Use ChatGPT as a first reader while you write, getting focused feedback on structure, clarity, and pace before the full draft is finished.
Source episode · 20:12
How I AI: Farhad Manjoo's AI-Powered Writing Workflow for Research, Wordcraft, and Editingwith Claire Vo
20:12 to 22:30: Farhad Manjoo shares six or seven paragraphs at a time, asks targeted structural questions, revises, and repeats.
Actionable first-reader notes that identify where the draft delays, obscures, or weakens its point without replacing the author’s voice.
OpenAI conversational AI
Step by step
Follow the sequence once, then adapt the prompts, checks, and handoffs to your own setup.
4 steps
Write enough to establish the opening movement of the argument, usually six or seven paragraphs. Pause at a natural section break while your intent is still fresh.
My intended point for this section is: [one sentence]. Read the draft below as an early section, not a finished article. Do not rewrite it yet. [Paste six or seven paragraphs]
Ask a small set of questions tied to what you need from a first reader. Farhad asks whether the point arrives quickly enough and whether unnecessary commentary is slowing it down.
Does this get my point across quickly enough? Where could I reach the argument sooner? Am I doing too much unnecessary commentary? Quote the exact passages behind each observation. Give critique only, not a rewritten version.
Sort the notes into changes you accept, changes you reject, and questions the feedback exposed. Revise the draft yourself so its voice and reasoning remain yours.
Turn your feedback into a short revision plan ordered by impact. For each item, name the passage, the structural problem, and the smallest change that would address it. Do not supply replacement prose.
Continue writing, then repeat the exchange at the next section break. Use the accumulated conversation to check whether the new material connects cleanly to what came before.
Here is the revised section followed by the next section. Does the transition preserve the argument, and does the new section introduce its point quickly enough? Identify the two highest-impact changes only. [Paste revised and new sections]
Turn an idea into a PRD, user stories, and a plan.
After the steps
How to recover when the loop fails and where human judgment helps.
Recover
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