Most people type “Write a description for my candle” and then wonder why the answer reads like every other candle ad on the internet. A Reddit post in r/PromptEngineering lays out a different approach. It’s a five-part structure, and it’s faster than rewriting a bad answer four times.
The key idea
u/PromptKart_in writes prompts for everyday, non-technical work like product listings, study plans, lesson plans and resumes. They found that one repeatable structure made their outputs far more consistent. The structure doesn’t depend on a clever trick. It just answers the questions the model would otherwise guess at.
Think of it this way. Every time the model has to guess, it picks the safest, most average option. Average is exactly what you don’t want in a product listing or a resume. Each of the five parts removes one guess, and the fewer guesses left, the more the answer sounds like it was written for you and not for everyone.
Old way vs. new way
The old way: a single short sentence. The model has no idea who you are, who the buyer is, how long the answer should be, or what it’s not allowed to do. So it fills the gaps with generic filler and sometimes with made-up claims. You then spend four more messages saying “shorter”, “less salesy”, “for buyers in India”, “no fake reviews”. That’s the real cost of the short prompt. You pay for it later, one correction at a time.
The new way: five short parts that each close one gap.
- 🎭 Role: who the model should act as. Example: “Act as an e-commerce copywriter.” A role sets vocabulary and priorities in one line. A copywriter thinks about benefits and objections. A tutor thinks about steps and examples.
- 🧭 Context: who you are, who it’s for, and which market. Example: “I sell handmade candles to buyers in India.” Add anything that changes the answer, like price range, tone of your brand or the season you’re selling in.
- 🎯 Task: one clear job, split into steps. Example: “List the top 5 complaints, then write 3 headlines.” If you have two jobs, run two prompts.
- 📐 Format: what the answer should look like. Example: “a table”, “under 120 words” or “bullets”. Pick the format that matches where the text will land, such as a product page, an email or a study card.
- Guardrails: what to avoid. Example: “Don’t invent facts. Ask me if anything is unclear.”
Before and after
Before:
“Write a description for my candle.”
After:
“Act as an e-commerce copywriter. I sell [product] to [buyer]. Open with the main problem it solves, list 3 benefits (not features), answer the 2 biggest buyer objections, and end with a clear call to action. Under 120 words. Give 3 headline options. Don’t make claims I can’t prove.”
The second version is longer, but you only write it once. Swap the bracketed parts and you can reuse it for the next product. Save it in a notes app or a doc, and the next listing takes you two minutes instead of twenty. The same template also works for a batch. Paste in five product names and ask for the same output for each one, and the style stays consistent across your whole shop.
How to use it, step by step
- Start with the Role. One short line is enough.
- Add Context. Name your product, your buyer and your market.
- Write the Task as steps, not a wish. “Open with the problem, then list 3 benefits” beats “make it good”.
- Set a Format limit. A word count or a table stops the model from rambling.
- Finish with Guardrails. This is the part most people skip.
The original poster says guardrails made the biggest difference for them. A line like “Do not invent experience I don’t have” keeps a resume rewrite from adding jobs you never held. The same idea works for product copy. “Don’t make claims I can’t prove” keeps the model from promising things your candle can’t deliver. For a study plan, try “Don’t add topics that aren’t in my syllabus”. For a lesson plan, try “Only use materials a teacher can find in a normal classroom”.
A quick test
Take a prompt you already use. Check it against the five parts and see which one is missing. Add only that one and run it again. If the output gets tighter, you’ve found your weak spot. My guess is it will be Guardrails or Format. Change one part at a time, so you can see which one made the difference. If you change all five at once, you’ll get a better answer but you won’t know why, and you won’t be able to repeat it.
One honest note: the author sells prompt packs built on this structure and said so in the post. They also said everything in the post is free to use, and the structure above is all you need to try it.
Your turn
The author ended with a question that I’d like to pass on. What do you put in your guardrails? Share your best “never do this” line, and let’s build a crew list of the ones that work!
The 5-part structure I use for every prompt (with a before/after example)
by u/PromptKart_in in PromptEngineering