5 Essential Skills for Writers in the Age of AI

Emediong Akpan
May 22, 2025
3 min read

AI Took My Pen, So I Grabbed a Bigger Keyboard: Evolving as a Writer in the Age of AI

Enough is enough! Let's address the robot in the room once and for all, shall we? Artificial Intelligence. This guy is everywhere, writing articles, poems, scripts, probably even our shopping lists if we let it. For us writers, it feels a bit like that moment in a movie where the new, flashy character arrives, and everyone wonders if the original lead is about to get written out of the script. Yup! There goes my screenwriting brain. LOL!

Is AI coming for our jobs, though? Fact is, things are definitely changing. But is it really "game over" for us? Nope, not if you're smart about it. You don't have to fight the machines; you simply have to evolve with them and, frankly, showing them who's still boss when it comes to real, impactful writing. If you're a writer wondering how to stay not just relevant but valuable in this new AI era, it's time to upgrade your skillset.

Here’s how we grab that bigger keyboard:

Become a Master Prompter:

Hey, c'mon now, dear writer, we both know that typing "write me a blog post about shoes" into an AI is not a skill, right? That's what everyone can do, my friend. But what can the evolved writer do? They learn to command the AI. This means mastering prompt engineering -- crafting detailed, nuanced instructions that guide the AI to produce genuinely useful, targeted first drafts, research summaries, or idea outlines. Think of AI as an incredibly fast but slightly clueless intern. You still need to give it a brilliant brief to get brilliant (or even usable) results. Anyone can get words from an AI. Big deal. See, my friend, the real flex is knowing how to prompt it to give you something genuinely valuable, not just a rehash of the internet. This is a skill, and a valuable one.

Add that Crucial Human Touch (Because AI Can't Do It All):

So, AI spits out a draft faster than you can say "Write..." Oh well, fantastic. Now what? That draft is often generic, soulless, and sometimes, I'll be honest with you, full of nonsense or weirdly phrased sentences. The evolved writer becomes the indispensable human layer. At this point, you don't just proofread, you become the voice doctor, the cultural translator, the fact-checker, the nuance-injector, the one who adds the actual human soul that makes the content connect. And if you're a Nigerian writer like me, you sure as hell know that our Nija audience can spot inauthenticity from a mile off. Stop telling AI to be human. It CAN'T, and it WON'T. It is your responsibility to make it become your doppelgänger for the period of usage. Selah!

Champion Your Unique Voice & Niche Expertise:

AI is trained on vast datasets, which often makes its output sound... hmm, like an average of everything. For lack of a better word, I'd say "Bland". Your unique voice, your specific style, your own personal flair? AI can't do that. If you have deep knowledge in a particular niche (e.g., Nigerian delicacy, African travel, specific creative industries), combine that with your writing skill. That combination becomes incredibly hard for generic AI to replicate. This is where you become irreplaceable.

Embrace Multimedia Fluency & Adaptability:

The definition of "writing" is expanding. Your words might need to live as a video script, a podcast outline, a carousel series, or snappy social media copy. The evolved writer understands how to adapt their storytelling skills across different formats. They think visually, understand pacing for audio, and know how to make words work harder in a multimedia space.

"Formats will change, platforms will morph, but a truly compelling story, told with skill, will always cut through the noise. The evolved writer learns to speak its language, no matter the dialect." - Emy Writes

The Mindset Shift

Look, friend, the writing industry is definitely getting a shake-up. But fear is a choice, and a pretty unproductive one at that. The writers who view AI as a powerful new tool in their arsenal, rather than a replacement, are the ones who will thrive. I tell you what, in this AI era, you've got to throw in everything you've go into being adaptable, continuously learning, and focusing on the deeply human elements of creativity, strategy, and connection that machines can't (and may never) truly replicate.