The Page & Podium Podcast with Dr. Amanda Nell Edgar

Is using AI to brainstorm your nonfiction book really as harmless as it sounds? If you've ever told yourself, "I don't use AI to write, I just use it to organize my thoughts," this episode is for you.

In part three of our four-part series on AI in nonfiction writing, Dr. Amanda Nell Edgar explores what authors might be giving up when they outsource brainstorming, content organization, and outlining to large language models like ChatGPT or Claude.

Whether you're pulling together years of blog posts and podcast interviews, developing a new book idea, or building a thought leadership platform, the process of working through your own ideas matters. Amanda explains why reviewing your existing work can spark unexpected connections, how those discoveries shape your book's structure, and why doing the thinking yourself prepares you to speak confidently about your expertise.

She also shares a revealing story from an academic conference that illustrates what can happen when researchers rely on AI to analyze their material without doing the intellectual work themselves.

**In this episode, you'll learn:**

- Why writing and thinking are more closely connected than you might realize

- What you risk missing when you use AI to organize years of existing content

- How unexpected connections make nonfiction books more compelling

- Why developing your own structure is essential to communicating your message

- How outsourcing analysis can affect your ability to explain and defend your ideas

- Why the process of writing your book is just as valuable as the finished product

**RESOURCES MENTIONED**

* Read the accompanying blog post: https://pageandpodium.com/blog/using-ai-to-brainstorm/

* Take the FREE Book Strategy Quiz to discover your next step and get a personalized podcast playlist:

https://pageandpodium.com/quiz

* Download the FREE Start Your Book Strategy Guide to turn your existing content into a cohesive book:

https://pageandpodium.com/strategy

* Work through the Memoir Method 7-Step Structure Sequence to develop your narrative nonfiction outline and writing plan:

https://pageandpodium.com/structure

* Explore more episodes of the Page & Podium Podcast:

https://pageandpodium.com/blog

**CHAPTERS**

0:00 Why "just using AI to brainstorm" is tricky

0:36 Welcome to Page and Podium + the Book Strategy Quiz

1:23 Where we are in the AI in nonfiction series

2:32 The problem with the word "just"

3:13 Writing is thinking

5:27 The Start Your Book Strategy Guide

7:15 Why you shouldn't load your content into an LLM

11:02 What structure really means

13:53 What an LLM can't do: unexpected connections

15:37 The academic conference story

19:45 Why the process matters as much as the product

21:21 Your unique experience is what's needed

22:30 Wrap-up and next week's preview

23:03 Take the Book Strategy Quiz

**ABOUT PAGE & PODIUM**

Page & Podium is a publishing company specializing in memoir and narrative-driven nonfiction. We help authors develop, write, and publish books that share their expertise, tell meaningful stories, and establish their authority.

Visit https://pageandpodium.com to learn more about our book coaching, ghostwriting, and publishing services.

Subscribe for weekly conversations about writing, publishing, storytelling, and building a platform around your ideas.

#NonfictionWriting #AIWriting #BookWriting #ThoughtLeadership #PageAndPodium

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Want to make sure your memoir has a clear message—not just a compelling story? One of the most common problems I see with first-time memoirists is that they know what happened, but they’re less certain what they want the reader to understand because of it.

In this episode, I break down the difference between your memoir’s topic and your memoir’s message, explain why you need both, and show you how those two pieces work together to shape the book. I also talk about why your message matters for structure, promotion, author platform, and even your motivation to keep writing when the process gets difficult.

Then I walk through three questions you can use to test whether your memoir message is strong enough to carry the book.

