Always outline before prose

Goal: For price/change/sensitive mail, approve an outline first—mark gaps; do not prose early.

Best for: Emails, posts, essays, landing sections, stakeholder updates, class writing.

Jumping straight to prose feels fast and usually wastes the most time. Models are eager to sound finished. Your job is to delay that finish until the outline is right.

Why beginners skip this

Diving into prose feels inspired—once structure scatters, edits double. Pass the outline before prose.

Step 1 — Outline-only ask

Outline only—use the price-change or update mail you must send tonight.

Outline only — no full paragraphs yet.
Audience: [who]
Deliverable: [email / post / doc / landing section]
Return:
1) 3 title/subject options
2) Bullet outline (max 8 bullets)
3) What is missing from my input
4) Risks if we write prose now
Do not invent facts to fill gaps—list the gaps.

Step 2 — Pricing-change email outline

Outline only for a launch email to existing users about a pricing change.
Audience: current Free + Pro users
Must cover: what changes, when, grandfathering if any, how to ask questions
Max 8 bullets. Flag missing info. No polished paragraphs.
My notes: Pro $12→$15 on Nov 1; Free unchanged; no decision yet on annual discount.

Step 3 — Approve, then unlock prose

Only after you reply OK: unlock prose. Missing facts stay listed—do not invent filler.

Write prose from the approved outline. Keep gaps as [TBD]. Do not invent missing policy. Tone: plain and direct. ≤ 180 words.

If stakeholders change the outline, do not “patch sentences”—re-run outline for the changed section.

Partner email about webinar date change to 2026-11-12.
Five outline bullets offline first. Draft only after. Reject extra promises.
Max 8 outline bullets; mark gaps; no prose until OK.

The five-bullet rule

If you cannot write five outline bullets in two minutes, you do not understand the piece yet—chat will only multiply fog.

Keep it real

Run this guide’s Practice now on work you will actually ship this week—not a fictional scenario. Dated notes beat perfect theory.

Do not bookmark-only

Finish Practice now, then tick this guide on your path. Titles unread are not skills.

Reality check

Open this guide beside a live task. If you cannot name the task, pick one before reading further.

Close the loop

Write one line: next time I open prose with no outline, I refuse to start.

12-line partner email: webinar moved to 2026-11-12.
Five outline bullets offline first; then draft. Reject extra promises.
Max 8 outline bullets; mark gaps; no prose until OK.

Red flag

Prose before outline approval; fake offers filling gaps—mark gaps, do not invent.

Save this card

Card: No prose before outline approval; mark gaps—never fill holes with fake offers. Keep this beside the tool; read before you start.

Before you start

Name the reader and freeze facts on paper for “Get structure approved before you burn time on.” If outline bullets do not exist yet, stop before prose. Guide: writing-outline-before-prose. 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 write a three-to-five-point outline on a real draft, pass it, then open prose; read aloud before stop.

Pitfalls

Job: Get structure approved before you burn time on sen
Prior fail: [what missed the check]
Repair: keep the same Done; add one constraint + one concrete example from my notes.
Boundaries: draft only; label Unknowns [?]; no silent send.
Return: fixed output + the one-minute pass/fail I will mark.

Practice now

Cut orphan: delete any bullet without a claim (Asia/Shanghai).

Headline test: each bullet could be a section H2 (Asia/Shanghai).

Section budget: max words per outline bullet before prose (Asia/Shanghai).

Order stress: reorder two bullets; if meaning breaks, outline was wrong (Asia/Shanghai).

Bullet kill: cut the weakest outline bullet before prose (Asia/Shanghai).

Outline drill: five bullets max before any prose sentence (Asia/Shanghai).

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

Tonight write a five-line outline for a real piece, one claim per line; no body until the outline passes.

Habit stamp: after one live pass, write the refuse line you actually used on the Save card and date it (Asia/Shanghai).

Today card (copy) — writing-outline-before-prose: 1. Artifact I will produce: ___ 2. Pass/fail check: ___ 3. Refuse-line if tempted to skip verify/send: ___ (date: Asia/Shanghai) 4. One never-do from this guide: ___

Extra pass: do the card on a real file today—reading alone does not count.

One sentence takeaway

Three-to-five-point outline passes before prose; read aloud before stop.

Next

Stakeholder update · Chaining draft→critique→revise · Voice pass · Reject AI slop

永远先提纲，后成文

目标： 涨价、变更、敏感通知类邮件，先出一份可批准的提纲；缺信息就标出来，不要提前写成稿。

适合： 容易一上来就让模型「写一封完整邮件」的人。

提纲让你先拍板结构和缺口。成文太早，模型会用好听的假优惠把洞填上。

为什么新手跳过

直接开写像有灵感；结构一散，改稿会翻倍。大纲过关再开正文。

步骤 1——只要提纲的提问

只要提纲：用你今晚真要发的那封涨价 / 变更邮件材料。

只要提纲，先不要完整段落。
读者：[谁]
交付物：[邮件 / 帖子 / 文档 / 落地页段落]
请返回：
1）3 个标题/主题候选
2）要点提纲（最多 8 条）
3）我的输入还缺什么
4）如果现在就成文，风险是什么
不要编造事实填坑：把缺口列出来。

步骤 2——涨价邮件提纲例

只要提纲：给现有用户的涨价说明邮件。
读者：当前 Free + Pro 用户
必须覆盖：改什么、何时生效、是否保留老价格、如何提问
最多 8 条。请标出缺的信息。不要写成稿。
我的笔记：Pro $12→$15，11 月 1 日；Free 不变；年付折扣尚未决定。

步骤 3——批准后，再解锁成文

只有你回复 OK 之后，才解锁成文；缺信息仍列着，禁止编造填坑。

按已批准提纲写成文。缺口保留为 [待定]。不要编造未定政策。语气：直白。≤ 180 词。

如果干系人改了结构，不要在句子上打补丁：对改动部分重跑提纲。

把这份指南用到我的真实情况：[pricing change email outline]。边界：不编造事实。请返回产物，以及我应跑的 3 项检查。
完成检查：一分钟内能判过/不过。

五条规则

如果两分钟内写不出五条大纲，你还不理解这篇：聊天只会放大雾。

保持真实

用本周真要交付的工作做「现在就练一次」，别编假场景。带日期的实操笔记，比完美理论有用。

不要只收藏

先做完「现在就练一次」，再在学习路径上打勾。只收藏不练，标题变不成技能。

现实核对

把这份指南放在真实任务旁边。如果说不出任务，先选一件再往下读。

闭环

写下一行：下次没大纲就开正文，我拒绝开写。

红旗

直接开写，结构一散，改稿会翻倍；大纲过关再开正文。

保存这张卡

记下：编辑轮或译→本地化里管用的一句改法。标上日期。

开始前

如果超过八行，在五条大纲出现前拒绝正文：即使是「短」邮件。

本周怎么用

本周对一篇真稿先写大纲三到五条，过关再开正文；读出声再停。

常见坑

现在就练一次

今晚就练：对一篇真稿先写大纲三到五条，过关再开正文；读出声再停。

一句话带走

大纲三到五条过关再开正文；读出声再停。

下一步

干系人更新 · 草稿→批评→修改链 · 统一语气