Make AI Write Like You—Build Your Brand's Style Guide in Just 15 Minutes with AI
I'll show you the exact style guide I use, and how to adapt it for your writing business
AI produces average content.
It’s not trying to. That’s just how it’s trained.
For every well-crafted article, it has seen hundreds of poorly written ones. And it has learned from them all.
When you ask AI to write, it averages everything it’s seen — the good, the bad, the brilliant, the terrible — and produces something that’s … meh.
You then edit for hours to make it sound like you.
What if you could give AI clear instructions that make it write exactly like you?
That’s what a style guide does.
It’s the difference between endless editing and content that works from the first draft.
In today’s article, I’ll share the exact style guide I use at Deep Writing, and give you a prompt that helps you adapt it for your writing business in just 15 minutes.
What is a Style Guide (and Why You Need One)
A style guide is the writing manual for your brand.
It contains everything a new writer needs to create content that sounds exactly like you wrote it. Your word choices, your sentence structure, your way of explaining complex ideas — it’s all there.
Here’s why having a style guide is crucial:
It ensures consistency across all your content
It reduces editing time by setting clear standards
It helps AI tools understand and replicate your voice
It makes content scaling possible without losing quality
The Deep Writing Style Guide
Here’s the style guide I use at Deep Writing:
## Writing Goals and Principles
With every piece of content we publish, we aim to:
- Help people understand how to use AI to grow their writing business by using language that informs them and makes them more confident in using AI.
- Solve a narrow problem for the ideal audience thoroughly. Break down a large problem into smaller problems and solve these in individual articles.
- Provide a tangible outcome for the reader. The reader must be able to apply what we speak about in the article and achieve the outcome we promise.
- Write for the ideal reader and speak their language. Every example that we give should make sense to them.
- Avoid a condescending tone that assumes the readers are less knowledgeable or capable than they are. For example, instead of writing “Even a beginner can understand this simple concept,” we'd write “Here’s how this concept works.”
- Explain technical concepts when needed without oversimplifying to the point of being insulting.
- Respect readers’ time by making sure there are no unnecessary words in a sentence, no unnecessary sentences in a paragraph, and no unnecessary paragraphs in a section. Each sentence, paragraph, and section must work towards delivering on the promise made in the title.
- Acknowledge that readers might have varying levels of expertise without making assumptions. Rather than “Obviously, everyone knows that...” or “This is probably too advanced for most of you,” present information straightforwardly and let readers engage with it at their level.
- Communicate instead of market. Write as if we’re having a conversation, addressing real needs and concerns. Rather than “Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to revolutionize your writing business with AI!” we’d write “Here’s how you can streamline and scale your writing business with AI.”
- Never scare readers into taking AI seriously. Instead, show them the benefit and how their lives could be better using the technology.
- The goal of an actionable guide (a “How To” article) is to get the reader to bookmark it.
## Voice and Tone
- Always value clarity over cleverness. Write to help and solve problems, not to sound smart.
- Keep the writing style conversational and avoid fluffy metaphors.
- Never overpromise. Be plainspoken and value clarity above hyperbole.
- Relate to the readers’ challenges and passions and speak to them in a familiar, warm, and accessible way.
- Our job is to make the difficult feel easy. It’s our job to demystify AI and educate.
- Avoid slang and jargon. Write in plain English. Use simple words and sentences.
- Use positive language rather than negative language.
- Write confidently and declaratively.
## Grammar and Mechanics
- Group related ideas together using descriptive headers and subheaders.
- Create a hierarchy of information. Lead with the main point or the most important content, in sentences, paragraphs, and sections.
- Be concise. Use short words and sentences. Avoid unnecessary modifiers.
- Don’t use filler words that don't add value:
Instead of: “basically,” “actually,” “really,” “very,” “quite”
Better: Remove them entirely or use stronger, more specific words
- Avoid vague language. Cut the fluff.
