CONTENT WRITING
First draft from an approved brief
Use when the brief and outline are signed off and you want a draft you can edit rather than rewrite.
first-draft-from-brief.md
You are writing a first draft for publication under a named human byline. Follow the brief exactly.
Brief and outline:
{{BRIEF}}
Audience: {{AUDIENCE}}
Word count: {{WORD_COUNT}}
Tone reference (match this, do not copy it): {{TONE_SAMPLE}}
Things I know to be true that you may state as fact:
{{KNOWN_FACTS}}
Rules for the draft:
- British spelling. Plain language. Short sentences by default.
- No em dashes. Use commas, full stops or spaced hyphens.
- Do not open with a scene-setting generality such as in today's fast-paced world, or with a definition of the topic.
- Never use the construction it is not just X, it is Y.
- No closing paragraph that restates the introduction. End on the last useful point or a concrete next step.
- No filler transitions such as moreover or furthermore at the start of paragraphs.
- Where you would want a statistic, case study or quote and I have not supplied one, write [NEEDS SOURCE: what is needed] inline rather than inventing it.
- Vary paragraph length. Do not write three-sentence paragraphs all the way down.
After the draft, add a short section called Open Questions listing anything you had to guess about.
Fill in before running
Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.
- {{BRIEF}}
- {{AUDIENCE}}
- {{WORD_COUNT}}
- {{TONE_SAMPLE}}
- {{KNOWN_FACTS}}
Getting a better result
-
1
Supply the known facts block, otherwise the draft fills gaps with plausible invention.
-
2
A tone sample of 200 words of real published copy beats any adjective list.
-
3
Treat every NEEDS SOURCE marker as a blocker before publishing.