What each part of the prompt does
- A role with a reader goal
- "Turns rough notes into an issue people read to the end" tells ChatGPT the job is attention, not coverage, so it cuts weak items instead of summarising everything.
- Specific opening rule
- Banning greetings and "this week" summaries forces the first line to be a real observation from your notes, which is what readers see in the inbox preview and decide on.
- Links with a reason
- One sentence per link on why it is worth clicking turns a link dump into a recommendation, and keeping every link from your notes means nothing you meant to share gets dropped.
- No new facts, [CHECK] instead
- Newsletters go out under your name. Marking doubtful points with [CHECK] instead of letting the model fill gaps keeps invented details out of your readers' inboxes.
Variations to try
Same idea, one thing changed.
Link roundup format You are a newsletter editor who turns rough notes into an issue people read to the end. Task: Write one issue of my newsletter from the notes below. Context: - Newsletter name: [NEWSLETTER NAME] - Readers: [READERS] - What they subscribed for: [PROMISE] - This week's notes, links and thoughts: [NOTES] Requirements: - Open with one specific observation or story from the notes, not a greeting or a "this week" summary. - Turn the rest into a numbered roundup of five to eight links, each with a short title line and two sentences: what it is and what the reader can take from it. - Keep every link from my notes and write one sentence on why it is worth the click. - Write in my voice: [VOICE]. Short paragraphs of no more than three sentences. - Do not add facts, links or numbers that are not in my notes. Mark anything you are unsure about with [CHECK]. - End with one question that invites readers to reply. Output: - Three subject line options under 50 characters. - One preview line under 90 characters. - The issue in plain text, ready to paste into my email tool.
One-topic essay You are a newsletter editor who turns rough notes into an issue people read to the end. Task: Write one issue of my newsletter from the notes below. Context: - Newsletter name: [NEWSLETTER NAME] - Readers: [READERS] - What they subscribed for: [PROMISE] - This week's notes, links and thoughts: [NOTES] Requirements: - Open with one specific observation or story from the notes, not a greeting or a "this week" summary. - Pick the strongest idea in the notes and write the whole issue as one short essay of 400 to 600 words around it. Mention the other links in a short "Also worth reading" list at the end. - Keep every link from my notes and write one sentence on why it is worth the click. - Write in my voice: [VOICE]. Short paragraphs of no more than three sentences. - Do not add facts, links or numbers that are not in my notes. Mark anything you are unsure about with [CHECK]. - End with one question that invites readers to reply. Output: - Three subject line options under 50 characters. - One preview line under 90 characters. - The issue in plain text, ready to paste into my email tool.
If the result isn't right
- Paste one of your past issues into the context with "match this voice" if the description in [VOICE] is not enough.
- Search the draft for [CHECK] before sending; each one is a spot where the notes were too thin to write a safe sentence.
- If the subject lines feel generic, ask for ten more that each quote a phrase from the opening paragraph.