A good writing prompt isn't a magic trick. It's a checklist you don't have to remember, run by something that never gets bored.
Anchor to one reader
Lock the parts that never change and leave one slot for the variable. Now every run shares a family resemblance instead of starting from scratch.
Keep a negative list
Write down what you never want as explicitly as what you do. The exclusions often do more work than the instructions.
- Name the audience and the single goal before you generate
- Save the prompt that worked so the next person reuses it
- Ask for three angles, then cut to the one worth shipping
Cut before you polish
Ask for the reasoning, then the result. When the model shows its steps you can see exactly where to push back.
- Save the prompt that worked so the next person reuses it
- Lower the reading level, then check what broke
- Name the audience and the single goal before you generate
Ask for the reasoning, then the result. When the model shows its steps you can see exactly where to push back.