You've tried everything to get ChatGPT to imitate your unique writing voice. You've fed it samples of your work, asked it to analyze your style, and prompted it to generate new content just like you'd write it. But no matter what you do, the results always come back sounding like...well, like ChatGPT wrote them. The overly formal phrasing, the repetitive sentence structures, the lack of personality - it's just so predictable and robotic. There's no spark, no surprises that make for an engaging read in your own authentic voice.
It's incredibly frustrating, because you know your writing style is what helps you connect with your audience. The way you string words together, your carefully chosen vocabulary, your clever turns of phrase - that's your secret sauce that draws people in and keeps them hooked. But ChatGPT seems to strip all that flavor out, flattening everything into a bland, generic tone. You want the AI to capture the finer nuances - the rhythm, the pacing, the narrative flow that makes your writing distinctly yours. But no matter how many examples you provide, ChatGPT just can't seem to nail that elusive je ne sais quoi.
What if I told you there's a way to create a custom AI assistant that captures your unique writing voice down to the finest nuances? By providing the right training data and prompts, you can essentially teach an AI language model to decode the distinct stylistic elements that make your writing yours - from diction and syntax to tone, pacing, and use of literary devices. With a deep understanding of your personal "writing DNA", the AI can then synthesize new content in an authentic imitation of your creative style.
What if I told you there's a way to essentially create your own "custom" version of ChatGPT that does speak in your voice? By providing the right prompts and training data, you can fine-tune the language model to study your writing patterns at a granular level - analyzing elements like sentence structure, figurative language, pronoun usage, and more. With that deep understanding of your stylistic fingerprint, the AI can then synthesize new content that authentically mimics your tone, cadence, and creative flair.
To show you what's possible, you can see how we use content of this guide to recreate the writing style of Leo Babauta, the author behind the popular blog Zen Habits.
Specifically, we will write a blog post "Ritual to Greet the Day" using his writing style. You can see how the output of a "raw" ChatGPT vs another with a custom writing style prompt differ below:
See how that sample captures Leo's conversational tone, use of rhetorical questions, short punchy sentences, and personal vulnerability through descriptive stories?
That's the power of being able to create custom AI assistants that can mimic any writing voice.
Excited to start?
Here's how you can teach AI models like ChatGPT to speak in your own authentic style:
Step 1: Select Sample Writing that Defines Your Writing Style
To effectively capture your unique writing voice, we need to provide the AI training data that represents your full range as a writer. This means curating a diverse sample set of your published work across different genres, topics, lengths, and contexts.
The larger and more varied your sample is, the better the AI can analyze and decode all the nuances that make your writing distinctly yours. It needs to study examples of you writing in different styles, tones, and voices in order to identify the core patterns.
For this example, let's use 5-6 articles from Leo Babauta's website Zen Habits. Try to pick a range of pieces that illustrate his versatility - from shorter tips posts to longer personal essays. The goal is to give the AI a complete picture of his writing repertoire.
Some example Zen Habits articles to potentially include:
"Building Trust in Yourself"
"The Possibility of Slowing Down"
"The Chaos & Abundance of Spring"
"Honoring Your Word to Yourself"
"How to Break Dependence on the Phone"
"Slow Down to Fall in Love Again"
When curating your own sample, think about including examples that represent different:
Topics and subjects you cover
Typical writing styles (instructional, narrative, persuasive, etc.)
Tones and voices you employ (casual, formal, humorous, reflective, etc.)
Genres and formats (blog posts, essays, scripts, poetry, etc.)
Lengths and writing scopes
The more comprehensively your sample covers your full range as a writer, the better the AI can internalize and recreate your authentic voice.
Keep these writing samples in a text file, we will revisit them shortly.
Step 2: Analyse Samples for Key Stylistic Elements
Now that we have a solid sample of your writing to work with, the next step is to analyze and deconstruct the specific stylistic elements and techniques that define your unique voice as an author.
We'll feed the AI all of the writing samples together, and ask it to study the content in-depth to identify distinctive patterns in areas such as:
Tone
What is the overall tone you tend to strike? Casual/conversational, formal, humorous, reflective, etc.?
