How to write like a human? Write about dissociation, confusion, and melancholy!

What makes human writing distinct from A.I.-generated text? How can we craft literature that is so inherently human that machines could not even begin to replicate it?

A machine isn’t alive, so it lacks a sense of “selfness” or “personhood.” Therefore, a machine cannot write about human fragility, human irrationality, or human anxiousness in any meaningful way. Only humans can effectively write about human conditions such as dissociation, confusion, and melancholy.

Here's how to write like a human: write about dissociation, confusion, and melancholy in your fiction to stand out from the a.i. intruders.

How to write like a human: about dissociation, confusion, and melancholy. Photo credit: Ante Hamersmit

Dissociation

As a coping mechanism, dissociation helps those who have endured extreme stress or trauma to distance themselves from overwhelming stimuli, so they can set the more extreme anxieties apart from more mundane everyday difficulties.

People who suffer from disassociation describe the feeling as being one where “the brain moves slowly” and perhaps “not everything sticks”. It’s also reported that they feel they're running on “autopilot” while completing everyday tasks.

The human author can effectively illustrate this sense of “disconnect” by using sensory details, such as thoughts drifting away, or depicting the sense of detachment from one’s own body, and describing the feeling of being “a spectator in their own existence.”

A great tool to use is the stream of consciousness device, where you write from a first-person viewpoint to capture the many thoughts and emotions that an anxious person will juggle with, showing the “gaps between thoughts” and suggesting that a confused person's muddled memories will lead to poor decision-making. You could also describe unclear, uncertain, or limited moments during what a confused person might term as a “zoned out” period

A character suffering dissociation might also describe traumatic events unemotionally and by using a detached, “third-person” style of presentation to help 'cope' with the extremes of the memory.

How to write like a human: about dissociation, confusion, and melancholy. Photo credit: Luis Villasmil

Confusion

A character who is missing critical information, or has suffered cognitive overload, or has been provided with inconsistent evidence, or has suffered extreme emotional shock, or there have been language barriers, or the character has been deprived of sleep, or suffers neurological conditions, or suffers the effects of narcotic excess or uncontrollable addiction will be confused.

Some tips to write about confusion include:

* Write brief, unfinished phrases that may halt without a typical ending

* Think about the cadence and echoing of words or concepts within a character’s stream of consciousness.

* Consider using false starts in sentences that don't really “go anywhere”

* Offer questions that the character asks “of” themselves

* Reveal the character’s internal monologue to illustrate their confusion. Your writing style ought to include fragmented thinking, repetitive inquiries, and the type of internal dialogue that circles back to the same question again-and-again.

To highlight the issue, consider comparing a confused character to a composed one and then examine their responses to the same shared event or problem. Your comparison of two individual characters should focus on their patience levels, irritation, empathy (or lack thereof), and how they processed the information the were given.

How to write like a human: about dissociation, confusion, and melancholy. Photo credit: Taya Iv

Melancholy

Melancholy is a contemplative sadness that usually arises without any clear reason.

The reasons behind the melancholy might be discernible for a fleeting moment, but the reasons for a bout of melancholia are frequently indistinct or insubstantial and often too difficult to articulate. From an external viewpoint, melancholy can appear to have a strong hold on someone, even though it’s only a temporary thing.

Typically, melancholy stems from sadness that's linked to memory, and often it's a happy or bittersweet memory so the sufferer might be smiling or even seem pleased when viewed by outsiders, though the sufferer might also seem distant. The author must disclose the ‘past secret’ to understand the melancholia’s origin.

It is said that melancholy can manifest itself like a “bag of rocks” tied to a person's legs, pulling the individual “under the waves”. This sense of drowning or suffocation should be explored.

Best of luck with your writing. Let me know how you get on!

© Neil Mach April 2026

Neil Mach is a prolific English author known for his clean urban fantasy fiction (like his popular 'Moondog' series) and his historical fiction works. Neil is also a well-known public speaker, and a creativity advisor. Neil has a background as a rock journalist. He frequently shares his expertise on writing and the music business, particularly rock music history, and has written over 20 books, and he often addresses writing workshops. Since its launch in 2019, his extremely popular Myth & Magic podcast has provided enthusiasts of fantasy literature and fantasy art with over 125 hours of audio enjoyment.