Key topics

- Why your memoir should not simply be “about your life”

- How a specific topic helps readers recognize that the book is for them

- How to think about your message (hint: as an “umbrella of truth”)

- Why messages like “resilience” or “hope” are often too general

- How your professional or lived expertise can strengthen your memoir’s message

- How your memoir message can become the foundation of your author platform

- How to recognize when your message has evolved during writing and revision

Resources mentioned

Free Memoir Method Checklist

https://pageandpodium.com/checklist

Memoir Method 7-Step Structure Sequence

Develop your topic and message, build your narrative arc, create your outline, and get feedback before you draft:

https://pageandpodium.com/structure

Manuscript Review

Get a professional 10,000-foot view of your manuscript, including what’s working, what needs attention, and a step-by-step revision plan:

https://pageandpodium.com/manuscript

Page & Podium Blog

More resources on memoir writing, revision, publishing, and promotion:

https://pageandpodium.com/blog

Timestamps

0:00 Do You Know Your Memoir’s Message?

0:37 Free Memoir Method Checklist

1:19 Why Your Memoir Needs More Than a Good Story

3:05 What Is a Memoir Message?

3:34 Start With Your Memoir’s Topic

5:01 Topic Examples: Cancer, Career, and First Jobs

7:21 The Difference Between Topic and Message

7:51 Truth vs. Facts in Memoir

9:17 Building a Stronger Memoir Message

10:40 Your Message Does Not Have to Be Generic

11:28 Bringing Your Expertise Into the Message

13:39 Why Your Memoir Needs a Message

14:08 Message as a Filter for What Belongs

14:29 How Your Message Defines Your Platform

16:26 Using Your Message to Promote the Book

17:29 Your Message Can Keep Evolving

18:27 Why Your Message Helps You Keep Writing

19:52 Check #1: Is Your Message One Thing?

21:25 Check #2: Is It Big Enough and Small Enough?

23:45 Check #3: Has Your Message Evolved?

24:36 Memoir Method 7-Step Structure Sequence

25:26 Manuscript Review

26:23 What’s Coming Next

27:27 Final Reminder: Download the Checklist

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Want to know where AI can creep into your book project—even if you never intended to use it to “write your book”? This is the second episode in my four-part series on AI and nonfiction writing, and this time I’m walking through the places I’ve actually seen AI enter authors’ projects at every stage of the publishing process.

In this episode, I share real examples from writing, editing, cover design, and marketing. I talk about what happens when an LLM starts making repetitive writing choices, why AI can become especially tempting when you hit the blinking-cursor problem, how authors can accidentally outsource their editorial judgment, and why using AI to “just organize ideas” or “just brainstorm” may be doing more of the creative work than you realize.

I also explain why I keep coming back to the same concern: AI is most tempting when its certainty meets your insecurity. My professional recommendation is still to keep generative AI out of the creative work of writing your book—and to be cautious about the places it can slip into the rest of the publishing process too.

Key topics

- Why AI can enter a book project even when the author never planned to use it

- Why fear and insecurity make LLMs especially tempting

- Why AI-generated prose can become impossible to simply “edit”

- How outsourcing difficult passages can interrupt your development as a writer

- How LLMs can confidently validate an editorial opinion that is simply wrong

- Why AI-generated cover ideas can pull a book away from its genre and market

- Why “I’m just using it to brainstorm” may be more consequential than it sounds

Resources mentioned

Free Memoir Method Checklist

https://pageandpodium.com/checklist

Page & Podium Publishing

Learn more about our collaborative publishing process:

https://pageandpodium.com/publishing/

Manuscript Review

Get a professional 10,000-foot view of your manuscript, including what’s working, what needs attention, and a step-by-step revision plan:

https://pageandpodium.com/manuscript/

Page & Podium Blog

Writing, revision, publishing, and book-marketing resources:

https://pageandpodium.com/blog

Jess Sato: “Why I’m on an AI Detox”

Jess talks about how relying on AI for ideation and drafting affected her creativity—and what happened when she stepped away from it:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/why-im-on-an-ai-detox/id1712906510?i=1000785767092

Timestamps

0:00 How AI Is Creeping Into Book Projects

0:29 Part 2 of the Four-Part AI Series

0:59 Free Memoir Method Checklist

1:31 Why Authors Turn to AI

4:27 How Page & Podium Approaches Publishing

6:46 Start Here: AI in the Writing Process

7:44 AI-Generated Manuscripts

9:33 Repetition and AI Writing Patterns

11:25 Can AI Make It Harder to Write Without It?

