How To Teach AI To Write Like You

Recently, I launched an AI app that can read and write stories like me.

But there was one problem:

I had to teach it how to think like me first.

Here’s how I did it.

First, I created a new skill in Claude. (you can also do this in ChatGPT)

I called it Myth Sandwich.

My first prompt was:

“Create a new skill for me called Myth Sandwich that will read a story, give feedback, and rewrite it using a set of rules. I will provide and update the rules over time.”

Then I added my rules:

“Add the following rules to Myth Sandwich skill: [list your rules here]”

So what rules did I create?

That’s the fun part.

This process forced me to break down, at the most granular level, exactly how I do what I do.

The first few rules were easy:

The story must be 500 words or less.
It must be written at a 7th-grade reading level.
It must have a myth and a truth.
The story must contradict the myth.
It must have a clear lesson.
And so on…

I added about 20 basic rules like this.

Then I asked Claude:

“Use Myth Sandwich to rewrite the following story:”

After Claude rewrote it, I would read the story and look for what was missing, then create another rule.

For example, one of my rules was:

“The story should feel vulnerable.”

Sounds simple, right?

Claude didn’t really understand what I meant.

It just kept writing sob stories.

So I had to break down what vulnerable actually meant to me:

1. It must be something most people feel but rarely say.
2. It must show the flaw of the main character.
3. The character should go from victim → realizing they’re the villain in someone else’s story → taking responsibility and becoming the hero.

Now Claude had something it could actually understand.

Another example:

Claude kept writing stories that were too predictable.

So I created another rule:

1. The beginning should agree with the myth.
2. There should be a surprise twist after the halfway point.
3. The twist should contradict the myth.

Over time, I kept adding rules.

And it kept getting better.

But the best part wasn’t actually the AI.

It was learning how I think.

This process forced me to break down exactly what my brain does when I write.

Here’s an example of a conversation I had with Claude while trying to figure out one of my writing patterns:

After this conversation, I realized I do this ALL THE TIME.

I call it “Redefine & Reframe.”

Basically, I take a word that normally wouldn’t be used in a certain situation and creatively redefine it so I can compare two completely different ideas.

For example:

I’m an expert at marketing.
Not an expert at being you.

“Expert” normally means someone who’s highly skilled at something.

But I’m using the word in a completely different context:

being you.

And somehow… it still makes sense.

So I had to turn that into a rule too.

Rules for Redefine & Reframe:

Compare or contrast two different sentences by forcing the use of the same word, even if that word has to be creatively redefined.

Start with a familiar definition.

For example:

Expert = someone highly skilled at something.

Then put that word into a context people don’t normally associate it with:

Expert at being you.

The new meaning still has to make sense to most people.

For example:

“I’m an expert at marketing.
Not an expert at being you.”

And that’s basically how I taught AI to write like me.

Not by telling it:

“Write like Sun Yi.”

But by figuring out what Sun Yi actually does when he writes.

If you want to learn storytelling from me, join my community, Night Owl Nation.