Writing good prompts

Context, task, criteria and format: the instruction you can reuse.

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1. So far, you've seen how to give a better hint. The next step is to think like someone designing a process: before you ask for an answer, decide what information goes in and what counts as a good result.
2. For a small creative project, four pieces are usually enough. The context sets the scene; the task says what needs to be produced; the criteria protect your intentions; and the format makes the output easy to use.
3. If context is missing, the answer could come from anyone. If the task is missing, you get theory instead of something useful. If criteria are missing, the text might sound fine but not feel like yours. If format is missing, you'll have to tidy up the result before you can use it.
4. Think of these pieces as a small workbench. You don't need to fill in a perfect form: you just need to make the decisions you usually keep in your head visible.
5. In the final exercise, you'll put together a minimal instruction for a real task. If you later improve it with examples and feedback, you've got the start of a reusable system.

What to expect and what not to

• Expect a good first draft. Fast, accurate and easy to improve. That’s its strong point.
• Expect it to adapt. Changing the tone, length or audience is just a matter of a sentence.
• Expect a thinking partner. Asking it for the downsides of your plan is often more useful than asking for the plan itself.
• Don’t expect guaranteed truth. It can confidently write something false: if it fits, that’s enough for it.
• Don’t expect it to know your business. It doesn’t know your prices, your diary or your clients unless you tell it.
• Don’t paste sensitive data. Passwords, ID numbers, medical records or other people’s details: keep them out of the chat.

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