13:17 AI in the Editing Process

15:04 When AI Writing Doesn’t Sound Like You

16:04 The Blinking-Cursor Problem

18:36 AI and Structural Editing

19:15 A Ghostwriting Example

22:04 Why You Shouldn’t Ask AI to Judge Your Editor

24:48 AI in Cover Design

27:24 When AI Sends a Cover Off Course

28:45 Why Comparable Titles Matter

30:27 AI in Book Marketing

31:54 AI and Thought Leadership

32:54 Jess Sato’s AI Detox

33:51 The Problem With “I’m Just Using AI For…”

35:17 What to Do If AI Is Already in Your Project

36:11 What’s Coming Next in the Series

36:38 Final Reminder: Download the Checklist

This is episode two of a four-part series on AI and nonfiction writing. In the next episode, I’ll dig further into how AI affects thought leadership and what happens when we begin outsourcing the thinking behind our ideas.

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Want to know whether AI has a place in your writing process? This is the first episode in a four-part series on AI and nonfiction writing, and we’re starting with the most important question: what happens when you let an LLM make creative choices for you?

Before you hand over your outline, your prose, or your voice, it helps to understand what writing actually requires—and what you may lose when generative AI starts making those decisions instead.

In this episode, I explain why I think of writing as a long series of choices, from your topic and structure all the way down to individual words. Then I look at what happens when AI starts making those choices instead, especially in the two areas where I see the biggest problems for nonfiction writers: voice and structure.

I also talk about the difference between generative AI and tools like spellcheck or grammar check, why AI can become especially tempting in the places where you already feel insecure, and why my professional recommendation is to keep generative AI out of the creative writing process.

Key topics

- How large language models generate writing

- Why AI-generated prose can sound clean but still flatten your voice (and how outsourcing word choice keeps you from becoming a stronger writer)

- Why AI-generated book structures often fail to support authors once they start drafting

- The difference between generative AI and tools like spellcheck or grammar check

- Why discernment matters when deciding whether to use a tool

Resources mentioned

Free Memoir Method Checklist

https://pageandpodium.com/checklist

Page & Podium Blog

More writing, revision, publishing, and book-marketing resources:

https://pageandpodium.com/blog

Timestamps

0:00 How Nonfiction Writers Should Think About AI

1:00 Free Memoir Method Checklist

1:33 Why I Went Down the AI Rabbit Hole

4:10 My Concerns About AI

7:03 How I Think About Writing

8:28 Writing Is a Series of Choices

9:54 Choosing Your Topic and Message

11:14 How Structure Creates More Choices

13:08 The Choices We Make While Writing

14:36 How Large Language Models Work

17:20 What AI Is Missing

18:40 The Two Biggest Risks: Voice and Structure

19:01 AI and Your Writing Voice

22:05 Why AI-Generated Structure Can Backfire

23:35 Where I Draw the Line on Generative AI

24:32 What About Grammarly and Spellcheck?

25:14 Discernment and AI

26:14 Why Insecurity Makes AI More Tempting

27:37 My Recommendation for Writers

28:27 Final Reminder: Download the Checklist

This is episode one of a four-part series on AI and nonfiction writing. In the next episode, I’ll walk through how AI is showing up at every stage of the writing and publishing process—and where I think authors need to be especially careful.

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Want to make your prose stronger at the sentence level? Before you start tweaking individual words, there’s one important rule: sentence-level editing comes last.

In this episode, I explain why you should finish drafting and structural revision before you start polishing your prose—and why editing too early can actually make perfectionism worse and keep you from finishing your book. Then I walk through three concrete sentence-level editing techniques you can use to make your writing tighter, clearer, and more intentional.

These are simple things you can actually search for in your manuscript, which makes them especially useful when you're ready to move from big-picture revision into the finer details of your prose.