How does your tone shift between different contexts?
Diction (Word Choice)
What is your typical vocabulary level and language style? Simple or scholarly? Descriptive or concise?
Do you frequently use idioms, slang, jargon or invented words?
Sentence Structure
What are the characteristics of your sentence construction? Long and winding or short and punchy? Straightforward or laden with subclauses?
How do you use punctuation and pacing?
Point of View
What vantage point do you write from? First, second or third-person? Singular or plural?
How often do you directly address the reader?
Use of Imagery and Description
How vivid and immersive are your descriptions and sense of scenery?
What types of imagery, metaphors and analogies do you frequently employ?
We'll also want it to analyze other literary elements like your use of anecdotes, internal dialogue, rhetorical devices, humor, and more.
To prompt this analysis, we can use something like:
Given the following sample text, please analyze and identify the author's distinctive stylistic elements in terms of tone, diction, sentence structure, burstiness, point of view, pace, literary devices and techniques, mood, and perspective on time. Print them in a bullet list.
<text>
article-1-here
</text>
<text>
article-2-here
</text>
<text>
article-3-here
</text>
<text>
article-4-here
</text>The AI will then break down and outline all of the key stylistic patterns and signatures it detects across your full writing sample.
This stylistic "fingerprint" will form the core foundation we use to then teach the AI how to authentically recreate your voice in its own writing.
Here's what a sample analysis looks like from the prompt with selected article:
Based on the sample texts provided, the author's distinctive stylistic elements can be identified as follows:
Tone: Encouraging, uplifting, and reflective. The author maintains a hopeful and positive tone, aiming to inspire and motivate the reader toward self-improvement and a deeper understanding of self.
Diction: Simple, clear, and direct. The author uses accessible language that speaks to a wide audience, avoiding overly complex vocabulary to ensure the message is easily understood.
Sentence Structure: Varied. The author uses both short, impactful sentences for emphasis and longer, more explanatory sentences when discussing concepts in depth.
Point of View: First and second person. The use of "I" and "we" establishes a connection with the reader, creating a sense of shared experience, while addressing the reader directly with "you" for a more personal and engaging discourse.
Pace: Thoughtful and measured. The pace allows the reader time to reflect on the concepts presented, with spacing between ideas for clarity and emphasis.
Literary Devices and Techniques: Use of examples, analogies, and personal invitations. The author frequently employs relatable examples to illustrate points, analogies to make abstract concepts more tangible, and direct invitations to the reader to join in practices or thoughts, increasing engagement and personal connection to the material.
Step 3: Extract Writing Samples that Showcase the Unique Style
Once we have a clear analysis of the key stylistic elements that define your writing voice, the next step is to extract some longer sample passages that exemplify those stylistic qualities in action.
These sample excerpts will serve two purposes:
They provide more context around how you employ those stylistic elements cohesively within longer-form writing. This allows the AI to better understand how to stitch together sentences and paragraphs that flow in your distinctive voice.
We can use these sample excerpts as reference examples when crafting the custom prompt to teach the AI how to mimic your style.
To select the excerpts, we'll ask the AI:
Now i need you to identify 5 segment of the text provided that captures the unique writing style of this author. Each segment can be up to 400 words verbatim and span multiple paragraph. Choose a good chunk of the text so that it can be understood in context
After each segment add a short commentary on why it's chosen. wrap each segment with a example tag, ie:
<example>
segment
</example>
commentary
<example>
segment
</example>
commentaryThe AI will then pull out 5 longer excerpts of around 300-400 words each that showcase your stylistic voice and the elements identified in the previous analysis. It will wrap each excerpt in <example> tags and provide a brief explanation for why that particular passage encapsulates your style so well.
Here's an example of what those extracted excerpts with commentary could look like for Leo Babauta's writing style:
<example>
## Become Quiet So You Can Listen
> “The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.”
