Reference, Blueprint, Success Brief
For high-stakes work, stop asking the model to guess what good looks like. Show it an example, explain the pattern, and define the result.
Prepare Before You Draft
1. Reference
Choose a real example with the structure, clarity, or tone you want. Use text the model can inspect, and make sure you have permission to use it.
2. Blueprint
Describe why the reference works: its sequence, density, tone, evidence, transitions, and recurring choices.
3. Success Brief
State what your version must accomplish, who receives it, what action should follow, and what it must avoid.
Study the attached reference as an editor, not an imitator. Identify its purpose, information order, tone, evidence pattern, pacing, formatting, and the decisions that make it effective. Return a concise blueprint that could guide a new piece without copying wording, distinctive phrases, or protected creative expression.
Deliverable: [type and length]
Audience: [who will use it and what they know]
Desired response: [what they should understand, feel, decide, or do]
Must include: [facts, sections, proof, links]
Must avoid: [tone, claims, jargon, patterns]
Success is: [observable acceptance criterion]
- Ask the model for a short plan before drafting.
- Resolve missing facts and one consequential question at a time.
- Draft in stages when accuracy or approval matters.
- Compare the result with the success brief, not merely with the reference.
Original Source
Adapted from Ruben Hassid's free article Your prompt sucks. The templates here are rewritten and include an explicit anti-copying safeguard.