Prompts library

✍️

Writing prompts

30 curated prompts for the writing workflow, each paired with the AI tools that run them best.

Pairs well with

✍️Grammarly ✍️LumiPen 📝NovaPen 🪶QuantaPen 📖EchoPen 📰SonicPen 📔AstralPen ✍️PixelPen

30 prompts

Beginner

Open with a hook a reader can't skip

Write 5 alternative opening paragraphs for an essay about <topic>. Each uses a different hook: scene, question, contradiction, statistic, anecdote. Keep each under 60 words.

#hook#opening#essay

Best with

✍️Grammarly 🪶QuantaPen ✍️PixelPen

Writing 1,237

Beginner

Open with a hook a reader can't skip — for a literary magazine

Write 5 alternative opening paragraphs for an essay about <topic>. Each uses a different hook: scene, question, contradiction, statistic, anecdote. Keep each under 60 words.

Audience: a literary magazine.

#hook#opening#essay#magazine

Best with

✍️LumiPen 📖EchoPen 📝ForgePen

Writing 1,234

Beginner

Open with a hook a reader can't skip — for a Substack column

Write 5 alternative opening paragraphs for an essay about <topic>. Each uses a different hook: scene, question, contradiction, statistic, anecdote. Keep each under 60 words.

Audience: a Substack column.

#hook#opening#essay#column

Best with

📝NovaPen 📰SonicPen 🪶SparkPen

Writing 1,231

Intermediate

Tighten flabby prose

Edit the passage below for concision. Cut filler, replace abstract nouns with verbs, prefer one strong word over two weak ones. Track every cut as a simple before/after pair. Passage:

<paste>

#editing#concision#style

Best with

✍️LumiPen 📖EchoPen 📝ForgePen

Writing 1,211

Intermediate

Tighten flabby prose — for a literary magazine

Edit the passage below for concision. Cut filler, replace abstract nouns with verbs, prefer one strong word over two weak ones. Track every cut as a simple before/after pair. Passage:

<paste>

Audience: a literary magazine.

#editing#concision#style#magazine

Best with

📝NovaPen 📰SonicPen 🪶SparkPen

Writing 1,208

Intermediate

Tighten flabby prose — for a Substack column

Edit the passage below for concision. Cut filler, replace abstract nouns with verbs, prefer one strong word over two weak ones. Track every cut as a simple before/after pair. Passage:

<paste>

Audience: a Substack column.

#editing#concision#style#column

Best with

🪶QuantaPen 📔AstralPen 📖HaloPen

Writing 1,205

Intermediate

Reverse-outline my own draft

Read my draft and produce a reverse outline: claims by paragraph, the role of each paragraph, the transitions, and any paragraph that doesn't earn its place. Be ruthless. Draft:

<paste>

#outline#self-edit#structure

Best with

📝NovaPen 📰SonicPen 🪶SparkPen

Writing 1,185

Intermediate

Reverse-outline my own draft — for a literary magazine

Read my draft and produce a reverse outline: claims by paragraph, the role of each paragraph, the transitions, and any paragraph that doesn't earn its place. Be ruthless. Draft:

<paste>

Audience: a literary magazine.

#outline#self-edit#structure#magazine

Best with

🪶QuantaPen 📔AstralPen 📖HaloPen

Writing 1,182

Intermediate

Reverse-outline my own draft — for a Substack column

Read my draft and produce a reverse outline: claims by paragraph, the role of each paragraph, the transitions, and any paragraph that doesn't earn its place. Be ruthless. Draft:

<paste>

Audience: a Substack column.

#outline#self-edit#structure#column

Best with

📖EchoPen ✍️PixelPen 📰AtlasPen

Writing 1,179

Advanced

Match a target voice

Below is a sample of <author>'s voice. Then a paragraph of mine. Rewrite my paragraph in their voice — same content, same length — and explain three voice moves you used.

#voice#style#mimicry

Best with

🪶QuantaPen 📔AstralPen 📖HaloPen

Writing 1,159

Advanced

Match a target voice — for a literary magazine

Below is a sample of <author>'s voice. Then a paragraph of mine. Rewrite my paragraph in their voice — same content, same length — and explain three voice moves you used.

