Sabina Varga

How to Use AI in Content Without Losing Your Voice

Sabina Varga — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 08:58:14 +0000

One thing I’ve started telling my content marketing clients more often lately: don’t send me AI-written first drafts.

The issue isn’t AI itself, as I use it myself for some writing tasks. The issue is what gets lost when you start with AI. I’ll explain.

Part of my work as a content marketing strategist involves helping executives turn ideas into articles, newsletters, LinkedIn posts, and other forms of thought leadership.…

Writing at Work (2026 Survey): Clarity, AI, and Lacking Standards

Sabina Varga — Wed, 06 May 2026 08:26:40 +0000

By Sabina Varga, independent content marketing strategist

Workplace writing has never been more central to how businesses operate, as most knowledge workers now spend more hours writing and reading than they do in meetings. And it has never been more automated. The result, according to my 2026 Writing at Work survey, is that today’s workforce produces and consumes more text than ever, with less agreement than ever about what makes any of it good.…

Content as a System, Not Just Parts

Sabina Varga — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 07:17:32 +0000

Treat content as a system, or it won’t work.

The idea of looking at content holistically, not just as parts, isn’t new, though in my experience, few really apply it. And, lately, I’ve seen it framed as something new, driven by AI (of course, everything is nowadays) and changing SEO and social media algorithms.

While “content as a system” isn’t something AI brought about, AI’s way of citing and handling content is forcing people to take this approach more seriously.

…

Writing Takes Time, Direction, and a Bit of Pain

Sabina Varga — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 07:02:23 +0000

Lessons from my conversation with José Luís Peixoto

I met José Luís Peixoto at FILIT in 2021 where I interviewed him for Zest Podcast. Today I’m revisiting some of the ideas that stuck with me, because there were plenty.

Decide before you start

José told me he’s strict about knowing where a book is going before he begins.

Not every detail needs to be fixed, but the essential ones — especially the ending — should be clear.…

The Yoda Approach to Writing

Sabina Varga — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 07:42:36 +0000

A few years ago, on Zest Podcast, I had the chance to speak with journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner Jacqui Banaszynski about writing, motivation, and the ever-present topic of writer’s block.

Jacqui has spent decades reporting, editing, and teaching journalism. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988 and today edits Nieman Storyboard and mentors writers worldwide.

Our conversation started with writer’s block, but expanded into how writing works when you treat it as a craft rather than a mystical act.…

Write Like No One Is Going to Read It

Sabina Varga — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 16:21:52 +0000

When Markus Zusak joined the Zest Podcast at FILIT Iași, he voiced an idea that many aspiring writers secretly carry: no one is going to read this.

While writing The Book Thief, he believed it would be his least successful book. As he put it during our conversation, how could anyone enthusiastically recommend a novel that is “set in Nazi Germany, narrated by Death, nearly everybody dies, and it’s 580 pages long”?…

AI Can Help You Write. But It Won’t Make You Credible

Sabina Varga — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 17:18:25 +0000

So much of today’s business writing simply lacks credibility.

AI is part of the problem, but only because it proliferates it. Bad writing existed way before ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude.

The truth is that if you know how to write well without AI, you can also direct AI to write well for you.

If you have no clue what a good email, presentation, or report sounds like, tools won’t help much.…

What “Good Writing” Means in a Business Context

Sabina Varga — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 15:15:23 +0000

Many people are afraid that they’re going to write badly, when, in fact, there is no common definition of “good”. Or maybe that’s the problem. How can you orient yourself when “good writing” is so subjective?

In math, 2+2=4 is a correct equation, and that’s the end of the story. In writing, you can respect grammar rules, but still end up with a bad sentence.…

Ce să faci în Tenerife (în 46 de zile sau mai puțin)

Sabina Varga — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 10:32:52 +0000

Un loc cu primăvară perpetuă. O insulă cu plaje line și abrupte. Multe cărări de explorat și peisaje de admirat, de la culmile selenare ale vulcanilor, la canioane în care mișună șopârle printre cactuși și palmieri.

Am ales Tenerife mai întâi pentru o vacanță de o săptămână, la finalul lui august 2024. Apoi am plănuit o ședere mai lungă, de aproape șapte săptămâni, la începutul lui 2025 — din dorința de mult coaptă de a scăpa de iarna autohtonă.…

Când se lasă seara peste București

Sabina Varga — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 19:27:38 +0000

Mă întorc spre mine și zic, unde ești?

Am mintea goală. Sau plină de ceață. Oricum, nu se vede mare lucru. Arunc resturi de mâncare cu tot cu cuvinte, idei și păreri. Pun vasele în mașină și-mi spăl vinovăția. M-am enervat, poate am țipat. Am zis: fii și tu cooperant!

Mă uit în zare și trag de o bere rece. Iau cartea cu mine, o las lângă picior și citesc subtitrări pe TikTok.…