AI prompt for writing a YouTube script

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>
Video length: {{duration}}. What the viewer should be able to do afterwards: {{outcome}}. What makes my take different: {{angle}}.
</context>

<task>
Write a YouTube video script about {{topic}}.
</task>

<constraints>
- The first fifteen seconds must state what the viewer will get, with no channel introduction.
- Written for speech: short sentences, contractions, no subordinate clauses.
- Mark where visuals or B-roll are needed.
- No "smash that like button" before the value has been delivered.
- Avoid hey guys welcome back.
- Avoid in this video we will be.
- without further ado.
- Treat length as a hard requirement and state the word count you targeted at the end.
- 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 YouTube video script about {{topic}}.

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

What makes writing a YouTube script hard to prompt for

YouTube retention is decided in the first fifteen seconds, and a channel introduction spends all of them. Scripts also have to be written for speech, which is a different register from prose and the one models default away from.

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.

Uncheckable words replaced with checkable ones

"short" reads like a requirement but cannot be verified by the model. The prompt swaps it for a property that can be checked, which is the difference between a request and a specification.

What to replace

Check the output before you use it

• Read the first fifteen seconds aloud and time it. Does it say what the viewer gets?
• Check for sentences you would not say out loud. Subordinate clauses are the usual culprit.
• Confirm visual cues are marked where the audio alone would not carry.

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

Video length: {{duration}}. What the viewer should be able to do afterwards: {{outcome}}. What makes my take different: {{angle}}.

## Task

Write a YouTube video script about {{topic}}.

## Constraints

- The first fifteen seconds must state what the viewer will get, with no channel introduction.
- Written for speech: short sentences, contractions, no subordinate clauses.
- Mark where visuals or B-roll are needed.
- No "smash that like button" before the value has been delivered.
- Avoid hey guys welcome back.
- Avoid in this video we will be.
- without further ado.
- Treat length as a hard requirement and state the word count you targeted at the end.
- 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 YouTube video script about {{topic}}.

**Task**

Write a YouTube video script 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**

Video length: {{duration}}. What the viewer should be able to do afterwards: {{outcome}}. What makes my take different: {{angle}}.

**Constraints**

- The first fifteen seconds must state what the viewer will get, with no channel introduction.
- Written for speech: short sentences, contractions, no subordinate clauses.
- Mark where visuals or B-roll are needed.
- No "smash that like button" before the value has been delivered.
- Avoid hey guys welcome back.
- Avoid in this video we will be.
- without further ado.
- Treat length as a hard requirement and state the word count you targeted at the end.
- 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 YouTube video script about {{topic}}.