Audience: a literary magazine.

#voice#style#mimicry#magazine

Best with

📖EchoPen ✍️PixelPen 📰AtlasPen

Writing 1,156

Advanced

Match a target voice — for a Substack column

Below is a sample of <author>'s voice. Then a paragraph of mine. Rewrite my paragraph in their voice — same content, same length — and explain three voice moves you used.

Audience: a Substack column.

#voice#style#mimicry#column

Best with

📰SonicPen 📝ForgePen 📔CipherPen

Writing 1,153

Advanced

Story beats from a vague idea

I have a story idea: "<idea>". Generate 8 story beats using a try/fail cycle, with rising stakes. Add a misdirect at beat 5. Each beat: one sentence, vivid, no clichés.

#story#beats#fiction

Best with

📖EchoPen ✍️PixelPen 📰AtlasPen

Writing 1,133

Advanced

Story beats from a vague idea — for a literary magazine

I have a story idea: "<idea>". Generate 8 story beats using a try/fail cycle, with rising stakes. Add a misdirect at beat 5. Each beat: one sentence, vivid, no clichés.

Audience: a literary magazine.

#story#beats#fiction#magazine

Best with

📰SonicPen 📝ForgePen 📔CipherPen

Writing 1,130

Advanced

Story beats from a vague idea — for a Substack column

I have a story idea: "<idea>". Generate 8 story beats using a try/fail cycle, with rising stakes. Add a misdirect at beat 5. Each beat: one sentence, vivid, no clichés.

Audience: a Substack column.

#story#beats#fiction#column

Best with

📔AstralPen 🪶SparkPen ✍️DriftPen

Writing 1,127

Intermediate

Three endings for one essay

Write three different endings for the essay below: a quiet image, a forward-looking question, a return to the opening. Each must land the essay's argument cleanly. Essay:

<paste>

#endings#craft#essay

Best with

📰SonicPen 📝ForgePen 📔CipherPen

Writing 1,107

Intermediate

Three endings for one essay — for a literary magazine

Write three different endings for the essay below: a quiet image, a forward-looking question, a return to the opening. Each must land the essay's argument cleanly. Essay:

<paste>

Audience: a literary magazine.

#endings#craft#essay#magazine

Best with

📔AstralPen 🪶SparkPen ✍️DriftPen

Writing 1,104

Intermediate

Three endings for one essay — for a Substack column

Write three different endings for the essay below: a quiet image, a forward-looking question, a return to the opening. Each must land the essay's argument cleanly. Essay:

<paste>

Audience: a Substack column.

#endings#craft#essay#column

Best with

✍️PixelPen 📖HaloPen 📝EmberPen

Writing 1,101

Advanced

Line-edit pass with rationale

Do a line edit on the page below. For each change: show original, edit, and a short rationale ("clarity", "tightening", "rhythm"). Don't soften strong choices. Page:

<paste>

#line-edit#rationale#craft

Best with

📔AstralPen 🪶SparkPen ✍️DriftPen

Writing 1,081

Advanced

Line-edit pass with rationale — for a literary magazine

Do a line edit on the page below. For each change: show original, edit, and a short rationale ("clarity", "tightening", "rhythm"). Don't soften strong choices. Page:

<paste>

Audience: a literary magazine.

#line-edit#rationale#craft#magazine

Best with

✍️PixelPen 📖HaloPen 📝EmberPen

Writing 1,078

Advanced

Line-edit pass with rationale — for a Substack column

Do a line edit on the page below. For each change: show original, edit, and a short rationale ("clarity", "tightening", "rhythm"). Don't soften strong choices. Page:

<paste>

Audience: a Substack column.

#line-edit#rationale#craft#column

Best with

📝ForgePen 📰AtlasPen 🪶FramePen

Writing 1,075

Beginner

Headline that does the work

Write 8 headlines for an article about <topic>. Mix specific/general, declarative/curious, short/long. Pick the strongest two and explain the reader they assume and the promise they make.

