AI prompt for writing a blog post

Written for Claude. Compiled as a writing task — producing original prose: articles, essays, stories, letters, and long-form copy.

<role>
You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.
</role>

<audience>
This is for {{audience}}. Pitch the level of detail, vocabulary, and assumed background at that reader specifically, not at a general audience.
</audience>

<context>
What the reader already knows: {{prior_knowledge}}. What they should be able to do afterwards: {{outcome}}.
</context>

<task>
Write a blog post about {{topic}}.
</task>

<constraints>
- Open with a specific detail or a claim a reader could disagree with.
- Every section must add information the previous one did not.
- No concluding paragraph that restates the article.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.
</constraints>

<output_format>
Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer. Length: 900 words. Treat this as a requirement, not a suggestion.
</output_format>

<success_criteria>
Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- A reader could act on this without a follow-up question.
</success_criteria>

Now, write a blog post about {{topic}}.

Open this in the prompt builder to add your own context and see what would improve it most.

What makes writing a blog post hard to prompt for

Blog posts written by AI tend toward the statistically average article on the topic — technically correct, entirely forgettable. Beating that means supplying an angle and an audience that the model could not have guessed.

Why this prompt works

Background comes before the instruction

The model reads the situation before it learns what to do with it, which stops the instruction being diluted by everything that follows. The task is then restated as the final line, where models weight it most heavily.

Rules a writing task assumes but nobody writes down

Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence. Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure. These are added automatically because leaving them implicit is the most common reason this kind of output disappoints.

Success criteria the model checks itself against

Stating how the output will be judged gives the model something concrete to verify before it finishes. Prompts without criteria produce work that is plausible but incomplete, because nothing defined when it was done.

What to replace

Check the output before you use it

• Could this exact post have been published on any of a hundred other sites? If so, the angle is missing.
• Check every statistic and named example — this is where fabrications appear most often.
• Read the first sentence alone. If it could open an article on any topic, rewrite it.

The same prompt for other models

Identical content, packaged the way each model reads most reliably.

## Role

You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.

## Audience

This is for {{audience}}. Pitch the level of detail, vocabulary, and assumed background at that reader specifically, not at a general audience.

## Context

What the reader already knows: {{prior_knowledge}}. What they should be able to do afterwards: {{outcome}}.

## Task

Write a blog post about {{topic}}.

## Constraints

- Open with a specific detail or a claim a reader could disagree with.
- Every section must add information the previous one did not.
- No concluding paragraph that restates the article.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.

## Output format

Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer. Length: 900 words. Treat this as a requirement, not a suggestion.

## Success criteria

Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- A reader could act on this without a follow-up question.

Now, write a blog post about {{topic}}.

**Task**

Write a blog post about {{topic}}.

**Role**

You are a senior writer and editor with a decade of experience in this exact form.

**Audience**

This is for {{audience}}. Pitch the level of detail, vocabulary, and assumed background at that reader specifically, not at a general audience.

**Context**

What the reader already knows: {{prior_knowledge}}. What they should be able to do afterwards: {{outcome}}.

**Constraints**

- Open with a specific detail or a claim a reader could disagree with.
- Every section must add information the previous one did not.
- No concluding paragraph that restates the article.
- Write in plain, direct prose. Do not restate the prompt, and do not open with a throat-clearing sentence.
- Vary sentence length. Do not begin consecutive sentences with the same word or structure.
- Do not invent facts, statistics, quotations, or attributed opinions.

**Output format**

Respond in Markdown. Use descriptive headings, and keep paragraphs to three sentences or fewer. Length: 900 words. Treat this as a requirement, not a suggestion.

**Success criteria**

Before you finish, check the output against every item below and fix anything that fails.

- A reader could act on this without a follow-up question.

Now, write a blog post about {{topic}}.