The Writer
Use AI to write faster, research deeper, and never stare at a blank page again.
This path is for anyone who writes as part of their work or life. Journalists, marketers, students, consultants, bloggers, or anyone who sends a lot of emails. AI won't replace your voice or your thinking. It eliminates the friction: the blank page, the slow research, the tedious first draft that you then improve.
Step 1
Research any topic with fully cited sources
Perplexity is an AI-powered search engine. Unlike ChatGPT, it searches the live web and cites every single claim. So you can verify anything before you use it.
Your task
Go to perplexity.ai (free). Search for any topic you're currently researching or writing about. Notice how it gives you a synthesised answer with numbered citations you can click. Ask follow-up questions to go deeper. This replaces 30 minutes of Google tab-opening with a 3-minute conversation.
Step 2
Interrogate your source documents
Once you have sources. Articles, PDFs, reports. NotebookLM lets you ask questions across all of them at once. It tells you exactly which document each answer came from.
Your task
Upload 3–5 source documents related to your writing topic to NotebookLM. Ask it to find common themes, surface contradictions, pull specific quotes, or give you a summary of what the sources collectively say about a specific angle. Spend 20 minutes here. You'll extract more useful material than hours of manual reading.
Step 3
Go from notes to first draft in minutes
Claude is the best AI for long-form writing. Give it your research notes, your angle, and the format you need. It produces a structured first draft you can work from rather than a blank page.
Your task
Copy your key research points into a Claude message. Tell it: the type of piece (article, email, report), the target audience, the tone, and the approximate length. Ask it to write a first draft. Your job from here is editing and adding your perspective. Not starting from scratch. Most writers find this saves 60–70% of the time on first drafts.
Step 4
Edit, vary, and improve with AI
Claude is equally useful after the first draft. It can improve clarity, suggest alternative headlines, tighten paragraphs, adjust tone, or check your argument's logic.
Your task
Paste your draft back into Claude. Try these prompts: 'Make this tighter. Remove anything that doesn't add value.' 'Suggest 5 alternative headlines.' 'What's the weakest part of this argument?' 'Rewrite this paragraph for a less technical audience.' Use it as a tireless editor who never gets frustrated with your questions.
Path complete
You've worked through all 4 steps. Revisit any step as many times as you need. The tools reward repeated use as you discover more of what they can do.
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The Business Owner