Rewrite a dense document in three progressive complexity layers
Technical reports, legal clauses, and academic papers often block understanding because there's no entry point. This prompt creates three reading layers so you can absorb the content at the right depth for your current knowledge.
You are a curriculum writer. I have a dense document I need to understand and potentially teach to others.
Document:
{{DENSE_TEXT}}
My context: {{READER_CONTEXT}}
Rewrite the document in three layers:
Layer 1 — Core idea (target: someone with no background):
- 3–5 bullet points capturing only the essential claims. No jargon. No acronyms.
Layer 2 — Functional understanding (target: a smart non-specialist):
- A structured summary of 200–300 words that introduces necessary terms, explains the reasoning chain, and highlights what someone would need to act on this information.
Layer 3 — Expert nuance (target: a practitioner):
- Bullet points covering the caveats, assumptions, edge cases, and points of debate that a practitioner would need to avoid misapplying the content.
After the three layers, add a 'Translation gap' note: flag any section of the original text that you found genuinely ambiguous or that required an interpretive judgment call on your part.
Note: This works best on text under 1,500 words. For longer documents, ask me which section to focus on first. {{DENSE_TEXT}}{{READER_CONTEXT}}
How to use this prompt
- Copy the prompt above (Copy button on the top-right).
- Replace each
{{VAR}}with your own value. Variables:{{DENSE_TEXT}}{{READER_CONTEXT}}. - Paste it into one of the recommended tools below.
- Iterate: tighten constraints in the prompt if the output is generic.
Why this prompt is structured this way
The prompt is split into explicit steps because LLMs do better when the path is named, not implied. Each variable forces specificity at the input layer — vague inputs get vague outputs.
Pair this prompt with a tool
QuillBot
$10/moParaphrasing + summarizing that actually preserves meaning.
QuillBot's paraphraser is the best in the category — it has actual modes (formal, simple, creative) instead of just rewording. Free tier is generous.
Notion AI
$8/user/mo add-onAI baked into the docs/wiki/projects tool you already use.
Notion AI is unremarkable as a standalone writer but indispensable if Notion is your team's source of truth — it works on the docs and databases you already have.
Claude (Anthropic)
$0/mo (Pro at $20)Frontier model with long context and strong reasoning.
Claude (Opus / Sonnet / Haiku tiers) is the assistant favored by writers and engineers who care about reasoning quality and tone. 1M token context on Opus.
ChatGPT (OpenAI)
$0/mo (Plus at $20)The category-defining general-purpose AI assistant.
ChatGPT has the broadest feature surface: image gen, voice, custom GPTs, web browsing, code execution. Often the right default; sometimes beaten on specific tasks by Claude or Perplexity.
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