Write like me: teach Claude your voice

Use this first if you are not sure which of your writing to give Claude.

I want Claude to learn how I write, so it can draft in my voice. Help me choose the right writing samples. Ask me these questions one at a time, and wait for each answer: 1. What I will mostly want you to write for me (for example emails, social posts, newsletters, reports). 2. Who usually reads my writing. 3. Where my own writing lives (sent emails, notes app, old posts, documents). Then tell me exactly which 3 to 5 pieces to collect, how long each should be, and what to avoid. Say in one line why each choice helps. Keep your advice to a short numbered list. If what I want written is very different from anything I have written before, tell me, and suggest the closest samples I could use.

Tip

• Sent emails and messages are often the most natural examples of how you write.

Use this once you have your samples. It creates the guide that every other prompt in this pack uses.

You are an experienced editor who studies writers' styles. Read my writing samples and write a voice guide that another writer could follow to sound like me. <samples> <sample type="[EMAIL / POST / NOTE]"> [PASTE SAMPLE 1] </sample> <sample type="[TYPE]"> [PASTE SAMPLE 2] </sample> <sample type="[TYPE]"> [PASTE SAMPLE 3] </sample> </samples> Write the guide with these sections: 1. Overall voice: three to five sentences describing how I sound. 2. Sentences: typical length, how often I use short ones, how I join ideas. 3. Words: words and phrases I use often, words I never use, how formal I am on a scale of 1 to 10. 4. Openings and endings: how I usually start and finish. 5. Punctuation and formatting habits (for example exclamation marks, lists, emoji, capital letters). 6. Humour and warmth: whether I use them, and how. 7. Things I avoid. 8. Five short before-and-after pairs. Each 'before' is a generic sentence, and each 'after' is the same idea written my way. Back every rule with a short quote from my samples. If a rule is a guess from too little evidence, mark it 'Guess'. Keep the guide under 600 words, so it is short enough to paste into a Project's instructions. Describe my real habits, even the ones that are not textbook correct.

Swap the highlighted parts for your own words.

Tips

• Read the guide and correct anything that feels wrong before you use it. Every later prompt copies what it says.
• Save the guide in a Project's instructions, or in a note you can paste from.

Use this straight after building the guide, to check it really sounds like you.

Here is my voice guide: <voice_guide> [PASTE YOUR VOICE GUIDE] </voice_guide> Test it. Write three short pieces in my voice, about 100 words each: 1. A message to a friend about [SOMETHING THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK]. 2. A short post about [A TOPIC YOU KNOW WELL]. 3. An email to [A TYPE OF PERSON YOU EMAIL] about [A SUBJECT]. After I read them, I will tell you what sounds wrong. For each thing I flag, update the rule in the guide that caused it. Then show me the full updated guide, with the changed lines marked 'Changed'.

Swap the highlighted parts for your own words.

Tips

• Be picky. Say things like 'I would never say that word' or 'too polished'. Claude turns each note into a rule.
• Repeat this until the drafts feel like yours.

Use this whenever you need a first draft that already sounds like you.

Write a first draft in my voice, following this guide exactly: <voice_guide> [PASTE YOUR VOICE GUIDE] </voice_guide> The brief: What it is: [EMAIL / POST / ARTICLE / MESSAGE] Who will read it: [THE READER] What it must say: [THE KEY POINTS, IN ANY ORDER] What I want the reader to do or feel after: [THE GOAL] Length: about [NUMBER] words If anything in the brief is unclear, ask me up to two questions first, one at a time. Then write the draft. Use only the facts I gave you. If the draft needs a fact, name or number I did not give, put [CHECK] in its place. After the draft, list every [CHECK] so I can fill them in.

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Tips

• Put every fact you want in the brief. Then you will get fewer [CHECK] marks.
• Ask for two versions if you want a choice, for example 'one shorter and one warmer'.

Use this when you have messy notes or a voice memo transcript and want it written up in your words.

