The Two Key Ingredients You Need to Unlock the Potential of AI Writing

How to use AI to generate a first draft that you can actually use

It’s now possible to use AI to write a complete post for you.

But like every powerful tool: garbage in, garbage out.

Here are the two ingredients that will give the AI enough information to create a first draft of your writing that you can actually use.

Ingredients for Successful AI Writing

When using AI to write a blog post, there are two key ingredients: your Bullet Draft and your Prompt.

Your Bullet Draft provides the AI with more context and content to work with, while your Prompt helps guide the AI to create a post that meets your specific needs.

What to Avoid

By giving AI additional context beyond a vague prompt (ex: write an essay on AI writing), you’re avoiding giving complete control to the tool.

If you’re able to direct the AI with thoughtful, high-quality inputs, you’ll generate outputs that will move you closer to a post worth publishing.

Understanding the Bullet Draft

The Bullet Draft is an exercise used to brainstorm as many ideas as possible about the topic you want to write about.

The Bullet Draft is not an outline. It’s a creative, exhausting sprint where you will expand on your topic with as many words as possible — do not edit, delete, or pause while writing.

You can read more about the Bullet Draft here.

Crafting a Great Prompt

Crafting a clear Prompt is essential for successful AI writing. Again, the better the input when writing the prompt, the better the output will be. Here are three key components to include in your Prompt:

1. Objective: Give the AI a clear objective of the post.

   1. For example, "Please turn the bullet points below into a blog post."

2. Target Audience: Define your target audience and their needs.

   1. For example, "The blog post will be for people learning to use AI to help them write."

3. Constraints: This is the most important part of the prompt. Give as many constraints as possible, such as the word count, the writing style, and the use of headings and lists.

   1. For example, "The post should be less than 300 words. It should be clear, concise, and professionally written. The writing should be easy to read with multiple headings and sections. Use bullet points, tables, or lists if applicable. Give the post a creative title that will attract readers. Include additional examples that expand on my bullets."

Combining Your Bullet Draft and Prompt

With a well-crafted Prompt and a comprehensive Bullet Draft, you’re ready to enter the information into your favorite AI writing tool to generate a first draft.

After reviewing the output, take time to tweak the inputs.

For example, rewrite some points of the Bullet Draft to make them more clear. Or delete some points that didn’t add value to the first draft. Also, experiment with rewriting the prompt.

Re-enter the updated inputs into the tool and review your updated outputs.

Conclusion

By putting in the effort to craft a comprehensive Bullet Draft and a clear Prompt, you’ll ensure that your AI-generated first draft is on track to meet your specific needs.

With your first draft in hand, you're now ready to edit and rework the content. But more on that at a later time.

Read more about AI Writing:

How to Incorporate AI into The Publishing Process

3 Ways AI Can Transform Your Writing

Did GPT-3 Write This?