We’ve all seen the “How to write a book in 24 hours with AI” tutorials. Usually, they involve a single prompt and result in a 200-page book of absolute “slop”—generic, robotic, and devoid of any human soul.
I recently came across a workflow on X that flips the script. Instead of asking AI to write for you, it uses AI as an editor, librarian, and investigative journalist to extract the book that’s already in your head.
I’ve adjusted this process a bit (with Gemini’s help) and built a revised “Toolkit” that makes it even more rigorous. This is a system you can use to write a book that actually sounds like you.
The Philosophy: Knowledge Extraction > Generation
The biggest mistake people make with AI is using it to generate ideas. The best books come from extracted knowledge. You already have the expertise in your head; the hard part is the “manual labor” of organizing, structuring, and filling gaps. We often overlook stuff that we should have included or we can’t quite resolve how stuff should be sequenced for the most reader impact.
This workflow uses voice dictation as the first step to capture your raw energy and then adds in AI to help handle the structural heavy lifting.
The 7-Step “Enhanced” Workflow
1. The Walking Braindump
Go for a walk and record a voice memo of everything you want to say about your topic. Don’t worry about structure, grammar, or “the right way” to say it. Just talk. Don’t worry about it. Movement usually activates parts of the brain that sitting at a desk shuts down. You’re just using the outdoors to open up your mind and bring fresh perspective.
2. The Transcription & “Essence” Extraction
Use a tool to convert your voice memo into text (something like the built-in tools in the iOS Voice Memos app on your iPhone or, if you prefer, a third-party app like MacWhisper or Wispr Flow. I find the built-in tools work quite well these days so give them a try before spending the money for a third-party app.
Once you have the transcript, don’t ask the AI to “write a chapter.” Instead, you want to ask it for help identifying the Core Thesis, the Target Audience, and the Unique Vocabulary you used. This creates a “North Star” for your project.
3. The Voice Mirror
This step is the secret sauce. To prevent the AI from making you sound like a corporate brochure, provide it with 3-5 pages of your best previous writing. Ask it to analyze your rhythm, sentence length, and diction. Tell it: “Clean up my transcripts, but keep my fingerprint.”
4. Recursive Brainstorming
Work on the outline with the AI. Iterate. Ask it what’s missing. How does it compare to the other best-selling books in your niche. Where are you being redundant? Where is your “original” angle?
5. Filling the Gaps via “Socratic Interview”
Once you have an outline, you’ll find “thin” areas. Instead of typing, flip things around and ask the AI to play the role of an investigative journalist. Have it interview you about the missing pieces. Dictate your answers. As with the first step, this pulls deep insights out of you that you might never have thought to type. Think like you’re talking to a friend and reacting to their reactions.
6. The “Devil’s Advocate” Pass
Before you get too far, ask the AI to “Red Team” your outline. Ask: “What would a skeptic say is the biggest leap of faith in my argument?” This forces you to add evidence where you were previously relying on “trust me.”
7. The Manual Polish
Finally, sit down and type. As the original author of this workflow noted, typing activates a different, more “painful” part of the brain that is essential for final quality. Use the AI-organized markdown files as your foundation, but always do the final “human” pass yourself.
Your “Project DNA”
If you’re going to try this, the key is consistency. Keep a file called Project_DNA.md. Every time you start a new session with AI, paste this file in first. It tells the AI exactly who you are, who you’re writing for, and what your voice sounds like.
Here’s the full toolkit with prompts that I’ve just described:
The AI Book Writing Toolkit: The Prompts
To help you get started, here are the exact prompts I use for each phase of this workflow.
Phase 1: The Essence Extractor
Use this on the transcript you’ve created after your first major walking braindump.
“I am providing a transcript of a raw ‘braindump’ for a book I am writing. Do not attempt to write the book yet. Instead, perform a deep thematic analysis to extract the ‘Essence’ of this project. Identify: The Core Thesis, The Target Audience, Unique Vocabulary (metaphors/phrases I use), and the Tone Map.”
Phase 2: The Voice Mirroring Protocol
Use this before organizing transcripts to ensure you don’t sound like a robot.
“Act as my Editor and Voice Stylist. I am providing 3–5 pages of what I consider to be my best writing. Analyze this writing for sentence rhythm, diction, and structure. Whenever you help me organize my voice transcripts, you must apply these stylistic ‘fingerprints.’ Clean up the grammar, but keep my rhythm.”
Phase 3: The Socratic Interviewer
Use this when a chapter feels thin or you hit a wall.
“Act as an investigative journalist interviewing me. Identify 3 areas where my current draft is fuzzy or surface-level. Ask me ONE question at a time. After I answer, challenge me: ‘That makes sense, but what about [Counter-argument]?’ Summarize our findings afterward.”
Phase 4: The Devil’s Advocate
Use this to stress-test your draft.
“I want you to ‘Red Team’ this rough copy of my book. Imagine you are a critical reviewer. Point out the ‘leaps of faith’ I am asking the reader to make. Identify where my arguments are ‘low-hanging fruit’ and tell me specifically where I am being too similar to existing books in this niche. Help me make it better.”
Final Thought
Your goal isn’t to use AI to work less; it’s to have it help you work deeper. By offloading the “clerk work” of organization and editing to AI, you free up your brain to do the actual “author work” of thinking, connecting, and writing.
Are you working on a book? I’d love to hear how you’re using (or avoiding) AI in your process. What prompts are you using? How have you adjusted them to fit your needs?