There’s rarely a moment in the day when most of us stop moving and stop the noise. For most of us, we’re working, we’re moving, we’re driving, we’re listening to things on our headphones, we’re watching things, we’re filling up the little spaces by checking our phones.
This isn’t wrong — it’s a very human tendency to want to be busy, productive, filling every space with something useful or entertaining.
But what if we could let ourselves become quiet?
</example>
This segment is chosen for its demonstration of the author's skillful use of a balance between reflective queries and authoritative suggestions, coaxing the reader towards self-exploration without commanding or dictating expected behaviors. It shows how the author introduces broad, universally relatable experiences and then guides the reader to a deeper personal question, indicative of their overall style which blends philosophical musings with practical self-help advice.
<example>
### **What’s Possible with Full Trust**
If we fully trust ourselves, life becomes so much easier. We can step into the unknown, out of our comfort zone, take risks, and act with confidence. We can ask for what we want, and trust that it’s OK to want something. We can choose from the heart, and trust the heart’s desire.
</example>
This segment highlights the author's optimistic and encouraging tone, another distinguishing feature of their style. By focusing on the positive outcomes of self-trust, the author directly engages the reader’s aspirations and potentials, steering them towards a more fulfilling life. The use of imperative and affirmative statements imbues the reader with a sense of possibility and empowerment, making the author's style not only distinctive but also motivational.
...and so on.With these annotated excerpts in hand, we now have a clear reference for how to instruct the AI to recreate the nuances of your writing style when generating new content.
We will now put them together into a writing style prompt in the next step.
Step 4: Construct Initial Prompt to Write in the Target Style
Now that we have:
A detailed analysis of the key stylistic elements (from Step 2)
Annotated excerpts showcasing those elements in practice (from Step 3)
We can construct the initial custom prompt to instruct the AI how to authentically recreate your unique writing voice.
The prompt will combine the stylistic analysis and example excerpts into a set of instructions for the AI to follow. We'll essentially be giving it your "writing DNA" and telling it to use that blueprint to mimic your style in its own output.
Here's what that initial prompt might look like for mimicking the author:
I need you to mimic the writing style of an author. Write with the following stylistic elements and use the examples provided to understand to apply the style.
## Stylistic Elements
- **Tone**: The author's tone across the texts is consistently reflective, encouraging, and instructive. The tone conveys a sense of calm and thoughtful consideration, aiming to inspire the reader towards personal growth and self-improvement.
- **Diction**: The choice of words is simple, accessible, and direct. The author avoids jargon, making the content relatable to a broad audience. The language is positive, focusing on potential growth and the benefits of the practices being discussed.
...and the rest of the stylistic elements
## Examples
<example>
Excerpt 1 here
</example>
<example>
Excerpt 2 here
</example>
(Continue with all 5 excerpts)With this detailed prompt combining the stylistic guidelines and real excerpt references, we are essentially providing the AI a very specific, annotated "how-to" guide for recreating the author's authentic voice.
We can then give it the title "Ritual to Greet the Day" and have it generate a full blog post mimicking his writing patterns, tone, diction, and use of literary devices.
To stitch the writing style and the prompt to write the blog post, simply append the following and fire away:
Now, using this style, write a blog post titled: "Ritual to Greet the Day"Step 5: Compare Generated Output to Original and Highlight Differences
With the initial custom style prompt, the AI will generate a first draft blog post titled "Ritual to Greet the Day" in an attempt to mimic the author's distinctive writing voice.
Our next step is to take that AI-generated draft and compare it side-by-side with an actual example of Leo's writing from the original sample set we provided.
The goal is to identify any areas where the AI's stylistic imitation falls short or differs from the author's authentic voice. We'll analyze the two pieces and make note of specific gaps.
To facilitate this comparison, we can continue on the same conversation with a prompt like:
Compare that with the following text and highlight key differences in stylistic elements:
[Insert reference article here]The AI will then analyze the two pieces and provide a detailed breakdown of how its initial attempt to mimic the author's style was successful in some areas, but potentially missed the mark in others.
For example, it may note that the original piece may "employs a more direct and slightly didactic tone" and "poses direct questions to the reader, encouraging them to think deeply about their current practices and the potential benefits...".