Key topics

* Why sentence-level editing should come after structural revision

* What a reverse outline can show you about your manuscript

* Why polishing individual chapters too early can derail your draft

* How sentence editing can trigger perfectionism

* Why learning to tolerate imperfection is part of finishing a book

* How to use the word “and” to find unnecessary lists

* Why lists of similar adjectives can weaken your prose

* How searching for “of” can help you tighten wordy phrases

* Using possessives to make sentences shorter and stronger

* How to vary sentence length and structure

* Simple ways to rearrange sentences without completely rewriting them

* When it may be time to get professional feedback on your manuscript

Resources mentioned

**Free Memoir Method Checklist**

https://pageandpodium.com/checklist

**Manuscript Review**

Get a professional 10,000-foot view of your manuscript, including what’s working, what needs attention, and a step-by-step revision plan:

https://pageandpodium.com/manuscript

Timestamps

0:00 How to Strengthen Your Book’s Prose

0:30 Welcome to Page and Podium

0:40 Free Memoir Method Checklist

1:25 Why Sentence Editing Comes Last

2:17 Finish Structural Revisions First

6:40 Avoid Perfectionism While Drafting

11:20 Tip 1: Look for Lists and “And”

15:20 Tip 2: Tighten Phrases with “Of”

18:15 Tip 3: Vary Your Sentence Structure

20:25 Get a Manuscript Review

22:08 Final Reminder: Download the Checklist

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If you're writing a nonfiction book, you need an outline. Yes, even though you'll discover things as you write that you can't plan for now. Even if you already have years of content. And yes, even if you have the entire book mapped out in your head.

A strong outline gives you the 10,000-foot view of your book while you're down in the weeds writing individual sentences and chapters. It gives you a writing plan, helps you stay focused over a long drafting process, and keeps your ideas moving toward one cohesive book instead of several different books mashed together.

In this episode, I walk through three different ways to outline a nonfiction book depending on what you're writing: a narrative outline for memoir and narrative nonfiction, a content-based outline for authors who already have a lot of existing material, and a persuasive problem-cause-solution outline.

Key topics

* Why every nonfiction book needs an outline

* How an outline helps you see the whole book while you're drafting

* Using your outline as a practical writing plan

* Why an outline keeps a long-term project cohesive

* Three different ways to outline nonfiction

* The major structural beats of memoir and narrative nonfiction

* How to organize years of podcasts, newsletters, social posts, talks, and other content into a book

* How to build a topical outline using a simple spreadsheet

* Why problem-cause-solution works so well for persuasive nonfiction

* How to get professional feedback on your outline before you start drafting

Resources mentioned

**The Memoir Method: 7-Step Structure Sequence**

Work through the seven steps I use to help memoir writers build a strong narrative structure:

https://pageandpodium.com/structure

**Free guide for turning your existing content into a book**

If you've already created podcasts, social media posts, newsletters, talks, videos, or other content, start here:

https://pageandpodium.com/guide

**Outline Review**

Want professional eyes on your outline before you start—or keep—writing? Learn more about our Outline Review service:

https://pageandpodium.com/outline

Timestamps

0:00 Why Every Nonfiction Book Needs an Outline

1:16 How an Outline Gives You the Big Picture

3:45 How an Outline Becomes Your Writing Plan

6:29 How an Outline Keeps Your Book Cohesive

8:11 Three Ways to Outline a Nonfiction Book

9:56 Narrative Outlines for Memoir and Narrative Nonfiction

11:39 The Key Beats of a Narrative Outline

16:04 Memoir Structure Support

17:08 Content Outlines for Content Creators

18:23 How to Organize Existing Content into a Book

23:14 Persuasive Outlines: Problem, Cause, Solution

25:53 Final Advice and Outline Review Support

26:40 Closing

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Are You Expert Enough to Write a Book?

Who are you to write a book?

It’s a question I hear all the time from smart, accomplished people who have spent years—sometimes decades—building real expertise. And weirdly, the more you know, the easier it can be to convince yourself that what you know is obvious, unoriginal, or not quite enough.

