Verdict: Five 'don'ts' and zero 'dos' — you've handed the model a list of landmines with no map to the destination.
see the specimen they pasted
Write a blog intro about remote work. Don't be cringe, don't sound like AI, don't use buzzwords, don't be generic, and don't make it boring.
“Don't be cringe, don't sound like AI, don't use buzzwords, don't be generic, and don't make it boring.”
Five negatives in a row is a blindfold, not a brief — you've told the model everything you hate and nothing about what you love. The model still has no voice, no angle, no reader, and no reason to open strong.
swap: all five 'don'ts' → one concrete positive: 'Open with a specific scene or surprising stat. Dry, direct tone. No em-dashes, no rhetorical questions.'
Replace 'don't do bad things' with 'do this specific thing instead' — the model needs a target, not a minefield.
“Write a blog intro about remote work.”
'About remote work' is the size of a continent — is this for a burnt-out employee, a skeptical manager, a freelancer in Bali? The angle lives in the reader, and you gave the model none.
add: audience and angle — e.g. 'for mid-career professionals questioning whether remote work is killing their career trajectory'
Name who reads this and what they're wrestling with — the angle writes itself once the reader is real.
“Write a blog intro”
Intro is doing zero structural work here — how long, what hook type, does it end on a thesis or a question, one paragraph or three? 'Intro' is a shape with infinite sizes.
add: format contract — e.g. '2–3 paragraphs, opens with a scene, closes with a one-sentence thesis, under 150 words'
Every output request needs a length, a shape, and a stopping rule — 'intro' is not a format contract.
You are a sharp magazine writer with a dry, unsentimental voice. Write a blog intro for mid-career professionals who love the flexibility of remote work but quietly worry it's making them invisible at their company. Rules: - Open with a specific, grounded scene (one person, one moment) — not a stat, not a question - Dry, direct tone. No hype, no 'In today's fast-paced world', no em-dashes used for drama - No rhetorical questions. No 'Let's dive in.' - Close the intro with a single declarative thesis sentence that sets up the rest of the piece - Length: 3 paragraphs, 120–150 words total The reader should finish the intro feeling like someone finally named the thing they've been half-thinking for months.
/roast/example/banned-phrase-fishing