How AI Can Help In Your Writing” – Willy A Renandya, Indonesian. “Not A Good Idea!” – Frank A Hilario, Filipino

This article is all about “how to improve your writing and leave AI alone!” – Frank A Hilario, Filipino blogger.

I’m reading Mr Willy A Renandya’s article 3 April 2025 that appears in his website willyrenandya.com: “Why Writing Is Harder Than Speaking And How AI Can Help.” Mr Renandya is Singapore-based. Based in Manila, as a published writer of 50 years, I Frank A Hilario have never compared writing to speaking and I will say outright that AI is dangerous! As the image from connectjaya.com seems to indicate, AI is actually first Nonhuman and and then tries to relate to Human. From beginning to end of my writing, I want Human!

Nonetheless, I Filipino much appreciate the intellectual efforts of author Mr Renandya in writing about improving one’s writing in his article, above cited. Thankfully, in fact Mr Renandya is saying, “You need to teach yourself to write better!”

Sorry, but personally I reject AI as a tool for writing or rewriting. AI will teach you only to copy, not produce your own copy! If you want to be original, forget AI.

Even as a Filipino, my creative writing journey began with the reading of the American Reader’s Digest in my high school days in my hometown Asingan, Pangasinan, Central Luzon, Philippines. The digest must be the most delightful reading matter if you are after reading pleasure – or teaching yourself how to write with pleasure.

If you want to learn how to write the best way you can – maybe even become a published writer – you have to start from scratch, literally! Your own scratch of a writing. You can only creatively take care of AI’s scratch if you are already an established writer.

I will now give you a simple/not-so-simple formula for improved writing that you yourself will love, whether you are now a good writer or still learning to be one. I’ll call this one

”Think, Trick Or Treat!”

You already have a topic. Or: Think of a crude topic. Write a simple title & then a draft, no matter how small or how crude. The title, no matter how temporary, will help you focus. If you change topic along the way, fine – you may also change title.

Read about what others have written about the subject. (That’s why you need the Internet.) Enjoy while you read and borrow and rewrite.
After at least half a day, read again. Rewrite again.

Sleep on it.

Rewrite again.

Do that rewrite at least 5 times.
Finalize your writing!

Those 66 words above, in red letters, in every rewrite, you would be seeing improvements of your writing. You will begin to like yourself as a writer!

Rewrite! Rewrite! Rewrite! At least 5 times. At best 7 times. Rewrite at different times of the day, at different days of the week if necessary. The more you rewrite, the clearer and better should your piece of writing be – when you rewrite, you are actually teaching yourself to write better!