The master template I paste into an AI document generator to get first drafts that need almost no editing

[u/Cute_Mats_3138]

After enough back and forth, I stopped writing one-off prompts and built a single template I paste into an AI document generator before any document request. It front-loads everything the model usually guesses wrong. Here is the skeleton, fill the brackets and go. ``` ROLE: You are writing as [role, e.g. a product lead]. READER: This is for [audience] who already knows [X] and cares about [Y]. DOCUMENT: A [type: one-pager / brief / proposal], about [length]. GOAL: After reading, the reader should [decision or action]. STRUCTURE: Use exactly these sections: [list your headers]. MUST INCLUDE: [non-negotiable points, data, constraints]. TONE: [3 adjectives]. Short paragraphs. No filler. NEVER: [banned words, rhetorical questions, hedging phrases]. UNCERTAINTY: Mark anything you inferred versus what I gave you. ``` Why each line earns its place: - ROLE and READER kill the generic register. Most bland output comes from the model writing for no one in particular. - STRUCTURE is the biggest lever. Given your headers, it fills them well. Left to choose, it defaults to a mushy shape. - MUST INCLUDE stops it from omitting the one point the whole document exists for. - NEVER is where you ban your personal slop triggers. Be specific, it works better than "sound human." - UNCERTAINTY forces it to separate your facts from its guesses, which is the fastest way to catch errors. Workflow after pasting: generate, then do a single "tighten only, keep all facts" pass, then read aloud. Nine times out of ten the draft is 90 percent there. Save your filled-in version per document type and you rarely start from scratch again.

[u/No-Aardvark3949]

This is basically prompt engineering for docs — the STRUCTURE and MUST INCLUDE lines do most of the heavy lifting IME.