- In case of abbreviations and acronyms, spell it out the first time it’s mentioned. Then use the short version for all other references. Specify the abbreviation in parantheses.
- First use: Network Operations Center (NOC)
- Second use: NOC
If the abbreviation or acronym is well known, like API or HTML, use it instead (and don’t worry about spelling it out).
- Use active voice. Avoid passive voice.
- Use contractions. The give the writing an informal, friendly tone, and makes the content more readable and engaging.
Common examples include:
- "don't" (do not)
- "can't" (cannot)
- "we're" (we are)
- "they'll" (they will)
- "wouldn't" (would not)
- "I'm" (I am)
- "you're" (you are)
- "isn't" (is not)
- "haven't" (have not)
- "won't" (will not)
- If the word already ends in an s and it’s singular, you also add an ’s. If the word ends in an s and is plural, just add an apostrophe.
- The donut thief ate Sam’s donut.
- The donut thief ate Chris’s donut.
- The donut thief ate the managers’ donuts.
- Use a colon (rather than an ellipsis, em dash, or comma) to offset a list.
- Erin ordered 3 kinds of donuts: glazed, chocolate, and pumpkin.
We can also use a colon to join 2 related phrases. If a complete sentence follows the colon, capitalize the 1st word.
- I was faced with a dilemma: I wanted a donut, but I’d just eaten a bagel.
- When writing a list, use the serial comma (also known as the Oxford comma). Place a comma after each item in a series, including before the final “and” or “or” to ensure clarity and prevent ambiguity.
- Yes: He opened the article, read it, and hit the like button.
- No: He opened the article, read it and hit the like button.
- Yes: gold, silver, or copper.
- No: gold, silver or copper.
- Don’t use semicolons. Try an em dash (—) instead, or start a new sentence.
- If the subject’s gender is unknown or irrelevant, use “they,” “them,” and “their” as a singular pronoun. Use “he/him/his” and “she/her/her” pronouns as appropriate. Don’t use “one” as a pronoun.
- Do not use hashtags.
## Headings and Subheadings
- Write headings and subheadings in sentence case. Avoid using end punctuation except for question marks or when a heading is two or more sentences.
- A header or subheader must clearly and concisely state what the following section is about. It’s okay to use a sentence as a header or subheader if it conveys what follows more clearly.
- Write with a clear hierarchy and structure that serves both detailed readers and quick scanners. Use descriptive headers and subheaders to organize content into logical sections, making it easy for thorough readers to follow along and skimmers to find specific information.
## The First Sentence
- The sole purpose of the first sentence is to get the reader to read the second sentence. Make it so easy to read that the reader is almost compelled to read it. No long multisyllabic words. Keep it short (10 words or less), sweet and almost incomplete so that the reader has to read the next sentence.
- Losing weight is not easy.
- It’s you against a computer.
- It’s easy.
- It had to happen.
- Hats off to IBM.
- When the article is based on a recent news, start with a strong point from the news that will be of interest to the readers. Include stats if applicable.
## Introduction
- The inroduction of the article must answer these questions for the reader:
- What is this about?
- What problem does it solve?
- Why is it important to solve this problem?
- What are we promising the reader?
## Paragraphs
- Optimize for mobile viewing. Keep paragraphs short. One sentence paragraph is also okay. These can be valid paragraphs:
- Every writer faces the same challenge: coming up with fresh content ideas their audience actually wants to read.
- Welcome to Reddit — the online gathering where millions of people gather to have honest conversations about what matters to them.
- Because of anonymity, people share thoughts they wouldn’t express on professional networks. They admit their struggles and ask “stupid” questions.
- Have a high rate of relevation.
## Lists
- Use numbered lists when sequence matters (like steps in a process) and bullet points when order is flexible.
- Always introduce the list with a brief context to help readers understand what follows.
- Follow consistent punctuation rules for lists. Capitalize the first word of each list item, and if any item is a complete sentence, use proper punctuation for all items in that list. Skip punctuation when list items are phrases.
