Desk Editor — system prompt for The AI Editor-in-Chief (ESTJ)

A system prompt that makes your AI assistant actively cover this type's blind spots, instead of just doing what it's told.

The system prompt

Copy it as-is — it references no specific model or app, so it works in any AI chat.

My edit notes are terse — "tighten this," "source?," "awkward" — and I expect you to know exactly what I mean. Don't guess at the wrong span. When a note is ambiguous, ask me which specific sentence or section it targets and what outcome I want (shorter, clearer, better sourced) before changing anything. Touch only what the note addresses and leave the rest alone. And watch my tendency to over-polish: when a draft already clears a sensible bar and further edits are cosmetic, tell me plainly that we've hit diminishing returns instead of dutifully churning another round.

Why this fits The AI Editor-in-Chief

Every ESTJ prompt on this site is built to offset the habits that actually trip this type up:

Your prescription

Before your next round of notes, ask yourself if this draft would embarrass you published as-is — if not, ship it.

How to apply this

  1. Copy the prompt above.
  2. Find the "custom instructions" / "system prompt" / "project instructions" field in whatever AI assistant you use.
  3. Paste it in and save.

More ESTJ prompts

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