This highlights the areas we need to refine in the custom style prompt to bring the AI output into closer alignment with the original voice.
Here's an snippet of what that analysis might look like:
Sentence Structure
The first text favors a mix of short and moderately complex sentences, creating a balanced flow that is easy for readers to follow. It offers a smooth reading experience punctuated by moments of deeper reflection.
The second text employs a variety of sentence structures but leans more toward complex sentences that pack multiple suggestions or ideas, reflecting a denser, more idea-rich approach.
Pace and Literary Devices
The first text offers a measured pace, purposely mirroring the ritual’s aim of slowing down and grounding oneself in mindfulness. It uses analogies and descriptive language to paint vivid pictures and make abstract concepts tangible.
The second text moves at a brisker pace, packed with questions, suggestions, and examples. It employs direct address and rhetorical questions extensively as literary devices to engage the reader's reflective and creative thinking.
With this side-by-side comparison, we now have a clear set of notes on how to update the original style prompt to improve the AI's ability to recreate the authentic nuances of the target writing voice.
We can now proceed to using these notes to refine the prompt in the next step.
Step 6: Refine Prompt to Close Stylistic Gaps
Armed with the detailed analysis comparing the AI's initial stylistic attempt to the original source material, we can now refine and improve the custom style prompt.
The goal of this step is to update the instructions and examples in the prompt to directly address the areas where the AI's output diverged from the authentic voice we're trying to mimic.
We'll essentially be giving the AI specific notes and tweaks to correct any tonal, linguistic, or literary device misses from the first round.
For example, if the analysis noted that the author's piece "employs a more direct and slightly didactic tone. It poses direct questions to the reader, encouraging them to think deeply about their current practices and the potential benefits of a morning ritual.", we make the following update to the section on Tone:
- **Tone**: The author's tone ... and self-improvement. Employ a more direct and slightly didactic tone. Poses direct questions to the reader and encourage them to think deeply about their current practices.Or if it commented on the Content And Approach that the author "offers a broader array of suggestions and encourages a highly personalized approach to ritual creation. It emphasizes trial, iteration, and incorporating elements that might traditionally be considered outside the reader's norm, thus advocating for creative exploration.", we may add a new section:
- **Content and Approach**: Offer a broader array of suggestions and encourages a highly personalized approach. Emphasize trial, iteration, and incorporating elements that might traditionally be considered outside the reader's norm, thus advocating for creative exploration.By surgically updating the prompt instructions and examples to provide this level of granular refinement, we give the AI much clearer guidance on how to adjust its output to align with the original voice.
We can rebuild the full prompt with these tweaks, and then have the AI generate a new draft of "Ritual to Greet the Day" using the refined instructions.
If this second attempt gets us closer to the target, we can repeat this analysis and refinement process once more for even tighter stylistic accuracy.
At this point, ChatGPT should be able to mimic a large part of the author's writing style. Here's two sample text that was written by ChatGPT and you can compare it with the reference blog post by the author:
ChatGPT output is non-deterministic so you may want to generate a few articles to get an idea of how the writing style prompt is performing. In the example above, you can see that the same prompt yield vastly different output which have their own unique content structure too!
Step 7: Repeat Generation > Comparison > Refinement
With the custom style prompt refined based on the feedback from the initial comparison, we now have the AI generate a new draft of the "Ritual to Greet the Day" blog post following the updated instructions.
We can evaluate the performance of the current prompt and choose to repeat the process of:
Comparing this new draft side-by-side with Leo Babauta's original writing sample
Analyzing where the stylistic elements are still diverging
Using those observations to make further refinements to the prompt
This iterative cycle allows us to slowly but surely close the gaps between the AI's imitation and the authentic voice we're trying to recreate.
Each round of comparison > refinement > new generation should see the AI output's stylistic accuracy improving as the custom prompt gets dialed in with more and more specificity.
With these extra layers of refinement, the AI's stylistic mimicry should improve even further with the next generated draft.
