Not saying it's the only option. But it certainly is one, and well, technology evolve, and lures us in seductive ways into giving up on efforts and all...that's the problem I'm fighting against

I really, really don’t understand how people see LLMs as the only options for stuff like this…

We can't tell that is what the OP thinks and I would rather not assume anything. But if that was the case, I would imagine OP is from this generation that seems to have completely lost connection with the written word. It's a huge loss for them (and for the whole society), a dramatic one even but one can't realize how tragic it is, and how much they are losing, if they don't have an opportunity to experiment what it's like to be writing (and reading).

To the OP, if you're wondering about writing in a journal (paper or digital, it's up to you but be assured it can be private), feel free to come say hello in the !journaling@sh.itjust.works. I'm the admin there and if there isn't much activity going on, I'm pretty sure this kind of situations may be of interest to way more people than we imagine. At the very least, if you have questions I will do my best to answer them, hopefully others would chime in too ;)

Edit to clear: not being able to read/write long-form content anymore is a tragic loss for younger generations, and that will cost dear to most of them because the few that will have learned to master those 'low-tech' activities, and to focus their attention, will outperform the others and they're the ones that will get the all the rewards we associate with 'winning'. But if they're the ones that will pay, for the most part they're not at fault. It is us, the adults that were supposed to be educating them, that are responsible. We failed. Hard. Now, they will pay the price.