AI Flavor Handbook

Find what makes your draft sound like AI, and fix it

97 habits of machine-made writing. Each one has a plain name, what to look for, the fix, and a before-and-after. Read it in your browser, one flavor at a time.

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The handbook's All flavors page: one flavor card from each layer, such as Says serves as where is would do, Too many long dashes, Sets up a fake contrast and Ends on a generic wrap-up line, each with a struck-through AI sentence and a better one in green.

Try it on your own draft

Paste a few sentences. This page checks them against the handbook's phrase lists, right here in your browser. Nothing is sent or saved.

Paste a few sentences from a draft

Here's the thing: in today's fast-moving landscape, content isn't about quantity, it's about quality. Let's dive in.

What the handbook would flag

A word AI writing overuses
Layer 1, Words · found “landscape”
Sets up a fake contrast
Layer 3, Sentence patterns · found “content isn't about quantity, it's about quality”
Announces the point instead of making it
Layer 3, Sentence patterns · found “Here's the thing”
Acts casual instead of being specific
Layer 5, Tone and register · found “Here's the thing”

The fix, the before-and-after and what not to flag for each one are in the handbook. Get your copy

Why a banned-words list is not enough

AI drafts come back smooth, and readers still notice. The same fake contrast, the same grand opener, a claim with nothing behind it. Each one hands the reader work the writer skipped: they have to guess what you meant, or decide whether to trust you.

A list of banned words catches “delve” and “tapestry”. It misses the sentence shapes, the empty claims and the depth a draft lost on the way. The handbook covers all nine layers, from single words to the thinking.

New to the nine layers? Start with the free guide: How to Make AI Writing Sound Human.

Before and after

Every flavor comes with examples like these.

Sets up a fake contrast

"It is not about the prompt. It is about the context."

"Context controls the output."

Uses a fancy word for a plain one

"This file empowers users to create more authentic writing."

"This file tells the model which habits to avoid before it writes."

Weighs both sides, picks neither

"Writers must balance efficiency with authenticity."

"Use AI to clean the draft. Do not let it remove the fingerprints."

Built from real checks

Jenny Ouyang, Build to Launch. This is the library I check my own drafts against.

The same library runs my own drafting checks and the AI Writing skill on the Build to Launch MCP.
Every automated question was tested on labelled samples before I trusted it: 92% for misused tables, 91% for comparison tear-downs, 88% for stock closing lines, 81% to 85% for inflated significance. The questions that failed stay off.
Many flavors come with a “Do not flag” list, so you keep the lines that only look like AI and protect your own voice.

Three ways in

Start from a layer

Nine layers, from single words and punctuation to empty claims and lost depth. Read one layer at a time.

Start from a feeling

Too grand, said twice, no position. Pick what your draft feels like, ask its one question, and check only those flavors.

Paste a sentence

The search marks the phrases that give a draft away and shows the flavor behind each one.

What's inside

97: flavors, each with a plain name you can remember
9: layers in three groups, from the surface to the thinking
10: feelings to start from when you can't yet say what is wrong
1: page of rules for fixing a draft without making it sound worse

Get your copy

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