The key is persistently identifying the remaining gaps through side-by-side analysis, and then providing the AI with ultra-specific adjustments to the prompt to close those gaps.
A word of caution is to not overdo this step which can cause the writing style to "overfit" into the writing style of a single article. This will greatly limit the creativity of ChatGPT and results in poor reusability of the prompt for other subjects.
Step 8: Save Refined Prompt for Future Use
After going through multiple iterations of the generation > comparison > refinement cycle, you should eventually reach a point where the AI's output is producing stylistically accurate writing that convincingly mimics the voice of the author.
At this stage, we have a custom style prompt that has been meticulously refined and tailored to provide the AI with extremely granular, precise instructions for how to recreate all of the nuances that make up the authors distinctive writing patterns.
This final, refined prompt is now a powerful tool you can save and re-use any time you need the AI to generate new content in that same authentic voice and style.
There are a few different ways you can save and manage these custom style prompts for easy access:
Option 1: Save in a Notion Database
If you use Notion for writing, create a new database just for housing your custom AI writing style prompts. Each prompt gets a separate entry with the name of the style (e.g. "Leo Babauta - Zen Habits"). In the entry, you can paste the full prompt text into a code or text block for easy reference.
Option 2: Use Wielded's "Persona" Feature
Wielded is an AI writing assistant that allows you to create and save custom "Persona" prompts. You can load the refined Leo Babauta prompt into a new Persona, give it a name, and then seamlessly switch over to that persona when you want the AI to write in that defined style.
Option 3: Save as a TextBlaze Snippet
Tools like TextBlaze allow you to save text snippets and give them short code abbreviations. You can save your final Leo Babauta prompt as a snippet, assign it a code like "lbstyle", and then quickly expand that snippet using the abbreviation any time you need it in a text editor.
Option 4: Save as a Downloadable Text File
The simplest option is just to copy/paste your refined prompt into a text editor and save it as a .txt file you can easily reference and copy/paste from as needed.
No matter which option you choose, the key is to save and make this custom stylistic prompt accessible. That way, you can effortlessly have the AI jump into Leo Babauta's voice whenever you need to generate blogs, scripts, emails, or any other writing while maintaining his signature tone, language, and literary techniques.
With this final refined prompt at your fingertips, you essentially have an AI writing assistant that can channel your favorite author's voice at will. Pretty cool, right?
Conclusion
Whether you're a writer looking to have an AI assistant that can capture your authentic voice, or you simply want to be able to generate content in the style of your favorite authors, the process we've covered allows you to create powerful custom style prompts for AI language models. By providing the right training data, analysis, and iterative refinement, you can essentially teach the AI to decode and recreate nuanced writing patterns down to the smallest stylistic details.
To recap what we learned: First, you curate a sample of writing that exemplifies the style you want to mimic. The AI then analyzes that sample to identify the core stylistic elements like tone, diction, sentence structure and more. You extract longer text examples that showcase how those elements come together cohesively.
From there, you build an initial custom prompt instructing the AI how to recreate that style using the analysis and examples as a blueprint. The AI generates an initial draft attempt, which you compare side-by-side to the original writing to highlight areas of divergence. You refine the prompt with specific adjustments to improve accuracy, and repeat that cycle of generation > comparison > refinement until you achieve satisfactory stylistic mimicry.
The end result is a custom, reusable prompt that gives you an AI writing partner capable of generating new content with your distinct voice and literary qualities. You can save and manage these prompts in tools like Notion databases, Wielded's Persona feature, text expanders, or simple text files.
To see this process in action, here are examples walking through the key steps:
Analyzing a writing sample and extracting stylistic snippets
Generating an initial draft post and comparing it to the original style
Of course, stylistic mimicry is just the start. If you are looking to truly master AI for content creation, you need skills like audience research, strategic planning, prompt engineering, content distribution across platforms, and efficient AI workflow design.
That's why I created the AI Content Mastery course - to equip you with the full suite of capabilities for AI-powered content marketing that resonates and delivers results.
Enroll now at https://wielded.com/ai-content-mastery-course.
