Practice - rewrite this prompt

The gap between a vague prompt and a useful one is usually a few sentences of specificity. This practice session is about closing that gap on three prompts that are vague by design.

The pattern you practiced in L2

Task + context + format. That is the structure. Apply it to each prompt below and compare the output to what you get from the vague version.

Before and after: worked example

Before: "Tell me about birds."

After: "Write a 100-word summary of how North American migratory birds navigate across thousands of miles. Write it for a curious ten-year-old. Include three specific species and end with one sentence about why migration matters for ecosystems."

Run both in Claude. The before version will produce a general encyclopedia entry. The after version will produce something that could actually be read to a child.

What changed: the verb became specific (write a summary, not tell me about), the audience was named, the length was bounded, the scope was narrowed (navigation, not birds in general), and a structural requirement was added (three species, one closing sentence).

Your turn: three prompts to rewrite

Prompt 1: "Write an email."

Before you rewrite it, answer these questions: Who is the email to? What does it need to accomplish? What tone is appropriate? How long should it be? Now put those answers into the prompt.

Prompt 2: "Explain machine learning."

Who is the explanation for? What analogy domain are they familiar with? How much do they already know? What decision does this explanation help them make?

Prompt 3: "Tell me about birds."

Pick a specific angle — migration, behavior, a particular species, ecological role. Name the audience. Set a length. Add one structural requirement (a specific example, a comparison, a closing takeaway).

If you get stuck

If the rewritten prompt still produces something generic, the format constraint is probably missing. Add a word count and a structural requirement. Those two additions alone usually break generic outputs.

If you are not sure what context to add, write down in plain language why you want the information. That sentence usually contains the context the prompt is missing.

Deliverable

Rewrite all three prompts. For each one, run the before and after versions side by side. Pick the one where the difference is most dramatic. Keep that rewritten prompt — you will use a similar structure in L5.