Compound Writing: How I Turned My Process Into a Plugin

The usual question about AI writing is “Did a human write this, or did AI?” We think that’s the wrong frame. Writing is a process of thinking, developing ideas, drafting, editing, and publishing. AI can help throughout, but AI doesn’t write. People write with AI, well or poorly.

At Every, we’ve explored this for years. Dan Shipper wrote an early guide to writing essays with AI, Katie Parrott has documented her process in Working Overtime, and Laura Entis recently argued in defense of the practice. We’ve also shared how our editorial team uses AI and published guidelines requiring human authors to stand behind every piece.

How We Write Now is a series about those processes. We’re starting with Compound Writing, a plugin and guide Katie has spent six months building and using. Inspired by Kieran Klaassen’s Compound Engineering and Dan’s agent-native architectures, it provides reusable skills for developing ideas, shaping drafts, reviewing work, and carrying what you learn into the next piece—all around your voice and standards. Katie also joined Natalia Quintero, Every’s head of consulting, on AI & I to talk about how we use AI in editorial work. In the weeks that follow, Laura will report on how professional writers are using AI, Mike Taylor will share his own process, and we’ll close it out with a live write-along.—Kate Lee

A few years ago, when I was living in South Florida, I took a trip down the Overseas Highway to Key West. As an English major and unabashed lover of problematic literary men, that meant a mandatory pilgrimage to the Ernest Hemingway house.

I wandered through the high-ceilinged rooms and grounds full of six-toed cats, half-listening to the tour guide’s story about Pauline replacing Hemingway’s boxing ring with a pool out of spite while internally wondering when we’d get to the main event: Hemingway’s writing studio.