Testing Writesonic:

Well, I did it. After weeks of research and plenty of nervous procrastination, I finally took the plunge and signed up for Writesonic. As promised in my last post, I’m sharing everything, the good, the frustrating, and the “wait, how do I do this again?” moments that come with learning new technology in midlife.

The Sign-Up Experience: Not as Scary as Expected

Let me start with the good news: signing up was surprisingly straightforward. I’m the person who usually needs my kids to help me figure out new apps, so I was prepared for confusion. But Writesonic’s registration process was refreshingly simple: just email, password, and I was in.

They offer a free trial with 25 credits (more on what that actually means later), which felt like a safe way to test the waters without committing money up front. No credit card required for the trial, which I appreciated. Too many services these days try to sneak charges past you.

The welcome screen was clean and not overwhelming, something I’ve come to value highly when dealing with new technology. They had a little tutorial pop-up, which I read (unlike my usual approach of clicking “Skip” on everything).

First Impressions: Clean Interface, But Where Do I Start?

Opening Write Sonic for the first time felt a bit like walking into a well-organised toolshed – everything looked useful, but I wasn’t immediately sure what tool I needed for what job. The interface is clean and professional, which I liked, but there were so many options: AI Article Writer, Blog Ideas, Product Descriptions, Social Media Posts, and dozens more.

The dashboard shows your credit balance prominently (I started with 25), and there’s a helpful sidebar with different content types. What I found reassuring was that each tool had a brief description of what it does, so I wasn’t completely lost.

My first thought was: “Okay, this doesn’t look terrifying.” My second thought was: “But how do I actually write a blog post with this thing?”

The Learning Process: Steeper Than Expected

Here’s where my experience diverged from the “beginner-friendly” promises I’d read about. While the interface is clean, actually getting good results took more learning than I anticipated.

My first attempt was trying to write a blog post about “retirement planning tips.” I used their AI Article Writer, typed in my topic, and hit generate. What came back was… generic. Very generic. It read like a textbook entry about retirement planning, technically accurate but completely lacking personality or the practical insights that would make it valuable for my audience.

This is when I realised that these AI tools aren’t magic content generators, they’re more like very sophisticated assistants that need clear instructions. I spent the better part of my first week learning how to write better “prompts” (the instructions you give the AI).

The learning curve was manageable but real. I watched several YouTube tutorials and read their help documentation. By the end of week one, I was getting significantly better results, but it definitely required an investment of time and patience.

Real Content Creation: My First Success (And Failures)

Let me share some specific examples from my experience creating content for makingmoneymidlife.com:

Success: Blog Post Outlines

Where Writesonic really shone was helping me create detailed blog post outlines. I asked it to create an outline for “Starting an Online Business After 50: A Realistic Guide” and it generated a comprehensive structure with 8 main sections and relevant subpoints. This took what usually takes me an hour of brainstorming and turned it into a 5-minute task.

Mixed Results: Full Article Generation

Full articles were hit-or-miss. When I provided detailed prompts with specific angles, target audience information, and key points to cover, the results were quite good, definitely usable with some editing. But when I was vague with my instructions, the output was bland and generic.

For example, when I asked for “an article about side hustles,” I got a generic list that could have been written for anyone. But when I specified “side hustles for people over 45 who want to supplement their income without leaving their day jobs, focusing on realistic time commitments and start-up costs,” the article was much more targeted and useful.

Frustration: Social Media Content

The social media post generator was my biggest disappointment. The posts it created felt robotic and were packed with hashtags that seemed randomly chosen. They lacked the authentic voice that’s crucial for social media engagement, especially for my demographic, who can spot “salesy” content from a mile away.

What Worked Well: The Pleasant Surprises

• Speed for Initial Drafts: Once I learned how to prompt effectively, I could get a solid first draft of a 1,500-word article in about 10 minutes. That’s transformative when you’re trying to maintain a regular publishing schedule.
• Overcoming Writer’s Block: On days when I sat staring at a blank screen, Writesonic helped me get started. Even if I ended up rewriting most of it, having something on the page was psychologically helpful.
• Content Ideas: The Blog Ideas generator was surprisingly useful. I input “midlife entrepreneurs” and got a list of 20 relevant topics I hadn’t considered.
• SEO Optimisation: The tool includes basic SEO suggestions, which helped me think about keyword placement without getting too technical about it.
• Multiple Versions: You can generate several versions of the same content and pick the best elements from each, very helpful for getting different angles on the same topic.

