How to use these prompts
The difference is between correcting and rewriting. If you ask for a generic improvement, the AI rewrites in its own way and loses your style. If you ask for a precise intervention ("remove the typos but don't touch my word choices"), it corrects and nothing more. The prompts below separate the levels: spelling, concision, tone, substance. Choose the one you need, don't apply them all at once.
A practical rule: always have it explain what it changed. A text corrected without understanding why doesn't make you a better author; with the explanation, next time you won't make the mistake. The correction that teaches is worth more than the silent one.
The prompt library
Typos and grammar only, no rewrites
Correct only the objective errors in this text: typos, grammar,
punctuation, agreements. Don't change my word choices, my
tone or the structure of the sentences: I want my text corrected, not a
text of yours. List the errors you found separately, so I learn.
Text:
Trim without losing the meaning
This text is too long and wordy. Trim it while keeping all the
concepts: cut the repetitions, the roundabout phrasing, the useless adverbs and
adjectives. Tell me by how much you shortened it. Don't add
anything new, just remove the superfluous.
Text:
Change the tone while keeping the content
Rewrite this text changing only the tone: from [current tone] to [desired
tone, e.g. more formal / more friendly / more direct]. Same
content, roughly the same length. Flag the sentences that in the original
clashed with the tone I want.
Text:
Make it clearer for the reader
This text is written by someone who knows the subject for someone who doesn't.
Make it understandable to a reader with no background: explain the technical
terms the first time they appear, break up the overly long sentences,
replace the jargon with common words. Don't dumb down the concepts, just clarify them.
Text and who it's for:
Critique like an editor, then I'll correct
Read this text and critique it the way a strict editor would, without
rewriting it: tell me where it isn't clear, where the rhythm dies, which
sentences are weak or vague, where I use lazy words. For each problem, one
line on how to solve it. I'll make the corrections myself.
Text:
A concrete example
Paolo has written the "About us" page of his small construction company. It's long, full of "we are leaders in the sector" and "passion for quality", and it sounds like a thousand others. He doesn't want the AI to rewrite it in its own way: he wants his voice, cleaned up.
He starts from the trimming prompt: the AI cuts the text by a third by removing the empty superlatives, and tells him what it removed. Paolo notices that without "leader" and "excellence" the text is more credible, not less. Then he uses the editor critique prompt: the AI points out that it says what it does but doesn't bring a concrete example, and suggests adding a real job. Paolo adds "we renovated the old mill on Via Roma" in his own words. The final text is his, just leaner and more concrete. The AI didn't write in his place: it took off the batter and showed him where the substance was missing.
When it does NOT work (and how to fix it)
If it rewrites everything, erasing your voice
It's the most common flaw: you ask for a touch-up and you get back an unrecognizable text. Constrain it: "don't rewrite, correct only the error I point out; keep my words and my style". If you really want a comparison, ask "show me your version next to mine", so you choose what to keep.
If it "corrects" things that were your choices
Sometimes the AI flags as an error a deliberate stylistic choice (a verbless sentence, an intentional repetition). Tell it: "some choices are intentional, flag them as doubts instead of correcting them by default". You know what's an error and what's style; the AI doesn't.
If it introduces errors or changes the meaning
While correcting, the AI can alter a fact or reverse a meaning. Always reread, comparing with the original, especially on numbers, names and negations: a lost "not" flips a sentence. Automatic correction is to be checked, not pasted with your eyes closed.
A tip from someone who actually uses it
Use the AI as a proofreader and as a mirror, not as a ghostwriter. Have it tell you what's wrong and why, then correct it yourself: you'll learn to write better, instead of delegating forever. If you have it rewrite everything, in a year you'll write the same as today; if you have it explain the mistakes, in a year you'll make fewer. The most useful tool is the one that makes you able not to need it.
Frequently asked questions
Does the AI really improve my writing or does it make me dependent?
It depends on how you use it. If you ask it to rewrite, you delegate and don't learn. If you ask it to explain the errors and you correct them yourself, it's like having a patient editor who trains you. The same function, used in two ways, makes you better or lazier: the choice is in the prompt you write.
Can I trust the AI's grammar correction?
For the vast majority of cases yes, but it's not infallible: on subtle or ambiguous rules it can be wrong, and it sometimes "corrects" correct Italian. For important texts, use the AI's correction as a first pass and, on the points that sound strange to you, check against a grammar source. Two different checks catch more errors than one.
Is a text that sounds perfect always a better text?
No, and sometimes it's worse. Excessive polish removes personality: a text that's technically impeccable but anonymous convinces less than one with a few rough edges but a recognizable voice. The goal isn't the smoothest possible text, it's the clearest and most effective text that stays yours. Formal perfection isn't worth the loss of your fingerprint.