What each part of the prompt does
- Errors, not style
- Step 3 draws a hard line between a mistake and a preference. Models like to improve prose while proofreading; keeping style suggestions in their own optional list protects the way you write.
- Spelling standard
- Naming US, UK, Australian or Indian English stops the mix of colour and color that creeps in when a text was drafted in one place and edited in another.
- Protected words
- [KEEP AS IS] covers product names with odd capitals, dialect, and fragments you used on purpose. Without it, a proofreader quietly normalises them.
- Line-by-line check
- The closing comparison catches silent edits: a word Claude changed but forgot to log. Every difference between the two versions has to be accounted for in the table.
Variations to try
Same idea, one thing changed.
Tracked-changes style Proofread the text below. Fix spelling, grammar and punctuation, and show me every change so I can accept or reject each one. Inputs: - The text: [TEXT] - Spelling standard: [SPELLING] - Where it will be published: [PLACEMENT] - Words, names or styles that are intentional and must stay: [KEEP AS IS] Steps: 1. Read the whole text once before changing anything, so you know the names, terms and voice it uses. 2. Correct only clear errors: misspellings, wrong word forms, missing or extra words, agreement, tense slips, and punctuation that changes or blurs the meaning. 3. Do not rewrite for style. If a sentence is correct but clumsy, leave it and list it under "Optional". 4. Apply the spelling standard consistently, including words like colour or color and organise or organize. 5. Never touch anything listed as intentional, quoted material, or code. Format: - The text in full with each deletion in ~~strikethrough~~ and each addition in **bold**, so I can see edits in place. - A change log table: Original, Correction, Reason (one short phrase each). - Optional: up to five sentences that are correct but could read more smoothly, with a suggested version. Quality check: Compare your corrected text with the original line by line. Every difference must appear in the change log.
Legal or financial text Proofread the text below. Fix spelling, grammar and punctuation, and show me every change so I can accept or reject each one. Inputs: - The text: [TEXT] - Spelling standard: [SPELLING] - Where it will be published: [PLACEMENT] - Words, names or styles that are intentional and must stay: [KEEP AS IS] Steps: 1. Read the whole text once before changing anything, so you know the names, terms and voice it uses. 2. Correct only clear errors: misspellings, wrong word forms, missing or extra words, agreement, tense slips, and punctuation that changes or blurs the meaning. 3. Do not rewrite for style. If a sentence is correct but clumsy, leave it and list it under "Optional". 4. Apply the spelling standard consistently, including words like colour or color and organise or organize. 5. Never touch anything listed as intentional, quoted material, or code. Do not change any number, date, amount, defined term or clause reference; if one looks wrong, flag it in the table instead of correcting it. Format: - The corrected text in full. - A change log table: Original, Correction, Reason (one short phrase each). - Optional: up to five sentences that are correct but could read more smoothly, with a suggested version. Quality check: Compare your corrected text with the original line by line. Every difference must appear in the change log.
If the result isn't right
- Paste the final version, not a draft you are still changing; proofreading before the content is settled means doing it twice.
- For a long document, send it in sections of about a thousand words so the change log stays readable.
- Read the change log before copying the corrected text; a correction to a person's name or a technical term is the one most likely to be wrong.
- Print or read aloud the final version anyway. A model can miss a correctly spelled wrong word, such as form instead of from.