Drafts Are Your Secret Weapon

It happened. It finally happened. I used a - in my last post, and I was accused of using AI and fabricating my whole childhood. Immediately, I whipped out the draft from three years ago and to no surprise - crickets.

Yes, the messy, typo-filled, chaotic ramblings that are a writer gathering their thoughts onto the page. The rough draft. I used to loathe the draft, while my imposter loved it. Even after gaining my degree in English Literature and Creative Writing, I would hide away my drafts behind draft1, draft2, thirddraft, finalpiece, finalpiece1…

But now, it is my secret weapon. Human beings are flawed. We don’t always get things right, especially on the first go; writing takes time to hone, to find a voice, a flair, a readership.

It’s not easy, just like every creative platform. Artists aren’t da Vinci on their first canvas; guitarists aren’t Hendrix as soon as they pluck their finely tuned strings - it takes time. It takes practice.

AI, on the other hand, takes seconds - ‘borrowing’ from the greats. Austen, Brontë, Dickens, to name a few, all have their work flagged as AI simply because of the -

And I know Mary Shelley hand-wrote Frankenstein because I’ve seen the messy manuscript with my own eyes - the scribbles over previous written words, the circles around an edit, the underlined and crossed out.

When looking at that protected page, I recognised my own work. Not the words, not the story, but the editing. I recognised the draft.

At 17, the same age as Shelley when she wrote Frankenstein, I knew I was heading in the right direction for a writing career. I hate using any pen that isn’t black ink, but when I am editing, that red pen, or green on occasion, gets well used. Yet, I feared the draft - well… feared that someone may find it.

Fast-forward to a world of AI, and suddenly I find a weapon - my drafts.

I have been waiting for a while to be accused of this blasphemy, because I know the - is associated with GenAI. Which is ridiculous; are we really allowing a machine to steal punctuation as well as everything else?

I’ve seen fellow writers avoid using the - purely to avoid such a slander, while stubborn writers such as myself refuse to cave into self-censorship. My name is double-barrelled. My name quite literally has a - in it.

So, my fellow writers, show your unhinged drafts, reveal the flawed creative self, and let them witness you build; make them watch you grow and let the accusers tell on themselves. Stop letting AI hinder your voice. Wear the accusation like a badge of honour with a bold dash to go with it.

AI strives for perfection; humans cannot obtain it. More and more people are crying out for authentic, unapologetic humans. We are perfectly imperfect creatures; AI could never replicate.

Our drafts are our most unlikely weapon - but I promise you, it’s a good one

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Originally posted on Substack.

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Find me on threads and YouTube for unhinged posts. I’m just an unhinged writer restoring sanity in an insane reality.

Vocal we need to lower the limit a little because I cannot keep doing this love.

Sometimes I like short but sweet stuff that’s why poetry exists!

Also feel free to find me on Tellonym. Seven words vocal seven my word ah.