Do you really want to write “quietly”? (It’s an AI favorite)

Do you really want to write “quietly”? (It’s an AI favorite)Release Date: February 27, 2026 We all have “pet” words or phrases that slide into our prose like a favorite shoe that’s shaped to our foot and supports our gait—literary techniques that feel like our voice on the page. Some writers come across more casual, using sentence fragments or words like “ain’t” and “c’mon!” Others turn to ellipses for hesitation and pop a statement (or question) in parentheses for humor. Guess who’s been paying attention to how we express ourselves? Yeah, LLMs slurped up our online writing and got a taste for the way we write. Their favorite words and phrases draw from our favorite words and phrases, and now they’re repeating them ad nauseam, shoving them into everyone’s drafts so people leaning on AI for their writing start to sound suspiciously similar. What’s especially frustrating is that these are perfectly good writing techniques, and now that I see them spilling into my inbox, I hesitate using them. In the hands of skilled writers, a light touch with these could produce a pleasant flow, but AI doesn’t yet seem to fully sense the need for restraint, balance, and pacing. It stuffs otherwise effective wording into their drafts like too many prizes in a box of Cracker Jack. They stop being special after the fifth appearance. Once I point them out, you’ll start to spot them in blog posts, articles, newsletters, and social media. In this episode, I point out several AI favorites. You'll start t spot them everywhere. Listen or head to to read it and access all my sources in the footnotes. And to work with one-on-one, head to - I can provide you with human support for writing you produce as the thoughtful human you are...no AI necessary!

You can listen to Do you really want to write “quietly”? (It’s an AI favorite) online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Do you really want to write “quietly”? (It’s an AI favorite) is an episode from Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach by Ann Kroeker.

This episode is 0:08:52 long.

This episode was published on Feb 27, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Ann Kroeker, Writing Coach when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.