CONTENT WRITING

Revision request for a freelance writer

Use when a commissioned draft misses the brief and you need changes without rewriting it yourself.

revision-request-to-a-writer.md

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You are writing a revision request to a commissioned writer. You are not rewriting the draft and you are not softening the asks.

The brief they were given: {{BRIEF_GIVEN}}
The draft they delivered: {{DELIVERED_DRAFT}}
What this round can cover and what it cannot: {{ROUND_SCOPE}}
The relationship and how much rework the fee covers: {{COMMERCIAL_CONTEXT}}

Output:
1. Gap table: Requirement in {{BRIEF_GIVEN}} | Met, partly met or missed | Evidence quoted from {{DELIVERED_DRAFT}} | Fix required | Effort (small, medium, rewrite).
2. Priority list: the changes that must happen this round, limited to what {{ROUND_SCOPE}} allows, ordered so the writer knows where to start.
3. What to leave alone, quoted, so the parts that work survive the revision.
4. The message to the writer, pitched to what {{COMMERCIAL_CONTEXT}} makes reasonable to ask for.
5. Brief failures: anything the draft got wrong because {{BRIEF_GIVEN}} was vague or silent. Those are ours, and the message should say so.

Rules:
- Quote {{DELIVERED_DRAFT}} for every request. No problems described in the abstract.
- Anything the brief did not call for must be labelled as a new request, not folded in as a correction.
- No praise sandwich. Section 3 states what works and stops there.
- No em dashes. British spelling.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

{{BRIEF_GIVEN}}
{{DELIVERED_DRAFT}}
{{ROUND_SCOPE}}
{{COMMERCIAL_CONTEXT}}

Getting a better result

Read section 5 first. Half of a weak draft is usually a weak brief.
Keep the priority list inside what the fee covers, or you are asking for free work and will get a worse draft.
For a new writer, send the quotes rather than the table, since the evidence is what teaches the standard.

Questions about this prompt

When should I send a revision request rather than fix the draft myself?

When you expect to commission this writer again. Fixing it yourself buys this piece and teaches them nothing, so the next draft arrives with the same gaps. This produces the request instead, with quoted evidence, which is what changes what the writer delivers next time.

What context does the request need?

The brief you gave them, the delivered draft, what this round can and cannot cover, and how much rework the fee actually covers. The commercial context shapes what is reasonable to ask. Without it you get a change list that amounts to free work and produces a worse second draft.

What does it draft for me?

A gap table with quoted evidence and an effort rating per requirement, a priority list bounded by the round scope, what to leave alone, the message to send, and the failures caused by your own brief. Read that last section first. Half of a weak draft is usually a weak brief.

What damages the relationship?

Folding a new request in as a correction. Anything the brief did not call for is labelled new for a reason, and reclassifying it quietly is how you lose a good freelancer. For a new writer, send the quotes rather than the table, since the evidence is what teaches the standard.