Quick check
Guess first, no penalty. You write in short, direct sentences. You ask AI to "polish" your draft. What usually happens?
Your voice is how your writing sounds: the words you pick, how long your sentences run, and what you'd never say. It's the reason readers come back to you instead of anyone else.
Ask a tool to "improve" or "polish" and it tends to reach for long sentences, empty openers and words you don't use. The fix is a voice sheet: a few lines that tell the tool exactly what to keep.
A voice sheet that protects your style
My voice: short sentences, plain words, one idea per paragraph.
Keep: my sentence lengths, my word choices, any line in quotes.
Never add: "at the end of the day", "it's no secret", "let's dive in".
Task: fix only typos and grammar. List every change you made.The last line matters most. A list of changes lets you undo any edit that sounds like the tool instead of you.
Fill the gaps
Fill the gaps so the edit keeps your voice.
Voice sheet
My voice: . Never add: . Task: .
Then read the edited piece out loud once. Wherever you stumble, the tool probably changed your voice. Fix that line yourself.
Try it
Your steps, about 2 minutes
- 1.Write a four-line voice sheet for your own writing, with three phrases you never use. Add it to your writer's AI kit.2 min