CTRL + Think!: A Human Writer's Guide to AI
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2025
Pages: 400
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$65.00 USD
CTRL+Think! A Human Writer’s Guide to AI is a guidebook and workbook for writers navigating the opportunities and challenges of generative AI. Designed for collegiate-level readers and beyond, it works both inside and/or outside the classroom, allowing readers to move at their own pace as a reflective guide, a hands-on workbook, or both.
At the center of the book is the PTC framework (Prompt–Tweak–Critique), an original method that treats prompting as an act of thinking rather than instruction-following, and centers critical thinking from the beginning to the end of all AI interactions. Through PTC, readers learn to strengthen critical thinking skills by interacting with AI mindfully and deliberately: analyzing responses, revising their own prompts, and making informed rhetorical and ethical choices. AI is framed not as a shortcut or authority, but as a thinking partner that requires clarity, judgment, and human agency. Readers are even encouraged to creatively use AI’s flaws and challenges to their advantage.
Blending practical exercises with creative nonfiction and a philosophy of writing and thinking, CTRL+Think! addresses real-world AI concerns such as authorship, bias, misinformation, creativity, military issues, job displacement, and responsible use. An optional Classroom Companion supports instructors with adaptable activities, pedagogical context, and rubric-building guidance, while remaining fully accessible to independent learners. Encouraging and collaborative in tone, the book invites readers to engage honestly with the difficulty of writing and the complexity of working alongside AI.
Chapter One: Fire In Both Hands
Chapter Two: The Most Important Chapter in This Book
Chapter Three: From Thinking About AI to Actually Using It (Responsibly)
Chapter Four: Even Semicolons Get the Blues
Chapter Five: Putting the “PRE” Back in Prewriting
Chapter Six: What the Blank? Getting a Draft off the Ground
Chapter Seven: Editing and Revision Zone: Proceed With Clarity
Chapter Eight: Potential Light, Possible Sound: Better Living Through Argumentation
PART II: WORKBOOK
Chapter A: Every Problem is a Beginning
Chapter B: What’s Your Problem?
Chapter C: Booster Rockets and Capsules of Intent: Researching Your Chosen Problem
Chapter D: We have lift-off! Drafting Your Proposal
Chapter E: Editing and Revision: From Rough to Ready
Chapter F: Plant Your Flag on Proposal Peak: Submitting or Publishing Your Final Draft
Leif Erickson is a professor of Humanities at Bluegrass Community and Technical College with 29 years of experience teaching writing at multiple levels. He holds an MA in Rhetoric and Composition and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction, and his teaching and writing center on the idea that language is inseparable from thought and human agency.
Rather than resisting or banning AI, Erickson approaches it from a critical, practical place, aiming to make thoughtful use of a technology that is both powerful and deeply problematic, and not going away anytime soon. He is especially interested in the ancient human practice of forming thoughts through words, and in how AI can be used to sharpen that practice rather than replace or dull it. His work emphasizes mindful interaction, ethical judgment, and the idea that writing is not just a product, but a way of thinking.
These days, Erickson is at work on a genre-bending novel that combines satire, adventure, comedy, science fiction, and historical fiction. Across his teaching and creative projects, he remains committed to keeping writing human, difficult, curious, and alive.