Started 1w ago 4 replies 802 views
I script woodworking videos. My first drafts run long, and when I ask an assistant to cut them, it cuts the wrong things: the joke about my dog stealing offcuts, the specific measurements and the bit where I admit a mistake. What's left is shorter but sounds like a corporate training video.
I want "Oliver, but tighter", not "generic narrator, but shorter". What prompts are working for you?
Accepted answer
This is my everyday prompt for clients' drafts and my own. The key is telling it what it may NOT cut:
Cut this by about 30% without making it sound like someone else wrote it.
- Keep every concrete detail, number and name unless it's repeated.
- Keep my sentence rhythm and my jokes.
- Remove hedges, throat-clearing and sentences that restate the previous one.
- Don't add any new words, metaphors or transitions.
Then list the five biggest cuts with a one-line reason for each.
The list of cuts is the important bit. You can veto the ones that took your dog.
Add a short sample of your voice above the draft, a paragraph you're proud of, and say 'match this voice.' Models are far better at imitating an example than following adjectives like 'casual' or 'warm'.
Alternative I use for design write-ups: ask it to only mark what could be cut, using strikethrough, and do the cutting yourself. Slower, but you keep complete control, and you learn your own padding habits.
Used Sofia's prompt with Jonah's voice sample. Script went from 1,900 words to 1,280, the dog joke survived and it still sounds like me. The list of cuts showed I explain every step twice. Who knew.