What Didn’t Work: The Reality Check

• The Editing Requirement: Don’t believe anyone who tells you AI-generated content is ready to publish as-is. Everything needed significant editing to match my voice and add the personal insights my readers expect.
• Factual Accuracy Issues: I caught several instances where the AI stated outdated information or made claims that weren’t quite accurate. This meant I had to fact-check everything, which added time back into the process.
• Repetitive Phrasing: Longer articles tended to repeat the same points or phrases. I found myself doing a lot of restructuring to avoid redundancy.
• Lack of Personal Voice: This was the biggest limitation. The content felt generic unless I spent considerable time editing it to match my writing

style and perspective.

• Credit Consumption: I burned through my trial credits much faster than expected. Generating multiple versions of content or making revisions ate up credits quickly.

---

What I Found: One substantial blog post (1,500+ words) used approximately 8-12 credits, depending on how many revisions I generated. For someone publishing 2-3 posts per week, the Individual plan might be tight, but the Standard plan felt excessive for my current needs.

Time Investment vs Results: The Honest Math

This is the question that matters most to us: does it actually save time? The answer is complicated.

Learning Phase (Weeks 1-2): I probably spent more time learning the tool than I saved using it. This included watching tutorials, reading documentation, and experimenting with different approaches.

Getting Proficient (Weeks 3-4): Once I understood how to prompt effectively, I was definitely saving time on initial drafts. What used to take me 3-4 hours to write from scratch, I could now draft in about an hour and then spend 1-2 hours editing.

The Reality: It’s not a magic time-saver, but it is a useful tool. The time savings are real, but so is the editing requirement. If you’re hoping to cut your writing time in half, that’s realistic. If you’re hoping to eliminate the writing process entirely, you’ll be disappointed.

Would I Recommend It? The Honest Assessment

For midlife entrepreneurs specifically, my recommendation is cautiously positive, with important caveats.

You should consider Writesonic if: You’re comfortable with a learning curve, you need help overcoming writer’s block, you’re willing to invest time in editing, and you have a regular content creation schedule that justifies the monthly cost.

You should probably skip it if: You’re looking for a magic solution that eliminates the need for writing skills, you’re on a very tight budget, you only need content occasionally, or you’re not comfortable learning new technology systems.

The tool works, but it’s not a replacement for developing your own writing skills and voice. Think of it as a writing assistant, not a ghostwriter. For my situation, trying to maintain a regular blog while learning about online business, it’s been helpful enough to justify the cost, but just barely.

Lessons Learned for Fellow Midlifers

If you decide to try Writesonic (or any AI writing tool), here are my practical recommendations:

1. Start with the free trial: Use all 25 credits to really test different features before committing to a paid plan.
2. Invest time in learning to prompt: The quality of your output is directly related to the quality of your instructions.
3. Plan for editing time: Budget at least as much time for editing as you save on initial drafting.
4. Track your credit usage: Monitor how quickly you use credits to choose the right plan.
5. Focus on outlines and ideas: These features provide the most value with the least editing required.
6. Fact-check everything: Don’t publish AI-generated content without verifying the information.

What’s Next: The Testing Journey Continues

My Writesonic experiment has taught me valuable lessons about AI writing tools in general. The technology is impressive but not magic. These tools can enhance your content creation process, but they can’t replace the need for expertise, editing, and authentic voice.

Next up, I’m planning to test Jasper AI, which several readers have recommended. I’m particularly curious to see how it compares in terms of output quality and whether the higher price point translates to better results.

Share Your Experience: Have you tried Writesonic or other AI writing tools? I’d love to hear about your experience, both the successes and the frustrations. What questions should I be asking as I test other tools? And if there’s a specific AI tool you’d like me to test and review from a midlife entrepreneur’s perspective, let me know. We’re all learning together, and your input helps me focus on what actually matters for our demographic.

I’m also considering testing some of the newer, more specialised tools – perhaps something focused specifically on email marketing or social media content, since those were Writesonic’s weaker areas.

Remember, these tools are evolving rapidly, and what’s true today might change in six months. But for now, Writesonic sits in my toolkit as a useful assistant, not a replacement for human creativity and insight, but a legitimate helper in the content creation process.

The journey of building an online business in midlife continues to be full of learning curves, but that’s part of what makes it interesting. Here’s to embracing new technology while keeping our expectations realistic and our wallets protected.