AI prompt for writing an email sequence

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 they just did: {{trigger}}. What success looks like for them: {{activation}}. Where people drop off: {{drop_off}}.
</context>

<task>
Write a {{count}}-email onboarding sequence for {{product}}.
</task>

<constraints>
- Each email has one job and one call to action.
- Each must be useful even if the reader never opens the next one.
- Space them by what the reader has had time to do, not by a fixed cadence.
- The last email must not be the first mention of the paid plan.
- Avoid just checking in.
- Avoid i wanted to reach out.
- Don't miss out.
- 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.
</output_format>

Now, write a {{count}}-email onboarding sequence for {{product}}.

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

What makes writing an email sequence hard to prompt for

Sequences are written as a story the sender knows and the reader does not, because most people only ever see two of the emails. Each one has to stand alone, which is the opposite of how sequences are usually drafted.

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.

What to replace

Check the output before you use it

• Read email four alone. Does it make sense to someone who missed one to three?
• Check each email has exactly one call to action.
• Confirm the timing reflects how long the action actually takes, not a round number of days.

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 they just did: {{trigger}}. What success looks like for them: {{activation}}. Where people drop off: {{drop_off}}.

## Task

Write a {{count}}-email onboarding sequence for {{product}}.

## Constraints

- Each email has one job and one call to action.
- Each must be useful even if the reader never opens the next one.
- Space them by what the reader has had time to do, not by a fixed cadence.
- The last email must not be the first mention of the paid plan.
- Avoid just checking in.
- Avoid i wanted to reach out.
- Don't miss out.
- 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.

Now, write a {{count}}-email onboarding sequence for {{product}}.

**Task**

Write a {{count}}-email onboarding sequence for {{product}}.

**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 they just did: {{trigger}}. What success looks like for them: {{activation}}. Where people drop off: {{drop_off}}.

**Constraints**

- Each email has one job and one call to action.
- Each must be useful even if the reader never opens the next one.
- Space them by what the reader has had time to do, not by a fixed cadence.
- The last email must not be the first mention of the paid plan.
- Avoid just checking in.
- Avoid i wanted to reach out.
- Don't miss out.
- 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.

Now, write a {{count}}-email onboarding sequence for {{product}}.