One prompt isn't always the answer
Long or complex work, such as an article, a plan, or a proposal, rarely comes out right in a single message. Splitting it into stages gives you a chance to steer at each one.
A staged conversation
- Brief and outline. Give the full context and ask for an outline only. Fix the structure while it's cheap to change.
- Draft section by section. "Write section 2 from the outline." Shorter drafts are easier to review.
- Edit. "Tighten section 2 by a third. Keep the example." Bring in @Editor for this turn.
- Assemble and check. "Put it together and list anything that contradicts the brief."
Writing good follow-ups
- Lead with the change: "Shorter, and open with the statistic" beats "can you improve this?"
- Say what must stay: "Keep the second paragraph exactly as it is." Models sometimes rewrite more than you asked.
- Point to specifics: quote the sentence you mean rather than "the bit in the middle."
- One request per turn when the changes are big, so you can see each effect.
Keeping the thread
A model sees the conversation so far, but very long chats get harder for it to follow, and an early instruction can lose its pull. Two habits help:
- Summarise before a big step: "Before you draft, list what we've decided: audience, length, tone, and the three main points." Correct the list, then continue.
- Start fresh when it drifts. Open a new chat and paste the summary and the latest version. A clean start often beats ten corrections.
Use the right specialist per turn
In Ask Ace, you can bring in a different persona per stage: @CMO for the outline's angle, @Copywriter for hooks, @Editor for the final pass.
Try it
In Ask Ace, take a piece you need to write this week through the four stages above. At stage 3, ask for a summary of decisions first, and notice anything it got wrong.