Like it or love it, dread it or bemoan it, the reality is there is nothing artificial about the impacts ai is already having on authors, artists, publishers, and pretty much any industry based around the power of data and ideas. Without debating its pros and cons, as publishers we at Reach remain focused on one crucial area: ensuring that the best possible version of your book goes to print.
While many aspiring authors use AI to help shape their work, it’s important to recognise that AI in itself cannot think. It does not have its own originality, and while it may come up with some clever solutions to tricky problems, it does so in a set style and voice which is both predictable and immediately recognisable. Use it a little, and it can help you out of a plot jam or show you what might be missing. Use it too much, and it will completely remove your voice, converting your original work into something that feels hollow and rehearsed—no matter how much you care about your subject, or how powerful your original draft.
To help make sure your AI co-writer doesn’t completely overtake your book, here are a few things to watch out for when checking its efforts:
Line breaks
Every time you hit the ‘Enter’ key, you create a line break. Line breaks separate paragraphs, switch between speakers in dialogue, and isolate lines for impact. You will see them everywhere in poetry, and of course when creating lists. These days, you will also see them in AI copy. AI uses a lot of line breaks when it writes. While this makes the copy easy to see and read on a screen, the “style” does not translate well into printed books.
Why not?
- First, it’s about reader comfort. Clear paragraphs keep ideas together, grouping concepts into clear, logical, forward-flowing sections. When AI overuses line breaks, the flow stutters. While isolating a line for emphasis here and there is of course fine, note that if everything is emphasised, nothing is emphasised. This can make the work fatiguing to read, and dims the impact of those moments which truly did need to stand out.
- Adding line breaks after almost every sentence creates an enormous amount of empty space in the final print version. Instead of needing just a few lines, a paragraph now takes up half a page! This can make the printed page look quite bare, or like it might be poetry (when it it’s not).
Tonal cadence
AI uses the exact same tone and cadence, whether it’s applied to a business manual or to a moving memoir. Here are some AI giveaways:
- The rule of three. AI will present three nouns or adjectives together. On the surface, this feels emotive and impactful, but the sameness of the beat quickly gets tiring. E.g. It was a new day. Fresh. Inviting. Alive.
- Contrast. AI will use negatives to frame a concept, contradicting a statement for emphasis. E.g. That’s not hope. That’s courage.
- Question and answer. AI will use prompts as questions to reframe or emphasise its point. E.g. And honestly? It’s inspiring.
On its own, these patterns may seem okay—you might even really like them. But be mindful that when your whole book reads this way, it’s a bit like playing a dance track on repeat. The same rhythm, the same beat, over and over again. Here’s an example of what AI looks like when it uses this template:
She began her new life nervous, but filled with hope. She was going to start fresh.
And honestly?
It was overdue.
She filled up the car and hit the road.
Focused.
Prepared.
Determined.
When picking up any tool, it’s important to figure out how it works best with your goals as the creator. Familiarising yourself with AI’s tics and blind spots will ensure that if you do employ it in your work, it won’t steal the heart and soul right out of your original story. After all, you’re the artist; your work comes from within. And try as it might, no AI can ever understand or capture the power of the soul.
