Stop Writing Prompts Like Academic Papers

I just reviewed a client's prompt template. 847 words. Three paragraphs of context. A philosophical treatise on code quality. Detailed backstory about their company. And buried somewhere in paragraph four: 'write a login function."

The AI's response? It wrote a 2000-word essay about authentication best practices. No actual code.

The Academic Prompt Disease

Here's an actual prompt I received last week (shortened for mercy):

"In the context of modern software development, considering best practices and industry standards, with particular attention to security, scalability, and maintainability, and keeping in mind that our application serves enterprise clients who value reliability above all else, could you please assist me in creating a function that validates email addresses, ensuring that it handles edge cases appropriately and follows SOLID principles..."

You know what would have worked better?

"Write a JavaScript function that validates email addresses. Return true/false. Handle common edge cases."

Why Long Prompts Fail

1. Dilution of Intent
Every extra sentence adds noise. The AI has to figure out what's important vs. what's fluff. Usually, it guesses wrong.

2. Conflicting Instructions
"Be concise but thorough, simple but robust, fast but careful." The AI short-circuits trying to satisfy contradictions.

3. Context Overload
You front-load so much context that the actual request gets lost. The AI latches onto the wrong part.

Real Examples: Before and After

The Philosophy Major Prompt:

"As we embark on the journey of refactoring our legacy codebase,
it's important to consider the principles of clean code as 
outlined by Robert Martin, while also being mindful of our 
specific use case which involves processing financial data
for multiple tenants in a secure manner..."

[200 more words]

"...please refactor this function to be more readable."

What Actually Works:

"Refactor this function for readability:
- Keep the same functionality  
- Use descriptive variable names
- Add error handling
- Max 30 lines

[paste function]"

The Bullet Point Revolution

Stop writing paragraphs. Start writing bullets:

TASK: Create user authentication endpoint

REQUIREMENTS:
- POST /api/auth/login
- Accept: email, password
- Return: JWT token, user data
- 401 if invalid credentials
- Rate limit: 5 attempts per minute

TECH: Express, JWT, bcrypt

Clear. Scannable. No ambiguity.

The "Context Stuffing" Anti-Pattern

I see this constantly:

"I'm working on an e-commerce platform built with React and Node.js, deployed on AWS, using PostgreSQL for the database, Redis for caching, and we follow agile methodology with two-week sprints..."

Unless the task specifically needs this info, you're just burning tokens. The AI doesn't need your life story to write a sorting function.

The Power of Constraints

Instead of explaining what you want, constrain what you don't want:

"Write a Python script to process CSV files.

DON'T:
- Use pandas (too heavy for our use case)
- Load entire file into memory
- Create temporary files
- Use external dependencies

Just stdlib, streaming, efficient."

Progressive Disclosure

Start simple, add detail as needed:

ROUND 1: "Write a function to calculate sales tax"

ROUND 2: "Add support for different state tax rates"

ROUND 3: "Handle tax-exempt items"

ROUND 4: "Add Canadian province support"

Each iteration builds on working code. No massive upfront requirements doc.

The Template That Always Works

WHAT: [One sentence description]

INPUT: [What goes in]

OUTPUT: [What comes out]

CONSTRAINTS: [Any limitations]

EXAMPLE:
Input: [example input]
Output: [example output]

That's it. 90% of tasks fit this template.

When You Actually Need Context

Sometimes context matters. Here's how to include it without writing a novel:

CONTEXT: E-commerce checkout flow, high-traffic

TASK: Optimize this SQL query for performance

CURRENT ISSUE: Takes 3s with 1M orders

CONSTRAINTS:
- Can't change schema
- PostgreSQL 14
- Need under 100ms

[paste query]

Relevant context only. No autobiography.

The "Show, Don't Tell" Principle

Instead of describing what you want, show it:

# Instead of: "Write a function that formats currencies 
# with proper symbols and decimal places for different countries"

# Just show:
formatCurrency(1234.5, 'USD') -> "$1,234.50"
formatCurrency(1234.5, 'EUR') -> "€1.234,50" 
formatCurrency(1234, 'JPY') -> "¥1,234"

Write this function.

Common Academic Prompt Sins

1. "In today's fast-paced world..." - No. Just no.
2. "Considering best practices...\" - That's assumed
3. "If you could be so kind..." - It's an AI, not your grandmother
4. "Taking into account various factors..." - Which factors? Be specific
5. "As an AI language model..." - It knows what it is

The Brutal Edit Test

Before sending any prompt, try this:

1. Remove every adjective
2. Remove every adverb
3. Remove any sentence that starts with "considering" or "taking into account"
4. Remove company background unless directly relevant
5. Remove philosophical musings

What's left? That's your actual prompt.

My Prompt Evolution

2022 Me: "Given the complexities of modern web development..."
2023 Me: "Please create a React component that..."
2024 Me: "React component. User list. Sortable. TypeScript."

Guess which version gets the best results?

Next time you're writing a prompt and it's longer than 5 lines, stop. Delete half of it. Then delete half again. What remains is probably what you actually need. The AI isn't impressed by your vocabulary - it just wants to know what to build.