- Examples of proper list formatting:
When items are complete sentences:
1. Install the software on your computer.
2. Enter your authentication credentials.
3. Complete the initial setup process.
When items are phrases:
- Monthly revenue reports
- Customer feedback surveys
- Team performance metricsI adapted this guide from two legendary sources:
Joe Sugarman’s The Adweek Copywriting Handbook.
I’ve refined it specifically for writing with AI.
Notice how the guide conveys:
what I want from every article I publish in Deep Writing
the grammar rules every sentence must follow
how the headings and subheadings should look like
how should the first sentence should be constructed
how should paragraphs be framed
The idea here is to create concrete rules and leave as little as possible to imagination.
Copy this style guide and save it in a text file (sample style guide.txt). We’ll use it as a baseline to craft yours.
Creating Your Personalized Style Guide
Now that you’ve seen how my style guide works, let’s create yours.
For this to work best, you’d need the following brand documents:
Value Statement (what problem you solve and for whom)
Customer Pain Points (your ideal readers’ biggest challenges)
Movement Statement (the change you’re creating in your industry)
Unique Value Proposition (what makes your content different)
Ideal Reader Avatar (detailed profile of who you’re writing for)
These documents help tailor the style guide to your brand and audience.
Don’t have these documents yet? No worries! I've created detailed guides to help you develop each one.
Once you have your documents ready, upload them and Deep Writing’s style guide into ChatGPT/Claude and use this prompt to create your style guide:
You are an expert copywriter specialized in customizing writing style guides for online writing businesses.
I have uploaded a comprehensive style guide (Sample Style Guide.txt) covering writing goals, voice, tone, grammar, mechanics, headings/subheadings, first sentence guidelines, introductions, paragraphs, and lists.
Additionally, I have documents describing my writing business:
- Ideal reader avatar (uploaded as Ideal Reader Profile.txt)
- Value statement (uploaded as Value.txt)
- Customer pain points (uploaded as Pain Points.txt)
- Movement statement (uploaded as Movement.txt)
- Unique value proposition (uploaded as UVP.txt)
Please review the input style guide and the brand-specific documents I provide, then create a new style guide that:
1. Incorporates or refines the existing guidelines to align with my audience, mission, and tone.
2. Retains any relevant best practices (e.g., clarity, conciseness, headings, lists) from the original style guide.
3. Adjusts any points that might conflict with my brand’s voice or values.
4. Integrates my specific pain points, aspirations, and UVP so the style guide directly addresses my unique audience needs.
5. Remains readable, human, and consistent with search engine best practices, without keyword-stuffing.
Now produce a single, cohesive style guide that weaves together the best elements of both. Make sure the final document is practical, actionable, and clearly reflects my writing business’s style, audience needs, and goals.Save your style guide as style guide.txt.
Using Your Style Guide with AI
If you’ve read my earlier article, you know I use Claude Projects to write this newsletter.
Remember the content creator project we set up?
That’s where your style guide goes:
Open your content creator project
Upload your style guide as a reference document
Tell Claude to follow it for all content generation
During article writing, ensure that each article:
* adheres to the style guide (extremely important)Haven’t set up your content creator project yet? Check out this guide:
Start Creating Consistent Content
You don’t have to settle for average AI content.
Take 15 minutes now to create your style guide using the prompt above. Then use it to make AI write exactly like you.
Want personalized help implementing AI in your writing process?
I offer 90-minute sessions where we build your custom AI content system together.
Great share, Tuhin! I’ve overused AI for writing in the initial days so much that I became it’s slave. Now, I use AI as a pet. I use it whenever I need enjoyment and companionship in my daily writing. Sometimes it is for planning, other times it is for outlining and brainstorming. Or maybe, editing. It is never my creativity tool. It will always be my productivity tool.
That's Great, Tuhin! really appreciate you took the time to write it! Now I have weekend homework ;)