AI Writing Still Sounds Weird? Give It a Better Editing Brief | Akabane Red’s Dev Log 13

01But I’m the one who took the photo?

Hi, Red here. Have you ever read an AI draft and thought, “I understand the words, but who actually talks like this?”

I kept asking it to “make it sound less like AI.” The next draft would still have something odd in it. Eventually, I started pointing out the sentences that bothered me.

Kirari was photographing the snacks. This sentence made it sound as though her phone had started moving on its own. For this article, here’s a clearer version:

Now you can tell who did what. That doesn’t give us permission to invent an action. The surrounding scene already established that she was taking photos. If the draft hadn’t told us enough, we’d need to ask.

Kirari

If I took the photo, just say I took the photo.

Red

Yeah. I tried to make it sound fancy and made it weird instead.

02Add an example after “make it natural”

“Natural” doesn’t mean the same voice in every situation. A message to a friend and a setup guide need different wording. I started writing down what felt wrong instead of asking for another complete rewrite.

These examples come from our Korean drafts. The English wording below is a translation of those examples, not a claim that we originally tested an English writing tool.

I’m not collecting words that “only AI uses.” I’m checking whether the sentence actually says what I need it to say. A dramatic line might fit a story perfectly and feel ridiculous in a short how-to.

Kirari

Shiro-chan, so an example gives it more to go on than just “make it natural”?

Nea

Yes. It shows the kind of voice you’re looking for.

03Try this prompt before installing anything

A prompt is simply the request you send the AI. You don’t need special commands to try this. Paste your draft below these instructions, or save them in a note for later.

Edit the text below for someone who is new to AI.
Use friendly, conversational English.

Voice sample:
“At first, I didn't even know which button to click. I checked the screen one step at a time.”
Use this only as a voice reference. Do not add the experience in the sample to my article.

Keep these rules:
- Preserve dates, numbers, names, links, and the original facts.
- Do not turn plans or guesses into completed actions or confirmed results.
- Do not add experiences or outcomes that aren't in the source.
- Make it clear who did what. If the source doesn't tell you,
  ask me instead of filling in the gap.
- Cut inflated praise and repeated points.
- Keep tables, useful emphasis, and example prompts.

Give me the edited text, then explain three substantial changes.
Flag any sentence that needs a fact or clarification from me.

[Paste the text to edit here]

The sample demonstrates a voice. Its events must not become your personal experience in the finished article.

If one passage still feels wrong, narrow down the next request:

That also makes the changes easier to compare. Keep the original and the edit separately. If you overwrite the source every time, it’s much harder to notice when a fact has changed.

04Save the rules you keep repeating

Copying the same instructions into every request got tedious. In our Korean workflow, we set up reusable writing and editing instructions in Codex. For this English edition, I also looked for an English resource readers could use.

Red

Do I have to explain all this again for the next article?

AIKO

We can save those rules in a file and have the agent read them when it works on your writing.

In our Korean setup, we also told the project which writing instructions to read, then compared the edits with a real draft. Saving files on one computer doesn’t configure another computer automatically; check the setup wherever you use it.

I want to try an English editing skill in this Codex environment.
Read the official blader/humanizer repository and its current installation instructions.
Check for an existing installation and preserve my local rules.
Explain how it applies in this environment before changing the setup.
Keep my project's voice, factual constraints, and educational formatting.
After setup, show a short before-and-after example.
Do not rewrite any existing articles automatically.

npx skills add blader/humanizer --global --agent codex

05It reads better. Did it invent something?

There’s a reason I don’t accept an edit just because I like its tone. Compare these two sentences:

The second version is easy to read. It also turns a plan into an experience and adds a result. This is a made-up exercise to show the error, not an outcome recorded during our installation.

Nea

“I plan to try it” can’t become “I tried it.”

Red

Right. I’d better keep the original open too.

A writing skill doesn’t remove the need for this check. Readability and accuracy are separate things to review.

06Don’t edit my voice out of it

I read the dialogue separately at the end. A clear explanation is one thing. Making me sound like a formal announcement when I’m talking to friends is another.

Red

Can you imagine me saying “I shall verify that” all the time?

AIKO

Shall we keep your dialogue and just edit the explanation?

The same applies to a message, a work notice, or a blog tutorial. After “make it sound human,” explain who is speaking to whom. Adding slang or jokes to every sentence won’t automatically make it sound like you.

I started with one sentence I couldn’t stand and ended up with rules I can use again. I still don’t get exactly the wording I want on the first try. But now I have something more useful to say than “That’s weird. Try again.”