How to Make Claude Write Like You

Left to itself, Claude writes in a polished, generic style. To match your voice, it needs:

• Real samples of your writing
• A precise description of your style
• Rules on what you never do
• Context on your audience
• Feedback on every draft

Claude can imitate a voice. It cannot make up yours.

Pull together 5 to 15 pieces that sound most like you:

• Emails
• Social posts
• Newsletters
• Articles
• Messages to clients
• Scripts or talks

Choose pieces you are proud of, in the formats you want Claude to produce.

Prompt:

Analyze these writing samples. Describe my voice in specific, observable terms: sentence length, vocabulary, tone, structure, punctuation, how I open and close, the phrases I repeat, and the things I never do. Quote an example for each point.

Concrete observations work better than labels like “friendly” or “professional.”

Condense the analysis into a short guide:

• Your tone in three words
• Your usual sentence and paragraph length
• Words and phrases you rely on
• Words and phrases you never use
• How you open and close
• Your formatting habits
• Two or three short sample passages

Rules with examples work better than rules on their own.

Claude’s custom styles store a voice you can switch on in any chat.

• Open the + menu in a chat
• Choose Use style, then Create & edit styles
• Select Create custom style
• Add writing examples or paste in your samples
• Review the style description and edit it

Claude may boil your samples down to a generic description. Edit it so your real phrasing and rules survive.

Add standing preferences in settings so they apply in every chat:

• Your role and audience
• Your spelling preference, such as American or British
• Your formatting rules
• Phrases to avoid

Set up a Writing Project that holds:

• Your voice guide
• Your best samples
• Notes on your audience
• Templates for common formats

Project instructions like “Follow the voice guide exactly” keep every chat inside that Project on voice.

For formats you repeat, like a weekly newsletter, build a skill that bundles your voice guide, examples, and template. Anthropic’s skill-creator can help you set it up.

List everything you never want to see, for example:

• Hype words you would never use
• Filler openers like “Great question”
• Overused transitions
• Too many em dashes or emoji
• Generic conclusions
• Bullet lists where you would write prose

Telling Claude what to avoid matters as much as telling it what to do.

Strong drafts start from your ideas, not from a topic.

• Dictate or jot down rough notes
• Include your own opinions and stories
• Add details only you know
• Ask Claude to shape them in your voice

Your own experiences are what make the writing sound like you.

• “Use shorter sentences, like my samples.”
• “I would never say this phrase. Cut it.”
• “Too formal. Match the email in sample 3.”
• “Keep my opening line word for word.”

Add corrections you repeat to your voice guide, so you only make each one once.

If a sentence sounds awkward spoken, it will read awkwardly too. Fix it before you publish.

• Never let Claude make up experiences or results
• Verify every fact and number
• Disclose AI help where your audience or employer expects it
• Keep your opinions yours

Claude can match your style. Only you can supply the truth.

Collect

Gather your strongest writing.

Analyze

Pin down your voice precisely.

Codify

Turn it into a voice guide.

Save

Store it as a custom style, profile, Project, or skill.

Draft

Begin with your raw thoughts.

Edit

Give specific, line-level feedback.

Update

Add each correction to the guide.

Write this in my voice, following my voice guide and samples exactly. Use my raw notes below as the content. Do not add any facts, stories, or opinions I did not give you. Match my sentence length, vocabulary, and structure. Avoid every phrase on my banned list. After the draft, flag any sentences you are not sure sound like me. Notes: [your notes]