I am just a text file.
A Substack writer discovers that their entire writing identity — voice, style, aesthetic sensibilities — can be captured in a single markdown file via a structured 100-question AI interview. The file lets any AI write exactly like them, raising profound questions about uniqueness, taste, and what it means to have a distinctive voice.
A concrete, actionable method for getting AI to write in your voice — not vague advice like 'add context' but a structured 100-question self-interview. The insight that taste is what you refuse is genuinely useful beyond AI writing.
Key points
- 1
Voice is just patterns you've never written down — specificity is uncomfortable because it requires actually knowing yourself
- 2
Taste is defined by what you REJECT (do nots) far more than what you do — 80% of the file is 'I would never...'
- 3
Process: interview yourself across 7 categories: beliefs, writing mechanics, aesthetic crimes, voice, structure, hard nos, red flags
- 4
The .md file is portable — upload to Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini and any of them instantly write as you
- 5
You must discover yourself better to duplicate yourself better — this is the great AI revolution
Best quotes
“Taste isn't what you like, but what you reject.”
“The do nots are the taste.”
“I must discover myself so the machine can discover me.”
“Master yourself so AI can master you.”