#headline#titles#editorial

Best with

✍️PixelPen 📖HaloPen 📝EmberPen

Writing 1,055

Beginner

Headline that does the work — for a literary magazine

Write 8 headlines for an article about <topic>. Mix specific/general, declarative/curious, short/long. Pick the strongest two and explain the reader they assume and the promise they make.

Audience: a literary magazine.

#headline#titles#editorial#magazine

Best with

📝ForgePen 📰AtlasPen 🪶FramePen

Writing 1,052

Beginner

Headline that does the work — for a Substack column

Write 8 headlines for an article about <topic>. Mix specific/general, declarative/curious, short/long. Pick the strongest two and explain the reader they assume and the promise they make.

Audience: a Substack column.

#headline#titles#editorial#column

Best with

🪶SparkPen 📔CipherPen 📖GlimPen

Writing 1,049

Advanced

Diagnose a passage that isn't working

This passage is not landing. Diagnose why in five precise observations (e.g., abstraction stack-up, missing image, weak verbs). Suggest one fix per observation. Passage:

<paste>

#diagnosis#craft#editing

Best with

📝ForgePen 📰AtlasPen 🪶FramePen

Writing 1,029

Advanced

Diagnose a passage that isn't working — for a literary magazine

This passage is not landing. Diagnose why in five precise observations (e.g., abstraction stack-up, missing image, weak verbs). Suggest one fix per observation. Passage:

<paste>

Audience: a literary magazine.

#diagnosis#craft#editing#magazine

Best with

🪶SparkPen 📔CipherPen 📖GlimPen

Writing 1,026

Advanced

Diagnose a passage that isn't working — for a Substack column

This passage is not landing. Diagnose why in five precise observations (e.g., abstraction stack-up, missing image, weak verbs). Suggest one fix per observation. Passage:

<paste>

Audience: a Substack column.

#diagnosis#craft#editing#column

Best with

📖HaloPen ✍️DriftPen 📰HelioPen

Writing 1,023

Beginner

Beat the blank page

I want to write about <topic> but I am stuck. Ask me five sharp questions, one at a time, that move me from blankness to a one-sentence thesis I can defend.

#blank-page#thesis#unblock

Best with

🪶SparkPen 📔CipherPen 📖GlimPen

Writing 1,003

Beginner

Beat the blank page — for a literary magazine

I want to write about <topic> but I am stuck. Ask me five sharp questions, one at a time, that move me from blankness to a one-sentence thesis I can defend.

Audience: a literary magazine.

#blank-page#thesis#unblock#magazine

Best with

📖HaloPen ✍️DriftPen 📰HelioPen

Writing 1,000

Beginner

Beat the blank page — for a Substack column

I want to write about <topic> but I am stuck. Ask me five sharp questions, one at a time, that move me from blankness to a one-sentence thesis I can defend.

Audience: a Substack column.

#blank-page#thesis#unblock#column

Best with

📰AtlasPen 📝EmberPen 📔IrisPen

Writing 997

Writing prompts

Open with a hook a reader can't skip

Open with a hook a reader can't skip — for a literary magazine

Open with a hook a reader can't skip — for a Substack column

Tighten flabby prose

Tighten flabby prose — for a literary magazine

Tighten flabby prose — for a Substack column

Reverse-outline my own draft

Reverse-outline my own draft — for a literary magazine

Reverse-outline my own draft — for a Substack column

Match a target voice

Match a target voice — for a literary magazine

Match a target voice — for a Substack column

Story beats from a vague idea

Story beats from a vague idea — for a literary magazine

Story beats from a vague idea — for a Substack column

Three endings for one essay

Three endings for one essay — for a literary magazine

Three endings for one essay — for a Substack column

Line-edit pass with rationale

Line-edit pass with rationale — for a literary magazine

Line-edit pass with rationale — for a Substack column

Headline that does the work

Headline that does the work — for a literary magazine

Headline that does the work — for a Substack column

Diagnose a passage that isn't working

Diagnose a passage that isn't working — for a literary magazine

Diagnose a passage that isn't working — for a Substack column

Beat the blank page

Beat the blank page — for a literary magazine

Beat the blank page — for a Substack column

Your data, your rules.