Hope you had a great summer! Now that September’s here, I’m easing back into a regular writing rhythm. Part of that is a new project I want to share.
I’ve started a second Substack newsletter with Diana, focused on writing and content creation (touching on AI sometimes, but not exclusively). If that’s something you’re interested in, join here.
Now, let’s get into today’s guide.
We’ve been talking since we were kids. It comes naturally.
For many people, writing doesn’t.
I’ve talked to a lot of people who struggle with writing (from a simple email to a full report). They all say the same thing: they want to write, but it takes too long.
They sit in front of a blank page, they know the topic inside out, but somehow nothing comes out.
They’re good at what they do. They’re not good at writing (yet).
That gap is exactly why I use (and recommend) what I call the recording method.
Instead of forcing yourself to write, you talk. Whether it's a conversation with someone else or just you thinking out loud into a recorder app, you get a transcript. Hand the transcript to Claude, and it uses your voice.md file to turn it into a draft that sounds like you.
This is my favorite method to write with AI. I’ve used it for some of my best guides and you can use it to write long emails, essays, newsletters, reports, etc.
In this guide, you’ll learn:
The tools you need
How this method works
What to do before and during the recording
The exact workflow I use (prompt, .md file, etc)
A walkthrough of my personal system (so you can build your own)
The tools you need
Here are the tools I use for this method (besides Claude):
iPhone users: Voice Memos or call recording (phone app or FaceTime). You get a transcript automatically when the recording ends (no extra app needed).
Android users: use your phone’s built-in voice recorder or call recorder
Optional: ElevenLabs for cleaner transcripts.
One thing worth knowing: the default iPhone transcript is a little messy (around 90 words out of 100 come out right). I’ve never had a problem feeding that messy version to Claude, though. Claude is smart enough to catch that “Clod” in the transcript was supposed to be “Claude” based on context.
If you’re not a paid subscriber yet, now’s the time to join hundreds of members with full access to all our guides :)