Write a blog post

A blog post prompt that names the reader, sets the bar, and shows the shape — so you do not get the median article about your topic.

When to use it

When you want a post with a point of view, not the median article that already exists on the topic. The audience line is what forces the model off the well-trodden path.

What it prevents

The generic explainer. Ask for “a blog post about indexing” and you get the same introduction to B-trees as everyone else. Naming what the piece argues — and what it refuses to cover — is the only thing that prevents it.

The prompt

Write a blog post explaining why database indexes can make writes slower.

### Audience
Backend developers who add indexes routinely but have never measured the write cost.

### Context
Most articles on indexing only cover read speed. The point of this piece is the trade-off nobody mentions.

### Requirements
- Length: About 900 words.
- Output format: Markdown, with a heading per section.
- Open with a concrete symptom, not a definition.
- Avoid: a history of B-trees, and any sentence beginning "In today's world".

### Example of the wanted output
## Your inserts got slower and nobody changed the insert code
Last Tuesday the write latency on orders doubled...

Why each part is there

Every section of that prompt exists because a specific failure happens without it. These are the checks it passes, and what each one is protecting you from:

• States a concrete task — why this matters
• Avoids vague language — why this matters
• Specifies an output format — why this matters
• Gives context or audience — why this matters
• Avoids dangling references — why this matters
• Includes an example — why this matters
• Separates data from instructions — why this matters
• Avoids over-aggressive phrasing — why this matters
• Defines what a good answer looks like — why this matters

How to adapt this one

Replace the topic and the audience, and keep the “Avoid” list pointed at the specific cliché your topic attracts — for a fintech post that might be “the history of double-entry bookkeeping”, for a fitness post, “consult your doctor first”. The audience line is where you spend your effort: one sentence naming who reads it and what they already believe reshapes the whole draft.

The mistake this prompt avoids

Naming the topic but not the argument. “Write a blog post about indexing” and “argue that indexes can slow writes” produce completely different pieces — the first is the introduction everyone has already read, the second is the article only you could have asked for. The point of view is the prompt.

A variation

For a listicle or a how-to, drop the single-argument framing and replace the example with the shape of one entry — a heading plus two sentences. A model copies structure from a worked example far more reliably than from a description of one, so show it a single item done right rather than describing all ten.

Check your version

Once you have adapted it, run it through the checker. The same nine checks that graded this page will grade yours, free and in your browser — paste it in, or build one from scratch by answering a few questions.