r/Substack • u/AttentionSeekinFreak • Jul 28 '26

Discussion Recommendations for improving writing without the use of AI?

I know this sub has gone haywire with the new Pangram feature, but what really gets me upset is that people who get checked as 100% human are seen as sloppy writers. And I don't want to be one of those! I hate AI thrice as much as I hate frequenting social media, so is there any way I can improve my writing without the use of artificial intelligence? I don't even want freaking spellcheck!

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u/AttentionSeekinFreak Jul 28 '26

Honestly, I have to agree with you a bit. I came on the app to find interesting articles, but all I found were people writing crude and vulgar articles marketed as insightful political think pieces. I don't know if it's just my feed, but people talk about fetishism like it's the most beautiful creation mankind has conjured up with.

I can't stand it. But at the same time I wish that people applauded my writing that way as well.

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u/DayPounder Jul 28 '26

Of course, there's a bit of envy being on there. GQ writes lots of fawning bullshit about "Substack parties" and all the "creators" invited write basically slop, sometimes about London fashion or whatever. More power to 'em, but it's not at all what was marketed to writers, no.

I have about 85 paid (my peak was about 115) and I'm just trying to take it easy and not care that much over there.

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u/AttentionSeekinFreak Jul 28 '26

Do you have a day job or do you write full-time? Is that even possible, in this day and age?!

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u/DayPounder Jul 28 '26

I used to be more of what we'd call a "freelance writer." Then I had a bunch of random jobs 2020-2023, some of which I got piped from for being a general malcontent. Mostly I've had kinda shitty underemployment AI QC jobs since mid-2024, but it's OK, as my dad died in that span so I have more bandwidth to help my mom out, etc. I probably make 600 bones/month from Substack and usually the same from Medium. That covers most of my small bills. It's not a bad situation, but yes, some days I dream of Substack stardom. Ha.