10 ways I use ChatGPT to publish Substack posts faster
... without letting it write FOR me.
‘Member when OpenAI first released ChatGPT in late 2022? I swear it feels like it was 20 years ago—because I barely remember what life was like before AI. 😆
I use AI for so many things, including the creation of my Substack posts. I’ve practically stopped using Google. (Who still Googles things?) I use it to help organize my calendar, plan a trip, help me figure out next steps when my basement flooded…
I found that ChatGPT was the best fit for my needs but before I reached this conclusion, I tried various AI platforms.
Claude and Copilot are great for fact-checking and pretty good at editing.
Gemini was the worst out of the bunch, but I noticed a lot of improvements since last year. However, it’s not as strong as ChatGPT in terms of prompt understanding, IMO.
After trying out the different AI brands, I felt like ChatGPT had the strongest ability to deliver on what my prompts asked for. It was the overall winner when it came to ideas, suggestions, and recommendations for Substack posts.
To be clear, I don’t use AI to write my posts. I’ve tried various experiments to have it write things for me, and I realized:
The technology isn’t there yet, but more importantly…
I still enjoy writing.
These are 10 ways I use it for Substack.
1. It cleans up my word vomit
When I first sit down to write, I spit out all of my ideas and thoughts. I set the timer for 20 minutes and go. I first learned to do this when I joined a writing group a few years ago and find it’s the best way to start writing my posts.
Before AI, this part used to take me days, because sometimes, I’m not sure what I’m trying to say.
What is the message? What is the theme? Am I all over the place? Is this confusing?
More often than not, I’d have to walk away from my writing for a day or two and come back in order to see things more clearly.
Now, I throw my word vomit into ChatGPT and ask it to “identify themes and core messages.” Once I see the ideas clearly laid out, I am able to craft a better second and third draft much faster.
2. I use it as my editor
When my piece is in a good spot, I ask AI to edit. I tell it to just edit for typos and grammar but to not add or remove word count.
If I need it to add or remove word count, I prompt it with, “don’t change the voice and tone.” Then (this part is important!), I read it carefully and make my own adjustments because AI likes to add in things like, “honestly,” or “really” (which is so annoying). I guess ChatGPT thinks adding in “honestly” and “really” with tons of em dashes keep my voice and tone authentic.
The nice thing is, if I that in the first paragraph as I’m checking, I ask it to remove it and get rid of all the em dashes too. This helps save time in the editing process.
If you’re not a big AI person or new to it, you’ll start to understand its writing and editing patterns. It’ll help you figure out your own process for devising more specific prompts to get what you want, quicker.
3. Simplify or clarify
When it comes to editing, I find ChatGPT is great at removing and simplifying.
When I think a part might be too confusing, I paste the paragraph in ChatGPT and ask it to simplify it or explain why it feels confusing. It helps me see what feels off or too jumbled up in my writing.
4. New ideas for older Substack posts
I throw in links to my most popular posts and published stories and ask AI to generate “spin-offs” or a part two. I look at Substack data for the most views or highest open rates so I know what types of content my audience likes so I can create more of those.
Then, I pick a few that I like and ask it to create an outline to see if it’s feasible.
I then ask myself, “Can I write an entire post on this?” If so, it goes into my ideas bucket. A lot of times, when I see the titles, I already know if I can write an entire post on it or not.
Doing this helps keep my content calendar packed with stuff I want to write about.
5. Generating titles
I think 8 out of 10 times, ChatGPT does a mediocre job of generating titles. The way I use it is to see if those titles will spark any ideas from me. Usually it does.
If I hate all of them, it’s probably because it’s too cliche, too long, or doesn’t match the content. I explain why they’re no good, or what I like about one of them, and ask AI to generate more ideas based on the context I just gave.
For this post, here are title ideas it gave me. As you can see, they’re all a bit meh. I liked the first title the best, but I don’t use AI to write for me, so that didn’t make sense.
The last one made me smile.
How I Use ChatGPT Without Losing My Voice
How I Work with ChatGPT Without Letting It Speak for Me
Using ChatGPT Without Letting It Take the Mic
ChatGPT Helps—But It Doesn’t Get to Talk for Me
How I Use AI Without Sounding Like a Robot
6. I test my headline or hook
I paste the title and the first paragraph and ask, “Would you keep reading this? Why or why not?”
The only caveat here is that ChatGPT can sometimes be overly nice and tell you how wonderful it all is. In that case, I ask it to think about the audience and if it thinks the reader would enjoy it, why or why not?
It forces me to think about the reader’s experience and helps fine-tune the opening to make it more engaging.
7. Shaping the intro and ending
Sometimes I’ll write a whole piece and realize the opening or closing still needs work.
I ask ChatGPT to suggest stronger ways to hook the reader at the beginning or to tie things up at the end, based on the body of the post. It usually helps me come up with my own ways for a better transition or structure.
Speaking of structure…
8. Formatting
This sort of goes back to #1. AI is so good at organizing and restructuring.
When a certain part feels messy or doesn’t transition well into the next paragraph, I’ll ask AI to reorganize it into a cleaner structure.
It’ll suggest things like headers, a sequence that flows better, or even turning it into a list. It’s a great way to help me see what’s missing or out of order.
9. Finding new angles
Sometimes I think I’m emphasizing a point, but I’m actually just repeating the same idea.
I used to catch it late in the editing process, but now I ask ChatGPT earlier: “What’s a different way to frame this?”
10. Reality-checking tone or clarity
I try to be mindful about writing in a way that feels simple and easy to understand, especially when it comes to tech and marketing lingo. But when you’re in the weeds, you may not always see things from a newbie’s perspective.
I’ll sometimes ask ChatGPT, “Would this make sense to someone new to my work?” or “Does this feel too insider-y?”
It helps me catch stuff that might confuse a first-time reader or feel off-tone.
What’s your take?
In my opinion, I think AI is best utilized as a writing partner, editor, sounding board rather than a ghostwriter.
I use it to help me see different angles and uncover ideas, themes, and messaging. It helps me get organized and come up with outlines.
At the end of the day, ChatGPT helps me publish posts a little faster and to me, that’s a big win.
Do you use AI to help with your writing? If so, how is it helping you?
I've not used it yet. A friend of mine is actually using it as a form of therapy! I don't really feel comfortable using it for writing as I don't want to get reliant on it or feel like I'm losing my own "voice." I've started using Google's Gemini for basic research questions though.
I agree there are grey areas and it is important not to use AI to write articles for you. But it is equally important to understand how AI can be useful. You have highlighted some interesting uses of AI.