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9 min · prompt

Three short chats beat one mega-prompt: draft → critique → revise

Goal: Split draft / hard critique / revise into three handoff prompts—one job per turn.

Best for: Emails, posts, study notes, landing blurbs, stakeholder updates.

One mega-prompt that says “write and make it perfect” invites confident mush. Chain three moves: draft only → critique with a rubric → revise from the fix list.

Chaining separates roles: draft without judging, critique without rewriting, revise against a checklist. One blob prompt mixes them and hides failures.

Why beginners skip this

Treating one-shot generation as final feels light—without a critique chain, errors stay. Draft → critique → revise.

Step 1 — Draft only

Draft only: use real task material, mark gaps [TODO], and do not polish yet.

Goal: Draft v1 only — do not polish.
Format: [shape]
Boundaries: If info is missing, use [TODO] instead of inventing.
Input: [paste]

Step 2 — Critique with a rubric

Critique the v1 draft against the rubric below—scores and a fix list only; no rewrite yet.

Critique the draft against:
1) Clarity 2) Specific next step 3) No invented facts 4) Tone fit for [audience]
Return: score /10 each + fix list. Do not rewrite yet.
Example

Filled prompt

Live apology email: 3-day warehouse delay; offer CODE-WAIT only if already approved in notes.
Chain: outline → draft → critique (flag invented refunds) → revise.
Stop before send. I add one human detail myself.

What good output looks like

  • Three separate prompts labeled Draft / Critique / Revise
  • Critique prompt embeds your checklist (length, ask, banned filler)
  • Revise prompt says “only fix what critique flagged”
  • Each stage has a clear input and output artifact
  • No single message tries to do all three jobs

Step 3 — Revise from the list

Revise only what the critique list named; leave everything else untouched.

Revise using only the fix list. Do not add new offers. Return final + what changed.

You remain the editor-in-chief: reject fixes that invent facts to raise a score.

Save the chain as a template card

Name it draft-critique-revise-v1. After a month, add one rubric line that kept failing. Version up.

Turn my three-step chain into a versioned prompt card with changelog line.
Example

Filled prompt

Live ask: customer note about bug #4412 ETA; facts: in QA, no date promised.
Run chain: outline → draft → critique → revise. Stop before send. Add human detail myself.

What good output looks like

  • Clean split of the blended mega-prompt into three turns
  • Handoffs name what to paste forward (draft text, critique bullets)
  • No leftover “be harsh and also fix” in the same turn
  • Checklist items are observable, not vibes
  • You could run the pack next week without rewriting

Save this card

Card: Draft, critique, revise in separate turns—handoffs beat one mega-slurry prompt. Keep this beside the tool; read before you start.

Before you start

Keep the last failing output visible. You will repair the prompt for “Three short chats beat one mega-prompt:” against that failure—not a fresh toy ask. Guide: prompt-chaining-draft-critique-revise. Keep the real job visible the whole time; a blank box means stop and fetch the artifact first.

How to use this week

This week run a real draft through three links: draft → critique list → revise; no “final” until critique passes.

Close the week by quoting aloud the refuse line you actually used once. If you cannot, rerun Practice now and date the pass/fail (Asia/Shanghai).

Critique needs a checklist

“Be harsh” is not a rubric. Give three to five observable checks (length, banned words, missing ask). The revise turn should quote those checks—not invent a new direction.

One job per turn

Draft turns produce text. Critique turns produce a checklist-scored punch list. Revise turns apply only that list. If a single message tries to do all three, split it before you hit send—blurred jobs hide which stage failed.

Example

Filled prompt

Chain for customer apology: outline→draft→critique invented refund→revise.
Facts: 3-day delay, CODE-WAIT approved. Stop before send.

What good output looks like

  • Goal/Format/Boundaries all present for “Improve quality by separating creating from judgin”
  • One example beats stacked IMPORTANT words
  • Version/date kept when template changes
  • Pass/fail: zero clarifying turns on live task

Red flag

One mega prompt for draft+critique+revise; no handoffs—split turns.

Pitfalls

PitfallFix
Critique+rewrite in one askSplit steps
Accepting all-10 vanity scoresDemand tough critique
Revising without a fix listStep 2 mandatory
Example

Filled prompt

Temptation: skip the habit for prompt-chaining-draft-critique-revise to save five minutes.
Job still: Improve quality by separating creating from
Smallest correct pass: Done visible · checkable artifact · Unknowns [?].
Boundaries: draft only; no silent send; no invented metrics.
Return: artifact + refuse-line said aloud.

What good output looks like

  • Names the shortcut refused (specific to prompt-chaining-draft-critique-revise)
  • Still delivers checkable output for “Three short chats beat one mega-prompt:”
  • Unknowns labeled; draft-only
  • Pass/fail: refuse-line dated (prompt-chaining-draft-critique-revise #4)

Practice now

Stop after one revise: second revise needs a new Goal (Asia/Shanghai).

Gate between: critique must produce a checklist before revise (Asia/Shanghai).

Chain drill: draft → critique checklist → revise once; no infinite loop (Asia/Shanghai).

Thin-spot drill: rewrite the Save card with real nouns from your work (repo, doc, inbox). Generic placeholders fail the drill.

Tonight run draft → critique → revise three rings on a real piece; save each ring’s artifact separately.

Buffer line: name the artifact path you used (Asia/Shanghai).

Ship-check: artifact path ___ · refuse-line dated Asia/Shanghai ___ · never-do ___

Close the loop

Write one line: next time I call one-shot final, I refuse.

One sentence takeaway

Draft → critique → revise; no “final” until critique passes.

Next

Rubrics · Voice pass · Outline first · Goal · Format · Boundaries

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