Writing & editing
Ask a model to "improve" your writing and it will hand back something longer, smoother and emptier. The prompts below are built the other way round. They set a target (cut 30%, one idea per paragraph, no word a reader would have to look up), they ask to see what changed and why, and several of them instruct the model to leave alone anything that already works. Use them on a draft you are close to sending, a paragraph that reads badly for reasons you cannot name, or notes you need to turn into something a person can read.
36 prompts in 5 groups
Writing & editing21 categories
Cutting and compressing
Getting a draft shorter, to a word count, or down to a summary that still says everything.
- Cut this by 30% without losing meaningLongAny draft that says what you mean but takes too long to say it.
- Get this to an exact word countLongA hard limit: 200 words for a bio, 100 for an abstract, a character cap on a form.
- Summarise at three lengthsLongYou need a one-liner, an abstract and a briefing from the same document.
- Cut 30%, change nothing elseShortA draft that is right but long.
- One sentenceShortYou need the version someone can repeat back accurately.
- Two lengths, both standaloneMediumYou need a short version and a shorter one from the same draft.
- Same length, more saidMediumA paragraph that is the right size and the wrong density.
Clarity and plain language
Stripping jargon and abstraction until a reader gets it on the first pass.
- Strip the jargon outLongCorporate or technical writing that has stopped meaning anything.
- Rewrite at a lower reading levelLongContent for a general audience, a non-native reader, or a nervous one.
- Plain-language rewrite of something officialLongPolicy, legal, terms, HR copy, or anything written defensively.
- Make this concreteLongWriting full of abstractions that could describe almost anything.
- Say it plainlyShortProse that sounds professional and communicates nothing.
- Remove the jargonShortWriting that has quietly stopped meaning anything.
- What is the actual point?ShortA paragraph you wrote that you suspect is saying nothing.
Structure and flow
Order, openings, endings, headlines and the joins that hold a piece together.
- Fix the structure before I write moreLongYou have a draft or a pile of points and the order feels wrong.
- Twenty titles, then pick oneLongNaming a post, a talk, an email subject line, or a section heading.
- Fix the joins between paragraphsLongEach paragraph is fine but the piece reads like a list of unrelated things.
- Rewrite the opening so it earns the next lineLongA first paragraph that warms up for three sentences before starting.
- Write an ending that isn't a summaryLongDrafts that trail off, or end with "in conclusion" and a recap.
- Turn rough notes into proseLongBullet points from a meeting or your own head that need to become a document.
- Ten first linesShortAn opening that warms up for three sentences before starting.
- Subject line and first sentenceMediumAn email that has to get opened and then acted on.
- Move the ask to the opening lineMediumA request buried under two paragraphs of context.
Tone and audience
Making the same message land right for a different reader, and checking how it reads.
- Rewrite this for a different audienceLongThe same message needs to go to your team and to a customer.
- Is this clear?ShortBefore sending something where being misread would cost you.
- Less formalShortA message that reads like it came from a legal department.
- Take out the hedgingMediumWriting that apologises for existing before it makes its request.
- Read this as the recipientMediumSomething with a tone risk you cannot judge yourself.
Polish and final checks
Sentence-level style, proofreading, consistency and one last critique before it ships.
- Proofread, corrections onlyLongFinal pass before publishing, when you do not want the draft rewritten.
- Find the passive voice and the missing actorLongWriting where things happen but nobody appears to do them.
- Consistency check across a long documentLongA document written over several sittings, or by more than one person.
- Critique my draft like an editor who has to publish itLongWhen you have read your own piece so many times you cannot see it.
- Fix the rhythm of this paragraphLongA passage that is technically correct but tiring to read aloud.
- Flag every claim I have not supportedLongBefore publishing anything persuasive, or anything with numbers in it.
- Find the weak verbsShortSentences that limp because the verb is doing no work.
- Where does this stumble?ShortA passage that is correct but tiring to read.
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