I recall developing my own secret codes as a ten year old. At first I just moved letters from one position to another in the alphabet–an easy to break code. Then I decided that the letters would move depending on the number of lines from the top of the page. That new twist created a code that only I could understand. However, if I ran my secret messages through a computer program designed to break ciphers, it probably wouldn’t remain secret very long. Did that idea bother me? Not at all. There is little purpose in writing if only I can comprehend my words. That is the quandary of writing in a unique style.

We all build our preference for writing based on input from other people. The purpose of teaching spelling, grammar and composition in school is so the rest of the world can understand and sometimes even enjoy our writing. But, many authors still desire a voice that is recognizable. Our reading preferences, professors and especially friends and family shape that voice. My mother told me not to repeat the same words but pull from the vast number of synonyms in English. The positive result for me was developing a large vocabulary. She also fretted about ending sentences with a preposition. I should not write “As the sunlight spilled into the room, I woke up.” She insisted another word must follow the preposition. I was supposed to write “…I woke up slowly.”

Now, when people quote rules by authors when I use the evil “ly” adjectives, I consider them in the same light as my mother–providing advice that can be ignored. Phrasal verbs (those ending with a preposition) can be placed at the end of a sentence. The useful “ly” adverbs still express shades of meaning. People who disagree with my conclusions should consider their choices as stylistic ones–not grammatical rules for writing. In case you haven’t lived long enough to notice, grammar rules don’t remain static, either.

No one’s writing style is built without input from other people, but that doesn’t make it sound the same. You could blame similar sounding text on the propensity to let AI crank out a lot of content. The true culprit is the human tendency towards conformity. Most people desire to write like other people for the same reason that they want to wear current fashions. During my high school years my brother was embarrassed to stand at the end of the street waiting for the bus with me. I combined hand-me-downs and handmade accessories into atypical outfits, not tasteless but the other girls didn’t look like me. People use AI tools because they don’t want their writing to be embarrassing. However, that doesn’t force everyone to write in the same style that AI determines as the proper average. Some of us were born stubborn non-conformists and will remain that way.