of the audit is to make the choice on purpose.