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Prompts guides for everyday tasks
How do you write a prompt that gets useful work? To write a prompt that gets useful work, say what done looks like, the facts only you know, the shape of the reply, and what the chat must not invent. Ask for one task. Read the reply, change one thing, and ask again. A message that could fit anyone gets an answer that could fit anyone.
Next step: open Write prompts that get useful work (not vague answers) and do Step 1.
All of the moves are on Become an AI Director.
Which guide should I open first?
Start with Write prompts that get useful work. It is one real task, four parts, and a second pass where you change one thing. Use that shape on the next email, the next outline, or the next study quiz.
Open Write prompts that get useful work (not vague answers)
What should you know before you start?
Four parts are enough. Goal: what done looks like. Context: the facts only you know, pasted, not hinted at. Output: a list, a short email, a table, or five sentences. Boundaries: what must stay unchanged, and what the chat must not invent. If you skip the facts, the chat fills the hole. That fill is the vague answer people complain about.
Ask for one task. "Write the email, the slides, and the project plan" is three jobs. The reply will be thin on all of them. Finish the email. Then start a new message for the slides, and paste only what the email decided. When the job is long, the first message should ask for a plan and stop. You say yes, no, or change it before any draft starts.
The second pass is where the work gets specific. Say the one thing that was wrong: the reader, the length, a fact it added, a tone you would not use. Do not say "make it better." School prompts on this site are for practice. You answer in your own words. Follow your teacher's rules. Do not turn a prompt into a finished assignment you did not write.
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Common questions
These are the questions people ask before they open a guide.
How do I write a good ChatGPT prompt?
Name the goal, paste the facts only you know, say the shape you want back, and say what it must not invent. Ask for one task. Then change one thing and ask again.
Why does the answer sound generic?
The message did not include your reader or your facts. Add those and ask again. A prompt that could belong to anyone gets a reply that could belong to anyone.
Should I use a long template?
Only if you will fill it in. An empty template with brackets you leave blank is the same as no prompt. Four filled-in lines beat a page of instructions you did not mean.
Can a prompt do my homework?
No. Ask it to quiz you or to question your idea. You write what you turn in. Follow your teacher's rules.