Turn my rough notes into a clean draft, in my voice. <voice_guide> [PASTE YOUR VOICE GUIDE] </voice_guide> <notes> [PASTE YOUR NOTES OR A TRANSCRIPT OF A VOICE MEMO] </notes> This will become: [WHAT IT IS AND WHO READS IT]. Rules: 1. Keep my own phrases from the notes wherever they work. They are the most 'me' part. 2. Put the ideas in the clearest order and cut repeats. 3. Add nothing I did not say. If a gap needs filling, write [GAP: what is missing]. 4. After the draft, list any phrases from my notes you dropped, so I can put back the ones I liked.

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Tip

• Talking into your phone's voice recorder is often the fastest way to get notes that sound like you.

Use this when you have written something yourself and want it tighter without it turning generic.

You are a light-touch editor. Improve my draft while keeping it sounding like me. <voice_guide> [PASTE YOUR VOICE GUIDE] </voice_guide> <draft> [PASTE YOUR DRAFT] </draft> What I want from this edit: [FOR EXAMPLE 'SHORTER', 'CLEARER', 'FIX GRAMMAR ONLY']. Rules: 1. Make the smallest changes that do the job. Keep my word choices unless they are wrong or unclear. 2. Show the edited version first. 3. Then list every change in a table with columns: Original, New, Reason. 4. Point out anything that is unclear to a reader, even if you did not change it. If the draft is already good, say so and change very little.

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Tip

• Reject any change you do not like. You can reply 'keep my original for changes 2 and 5'.

Use this on any text, including AI drafts or edits from someone else, to catch lines that do not sound like you.

You are checking a piece of writing against my voice guide. Find every line that does not sound like me. <voice_guide> [PASTE YOUR VOICE GUIDE] </voice_guide> <text_to_check> [PASTE THE TEXT] </text_to_check> Give me a table with columns: 1. The line, quoted exactly. 2. Why it sounds unlike me, naming the rule from the guide it breaks. 3. A rewrite in my voice. Also flag generic phrases that could appear in anyone's writing, such as stock openings, filler words and overused buzzwords. Finish with a score from 1 to 10 for how much the whole text sounds like me, and the three changes that would raise it most. Be strict. If a line is fine, leave it out of the table.

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Tip

• Run this on any AI draft before you send it, to catch lines you would not have written yourself.

Use this when you need the same message as an email, a post and a text, all in your voice.

Rewrite this piece for a new format, keeping my voice. <voice_guide> [PASTE YOUR VOICE GUIDE] </voice_guide> <original> [PASTE THE ORIGINAL] </original> New format: [FOR EXAMPLE 'A LINKEDIN POST', 'A TEXT MESSAGE', 'A SHORT EMAIL TO A CLIENT']. Where it will appear and who will read it: [DETAILS]. First, tell me in two or three sentences what changes in this format (length, tone, structure). Then write it. Keep my voice exactly as it is, and use only what is in the original.

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Use this after you have rewritten one of Claude's drafts, so the guide gets better every time.

You wrote a draft for me, and I rewrote it. Compare the two and update my voice guide so your next draft needs fewer changes. <voice_guide> [PASTE YOUR VOICE GUIDE] </voice_guide> <your_draft> [PASTE CLAUDE'S DRAFT] </your_draft> <my_final> [PASTE YOUR FINAL VERSION] </my_final> 1. List every pattern in my changes (for example 'cut adjectives', 'shorter first sentence', 'removed the question'). 2. For each pattern, say whether the guide already covers it. If it does, explain why the draft missed it. 3. Show the full updated guide, with new or changed lines marked 'New' or 'Changed'. Ignore one-off fact changes. Only turn repeated patterns into rules.

Swap the highlighted parts for your own words.

Tips

• Do this every few drafts, so the guide keeps up with how you really write.
• Paste the updated guide back into your Project instructions so new chats use it.

Use this when the guide works for one kind of writing but you need it for others.

Here is my voice guide: <voice_guide> [PASTE YOUR VOICE GUIDE] </voice_guide> I also need to write: [OTHER FORMATS, FOR EXAMPLE 'FORMAL REPORTS' OR 'REPLIES TO ANGRY CUSTOMERS']. 1. Tell me which parts of the guide will carry over to these, and which will not. 2. List what the guide does not tell you yet, for example how I handle bad news or how formal I am with strangers. 3. Ask me what you need to fill those gaps, one question at a time. A sample of that kind of writing is the most useful answer. 4. Then add a short section to the guide for each new format.

Swap the highlighted parts for your own words.