In this episode, I’m digging into two forces that tend to keep expert authors stuck: **fear of visibility** and **the curse of expertise.**

Because sometimes we tell ourselves we’re afraid of putting ourselves out there when the deeper fear is actually the opposite: *What if I put myself out there and nobody cares?*

And sometimes we assume we’re not qualified enough simply because we’ve lived with our own knowledge for so long that we’ve forgotten how much we had to learn to get here.

If you’ve been sitting on a book idea while wondering whether you really have the authority to write it, I’ll give you three questions to help you separate genuine readiness concerns from the self-doubt that comes with claiming your expertise.

## In this episode:

* Why highly accomplished people still struggle to call themselves experts

* The fear of visibility—and the fear underneath it

* Why experts underestimate how valuable their knowledge is

* How fear of visibility and the curse of expertise reinforce each other

* Why wanting to write a book may tell you something important

* How writing a book can actually help you step more fully into your expertise

* Three questions to help you decide whether you’re ready to move forward

* Why asking **“If I could help people, why wouldn’t I?”** can change the way you think about writing your book

## The 3 questions:

1. **How many people would have to be helped by your book for writing it to be worth it?**

2. **Why would anyone care?**

3. **If you could help people, why wouldn’t you?**

## Timestamps

00:00 — Why so many people who want to write a book never do

01:41 — Why even accomplished experts question whether they know enough

03:13 — Are you actually unready—or talking yourself out of the book?

05:09 — Fear of visibility

06:10 — The deeper fear: what if nobody sees you?

08:27 — The curse of expertise

09:53 — How self-doubt and visibility fears reinforce each other

11:27 — Escaping the false binaries around expertise and visibility

12:48 — How writing a book can help you claim your expertise

13:46 — Examining your own relationship with visibility and expertise

15:55 — Question 1: How many people would need to be helped?

19:40 — Question 2: Why would anyone care?

23:06 — Question 3: If you could help people, why wouldn’t you?

26:20 — Moving forward with your book

## Ready to write your book?

Take the **Expert Author Quiz** to find out what kind of expert author you are, where your biggest strengths are, and what may get in your way as you move forward:

https://pageandpodium.com/quiz

And if you’d like support writing, finishing, or publishing your book, you can learn more about working with Page & Podium Press at:

https://pageandpodium.com

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If your book has been sitting untouched for a while, there’s a good chance you’ve already tried the obvious solution: push yourself harder.

Write more often. Get more disciplined. Set a deadline. Put your butt in the seat.

And if that worked, great. But if it hasn’t, this episode is for you.

Because one of the things I see all the time with stalled book projects is that the longer the book sits, the more we start making the problem about ourselves. We decide we’re lazy, undisciplined, too distracted, not a “real” writer, or maybe just incapable of finishing the thing.

That makes sitting down to write feel pretty terrible.

So in this episode, I’m talking about a different way to get unstuck: finding your way back to the part of the project that actually interests you.

We’ll talk about what happens when self-doubt starts running the writing process, how to reconnect with the reason you wanted to write the book in the first place, and six practical things you can try when writing has started to feel like a slog.

I also tell you why I bought myself a little kid’s watercolor set when I couldn’t make myself work on my memoir. It helped more than it had any business helping.

Take the Expert Author Quiz to find out what kind of book you should write and get personalized advice for moving it forward:

https://pageandpodium.com/quiz

Learn more about Page & Podium Press:

https://pageandpodium.com

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 Introduction

06:08 How books stall

08:31 Why the writing process gets harder after the easy beginning

10:47 When ADHD, self-doubt, and identity-level fear take over

11:39 Finding the seed of curiosity again

13:55 Tip 1 — Look for the other side of the coin

18:35 Tip 2 — Refocus on what the book is for

22:40 Tip 3 — Change the medium to unstick the idea

26:29 Tip 4 — Get around other writers and use body doubling

29:47 Tip 5 — Reconnect with what you enjoy about writing

33:19 Tip 6 — Do something ridiculous to restart creativity

36:28 You deserve to enjoy the writing process

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