10 Playbook 5: Writing & Editing

Tom S
Updated

From blank page to polish, without the staring. This is one of the 11 Playbook categories. Each play below is a single move you can run right now, tagged by effort. Filter to the quick ones if you are just getting started.

PLAYBOOK 5
Writing & Editing

From blank page to polish, without the staring

 

📖

What is a play?

A play is a single move you can run in Smith right now: one prompt, one result. Each is tagged by effort so you can pick the quick wins first. Plays are grouped into 11 categories; this article is one of them. For multi-step workflows that combine several moves, see the Recipes.

The Plays

Each card is one play. The badge shows the effort: Quick is a single prompt, Few steps adds a little setup, and Setup is a build-once move that pays off repeatedly.

Filter by effort: Showing all items
Word-vomit → tight summary Quick

Do: Paste up to 5,000 words of rambling, turn on the Concise persona.

Get: 5,000 words become 3 bullets, or a 5-minute read

Personas
Make it not sound like AI Quick

Do: After any draft: "rewrite this to sound human, no em dashes or en dashes, drop the AI cliches (delve, leverage, tapestry, 'it's not just X, it's Y'), vary the sentence length."

Get: Writing that reads like a person wrote it, not a model

Any model
Bullets → polished prose Quick

Do: Paste your bullets: "expand into a clean paragraph in my voice."

Get: A finished draft from a skeleton

Personas
De-jargon anything Quick

Do: "Rewrite this with zero buzzwords, plain language."

Get: Writing people actually understand

Any model
Rewrite for a specific audience Quick

Do: "Rewrite this for a skeptical client / a new hire / the board."

Get: One message, perfectly aimed

Any model
"Give me 3 versions" Quick

Do: After any draft: "give me three, warm, neutral, direct."

Get: Options to choose from, not one take-it-or-leave-it

Any model
Cut it in half Quick

Do: "Same meaning, half the words."

Get: A tighter version that respects the reader

Personas (Concise)
Title & subject-line generator Quick

Do: "Give me 5 subject lines that get opened."

Get: Better open rates, zero brainstorming

Any model
Outline before you write Quick

Do: "Outline a [doc/proposal/post] on X before I draft it."

Get: A structure to fill instead of a blank page

Any model
Proofread + explain the fixes Quick

Do: "Proofread, and tell me what you changed and why."

Get: Cleaner writing and you learn the pattern

Any model

See It in Action

Here is one of these plays running, so you know what to expect before you try it yourself.

✍️Writing and editing

Make a draft not sound like AI

Paste anything stiff or robotic and ask Smith to make it read like a person wrote it.

Next Steps: Pick one Quick play and run it today. When single moves feel natural, the Recipes show how to chain them into repeatable workflows. Working through your first month? The First 30 Days plan tells you which plays to use each week.

Playbook 6: Personal Productivity

The next category of single-move plays.

Playbook 4: Meetings

The previous category of plays.

Smith Recipes

Ready to combine plays into multi-step workflows?

Related articles

Comments

0 comments

Article is closed for comments.