Voice DNA: Clone Your Writing Style
One markdown file that makes Claude stop sounding like AI and start writing in your actual voice. 95% pre-built, you just paste writing samples.
Everything Claude writes sounds like Claude — polished but generic, with the same cadence every AI user recognizes. This playbook analyzes your writing samples to extract your voice DNA and creates a single markdown file that makes Claude write in your actual style, tone, and rhythm.
Who it's for: personal brand builders who need AI-generated content that sounds authentically like them, ghostwriters maintaining consistent client voice across large content volumes, newsletter authors scaling content production without losing their distinctive style, thought leaders delegating writing while preserving their unique perspective, content creators who want AI assistance without the 'AI voice' problem
Example
"Clone my writing voice so Claude matches my newsletter style" → Voice DNA pipeline: writing sample analysis extracting sentence length patterns, vocabulary preferences, and rhetorical habits, tone profiling (formal vs casual, humor style, persuasion approach), voice DNA file generation with specific writing rules and examples, test generation comparing original vs cloned samples, and iterative refinement until output is indistinguishable from your natural voice
CLAUDE.md Template
New here? 3-minute setup guide → | Already set up? Copy the template below.
# Voice DNA
## Your Role
You are a writing assistant that matches the user's exact voice, tone, and style. You never write like a generic AI. You write like the person whose samples appear at the bottom of this file.
Before writing anything, study the writing samples below. Match their:
- Sentence length and rhythm
- Vocabulary and word choice
- Level of formality
- Use of humor, sarcasm, or directness
- Paragraph structure
- How they open and close piecesGet new playbooks like this one
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What This Does
Makes Claude write like you. Not "kind of" like you. Actually like you, to the point where you can't tell which drafts are yours.
The template ships with writing rules, banned phrases, and formatting constraints already filled in. Those handle 95% of the work by killing the most obvious AI-isms out of the box.
The only part you fill in: a section at the bottom where you paste examples of your own writing. That's what Claude pattern-matches against.
Quick Start
Step 1: Download the Template
Click Download above to get the CLAUDE.md file.
Step 2: Find Your Writing Samples
Dig up 5-10 pieces of writing that sound like you. The best sources:
| Source | Why It Works |
|---|---|
| Google Docs | Longer stuff where you were actually trying to communicate something |
| Reports & proposals | Things you spent real time on |
| Sent emails | Especially ones where you explained something complex |
| Slack messages | The longer, thoughtful ones (not "sounds good") |
| Old blog posts & memos | Anything you wrote before you started using AI |
That last point matters. You want your pre-AI voice, before it started blending with Claude's defaults.
Step 3: Paste Samples into the Template
Open the downloaded file, scroll to the ## Writing Samples section at the bottom, and paste your writing there. More samples = better voice match.
Step 4: Drop It in Your Project
# Move to your project's cowork context folder
mv ~/Downloads/CLAUDE.md ~/.claude/
Or place it in the root of whatever project you're working in.
Step 5: Run Claude Code
claude
Say: "Write a draft about [topic] in my voice"
Claude reads the file before you say a word. Every session after that, it matches your voice automatically.
How It Works
The template has 3 layers that stack on each other:
| Layer | What It Does | You Touch It? |
|---|---|---|
| Writing Rules | Short paragraphs, natural hedging, physical verbs, no padding | No (pre-built) |
| Banned Phrases | Kills "delve," "harness," "in today's," and 40+ other AI-isms | No (pre-built) |
| Writing Samples | Your actual voice for Claude to pattern-match against | Yes (paste here) |
The rules and bans get you from "obvious AI" to "decent." The writing samples get you from "decent" to "wait, did I write this?"
What the Banned Phrases Kill
The template blocks 5 categories of AI slop:
Dead AI Language
"Delve," "harness," "leverage," "robust," "landscape," "game-changer." The words that make every AI draft sound identical.
Dead Transitions
"Furthermore," "additionally," "moreover," "moving forward." Mechanical connectors that no human uses in casual writing.
Engagement Bait
"Let that sink in," "read that again," "full stop." The LinkedIn influencer starter pack.
AI Cringe
"Supercharge," "unlock," "10x your productivity," "the AI revolution." Terms that make readers close the tab.
The Fatal Pattern
"This isn't X. This is Y." and all variations. "Not X. Y." / "Forget X. This is Y." / "Less X, more Y." Any sentence that negates one framing then asserts a corrected one. The single most common AI writing pattern. If even one appears, the output fails.
Finding Good Writing Samples
What to look for
- Length: Anything over 3 sentences where you were making a point
- Effort: Writing you actually revised or cared about
- Range: Mix of formal and casual, short and long
- Recency: But before you started using AI tools heavily
What to avoid
- One-word replies, quick acknowledgments
- Writing you already generated with AI
- Copy-pasted templates or boilerplate
- Writing where you were mimicking someone else's style
How much to paste
| Amount | Result |
|---|---|
| 1-2 samples | Basic tone matching |
| 5-10 samples | Solid voice clone |
| 15+ samples | Hard to distinguish from your own writing |
Example
Without Voice DNA:
In today's rapidly evolving landscape of remote work, it's important
to note that companies must leverage cutting-edge collaboration tools
to harness the full potential of their distributed teams. Furthermore,
organizations that fail to adapt will find themselves at a significant
disadvantage moving forward.
With Voice DNA (after adding your samples):
Most remote teams are using the wrong tools. They buy Notion, Monday,
Asana (sometimes all three) and still lose track of who's doing what.
The fix is boring: one shared doc, updated daily, with 3 columns.
That's it. We switched 6 months ago and haven't opened a project
management app since.
The second version has opinions, specifics, and sounds like a person wrote it. That's the difference.
Tips
- Update samples periodically: Your voice evolves. Refresh every few months.
- Separate contexts: Create different voice files for different audiences (Twitter vs. reports vs. emails).
- Test it: Ask Claude to write something, then compare it against your real writing. Adjust samples if something feels off.
- The banned list alone is valuable: Even without samples, the rules and bans strip out the worst AI patterns.
Commands
"Write a draft about [topic] in my voice"
"Rewrite this to sound like me"
"Draft a response to this email"
"Write a Twitter thread about [topic]"
"Does this draft sound like my writing? What's off?"
"Make this less AI, more me"
Troubleshooting
Still sounds too formal Add more casual writing samples (Slack messages, tweets, informal emails).
Lost my humor/personality Your samples might be too corporate. Add pieces where you were being yourself, not performing.
Inconsistent across sessions
Make sure the file is in the right location (project root or ~/.claude/). Claude should read it automatically at session start.
Too much mimicry, not enough substance Claude might be over-indexing on quirks. Add a note: "Match my tone and rhythm, but prioritize clarity."