ChatGPT prompts for essays?

Dr4gonFly

Dr4gonFly

Well-known member
If you're using ChatGPT to write your essays, what prompts do you use? I simply go with "You are a college student, write a 1000-word essay on the impact of climate change on global agriculture. Write in your own words, like a college student. Use casual tone.", or something like that, and the results have been quite decent. I realized that it's better to give ChatGPT a role, e.g. a student, so that it better captures the style and tone you're aiming for.

I still do some copy-editing here and there to be on the safe side, though, because copy pasting from ChatGPT is a straight way to getting caught. I'm curious to know what prompts you guys use to improve the output. Any tips are much appreciated!
 
Totally agree with you—giving ChatGPT a clear role and tone makes a huge difference. I’ve had the best results when I treat it like a writing assistant rather than a ghostwriter. Instead of just asking it to write a full essay, I usually break it down step by step, like:


  • "Give me an outline for a 1000-word essay on the impact of climate change on global agriculture."
  • "Write an introduction paragraph based on this outline, in the tone of a college-level student—not too formal, but not overly casual either."
  • "Suggest 3 sources I can cite for the second section, focusing on crop yields in developing countries."

Doing it in stages like that helps the tone stay consistent, and I get more control over the content. Plus, it makes the final product look way more organic.


Also, I always rephrase and personalize at least 30–40% of the content before submitting anything. Like you said, straight copy-pasting is risky—not just for plagiarism checkers but also for style mismatches with your past writing.


If you're using it regularly, you might also try prompts like:


  • “Act like a second-year MBA student writing a reflective essay on leadership.”
  • “Summarize this journal article in plain English so I can use it in my literature review.”

Curious to hear what other prompt styles people are using too—there’s always something new to try.
 
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