Story Grid TAHere to help you tell better stories.

Can't I use ChatGPT instead of a writing coach?

22 Mar 2026 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

2:28

In this YouTube monologue, the speaker explains why ChatGPT and similar AI tools cannot replace a human writing coach. While acknowledging that AI can be useful for brainstorming, research, and as a thesaurus, the speaker argues that AI lacks the ability to read a scene within the specific context of genre, character arc, story promise, and the writer’s skill level, and therefore cannot provide precise, diagnostic feedback. The speaker highlights that AI offers only generic, often contradictory advice (e.g., “show, don’t tell”) that does not address nuanced issues such as a weak inciting incident, stilted dialogue, or a sagging middle. Additionally, AI cannot hold writers accountable, notice prolonged stagnation, or push them through difficult scenes. The conclusion urges writers to view AI as a supplemental tool rather than a substitute for a trained human mentor who can identify blind spots and provide targeted craft feedback.

Chapters

I spoke to a writer recently who told me that she's using ChatGPT as a writing coach. She said, I tell it, do not write the scene for me, but how would I go about doing this? Then she paused and said, but it's not quite the same as a real person. And she's right. And I want to tell you why. Let me be fair. AI can be a useful tool. It can brainstorm with you. It can maybe explain some concepts. It can help be a really good thesaurus so you can find that perfect word. So those are real uses, and I'm not going to pretend that they're not. But here's what AI cannot do. It can't read your scene in the context of your genre, your character arc, your story promise, and your specific skill level and give you a diagnosis that actually makes you a better writer. AI doesn't know that your inciting incident isn't landing because the value shift isn't clear enough for a book in the thriller genre. It doesn't know that your dialogue feels stilted because you're using it as exposition. It doesn't know that your middle is sagging because the antagonist pressure isn't escalating. What AI gives you is generic advice that sounds good. Try adding some more sensory detail. Show, don't tell. Make the stakes higher. But you already know that. It's the same advice craft books give you all the time, and we've already established that more generic advice isn't what's actually going to break through for you. You'll also notice the more that you try to work with AI on your writing is that it will give you kind of random and contradictory advice. So you'll ask it the same question 3 different times over 3 different days and you'll get 3 different answers, which means you can't rely on its feedback and what it's actually telling you. The other thing AI can't do is hold you accountable. It doesn't care if you skip a week. It doesn't push you when you're avoiding the hard scene. It doesn't notice that you've been stuck on the same problem for 3 months. An editor mentor does. AI is a tool like a word processor or a thesaurus. It's useful, but a tool isn't a teacher or a coach. And what you need right now isn't a tool. It's a trained human being who can see what you can't see in your writing and push you to make those changes that are blind spots for you. So sure, use ChatGPT for brainstorming. Use it for research. It's a great thesaurus. But don't think that it's a substitute for real craft feedback. That is not what it's built for, and it can't do it.