The Ultimate Guide to Writing Online Without AI During the AI Invasion

When I began writing, I was obviously terrible.

I always carried an extra notebook in school, lamely titled “My Own Literature” and wrote quite a bunch of half-baked, stupid ideas that didn’t come with anything. The meat in those words were scattered, at times, even missing the meat at all. No structure, no power, no meaning. I was just a young boy trying to write because I couldn’t control myself every time I read.

And that’s something I have carried with me even today–a writer is someone who cannot control themselves after reading.

The problem with that is echo writing: meaning while writing, I echo whatever I read, the same themes, the same storyline, the same ideas. And that can be quite fulfilling at the time. But it can keep you away from the real purpose you write.

Today, with AI hyper-actively producing so much of writing that we see online, questioning great writers about their authenticity, that compartment of writing, or echo writing has become more evident, more alive and the most saturated than writing has ever been.

But what many analysts, experts, great theorists and AI-enthusiasts and critics alike will fail to tell you, and with their reason to keep the idea boxed and hidden, is that the number 1 thing writing today misses is context.

Why Is Writing Rigged With AI?

I’m not defending myself when I say that I am definitely never against AI. I’m a Personal Branding Strategist & Thought Leadership Expert–a very tiny branch of marketing as a broader concept. And I proudly express my ideas about AI, using it, elevating its causes and leveraging it to more than amplify your work. I’ve gone as far as even creating a post where I speak about how AI can turn into your business partner (literally) if it’s integrated and not simply adapted into your workflow and business.

But we’re not here to talk about that, are we?

You can just as easily ask AI to throw in some storytelling elements into your content, and ask it to elevate it with language, personalize it, and have your message your way. The point is the simplicity. Not of the writing itself–necessarily–but of the creation. It cuts time, in a way that it can give you time, not save it. That’s quite the most important part.

And we’ve seen this playout since earlier this year–Social Media has audiences complaining about lower reach, slower followers growth, a dip in engagement rates. And it is likely, and I believe so with my Sherlock Holmes-spy eyes, to do with the slop of content that AI has managed to produce.

Until last year at least, you could say that consistent posting could get you desired growth. And while that still may be true, that statement can remain fragmented in its meaning of where the entire world is driving today.

There is less context in what you have to say, less time to give that context, and less engagement with newer audiences because we’ve less context to give them to trust us and care about us.

I’ll dare to take a quote from Arundhati Roy’s novel, The God Of Small Things, “That's what careless words do. They make people love you a little less."

How To Help People Know You, And What You Do

When I was in the seventh grade, we were sitting in the examination hall. I was solving some algebraic expressions, pretty simple for me back then. What I always struggled with back then (admittingly even today) is multiplication and division. Some people are gifted with it. I, obviously, am not.

I raised my hand and let the supervisor know that I needed an extra supplementary sheet to solve a few problems. Once I had the sheet, I became this crazy person, writing sums and what not, doing mini calculations and solving my answer sheet faster than anyone in that classroom.

The key learning from that was writing down the smaller aspects, the smaller things that were too much for my brain to process helped me solve the bigger problems. That by taking extra notes, I was freeing space in my mind. To refer to it when needed to actually eradicate and prove larger concepts.

I attached the rough work supplement at the very end of the answer sheet and submitted it to the supervisor. The point of attaching the rough work where I did rough calculations was to show that I had, indeed, solved the problems myself, without a calculator. (Context).

What context does here, not just in writing but in any subcontext, is that it shows proof, and more than that, it shows the roots of the problems you’ve solved or are choosing to solve. It captures the entire journey of your problem-solving. And gives the accurate idea of how, and maybe more importantly, the why behind solving the problem.

Problems, more than anything, connect with people. I once heard a writer saying, “It’s easier to write about sad people.” Why?

Distress, more than happiness, has some sort of power to directly bind humans with real understanding and connections. I don’t know how, personally. And that’s because it’s not my problem to solve.

And hence, showing the problem that humans face, and then finding an answer to that problem, showing the how and why, builds that binding effect through the right emotions. Which is why we say in marketing, and emphasize that transformations, not benefits or outcomes help you sell.

How To Connect With People Online

All you need to do is start with documenting everything: take notes. Mention your ideas, your thoughts, your processes. Put as many things down as possible. Let them be scattered, chaotic. It doesn’t matter. The point is you need to make sure you’re writing down every little element of your journey.

Next, keep a compilation. An Indian author Kiran Desai recently published her novel she took almost twenty years writing. The book is more than 750 pages long. And in the twenty years she took to write it, she’d collected at least five thousand printed pages worth of notes, stories, anecdotes she’d taken down during the period. Before she even began having the seed of the novel ready.

That book? Is nominated for the Oscars of fiction today (Booker Prize).

It’s not just the work, not just the story, not just the great writing or the author, but the backstory of how it happened to be. To be epic, you don’t need to do epic things, you need to do smaller things that create the epicity of it.

Your journey, not the process, is what makes it epic.

And to write, to build that context, you need to do these smaller things like taking notes, understanding and living your life in general. And talk about it, clearly.

Because the journey, the little obstacles and the emotions that lead to the solutions are what connect and matter. That's what creates the context of your story, your post, your content, and the seed to connect with people.

You are allowed to write terribly, gorgeously, no matter, until and unless you’re willing to grow, and are willing to showcase your growth as a person.

Because growth is your biggest context.

FAQs

1. What are the main differences between writing with and without AI online?
Writing without AI preserves genuine voice, context, and personal storytelling, whereas AI-generated content tends to lack emotional nuance and deep originality, making it less memorable in saturated digital spaces.​

2. Why does context matter more than ever in today’s AI-driven content environment?
Context demonstrates the roots, reasoning, and journey behind a writer’s ideas, building trust and deeper audience connection at a level that repetitive or formulaic AI content rarely achieves.​

3. How can writers avoid “echo writing” in the age of AI?
Document new experiences, use personal anecdotes, and reflect on individual growth rather than mimicking trending themes or ideas commonly repeated by AI tools.​

4. Does posting consistently still grow your audience if everyone is using AI?
Consistency helps, but to stand out, writers must add deeper context and personal insight. Otherwise, content risks blending in with the large volume of generic AI writing online.​

5. What’s the best way to connect with people online today?
Share your journey openly: take notes, document obstacles, and explain both the “how” and the “why.” Because authenticity and transformation connect better than polished perfection.​

6. Is terrible writing better than soulless writing?
Not really: but a flawed but authentic piece with clear signs of growth and personality resonates more deeply than technically “perfect” AI-generated content that lacks heart and context.​