AI & WORKFLOW / FREE GUIDE / 5 MIN READ

Make room for the creative part.

Three small workflows to try before adding another tool to your stack.

Start with a task that already exists.

You don’t need an elaborate system to explore AI. Start with a repetitive step in your creative process: organizing rough notes, exploring angles, or checking a draft for clarity. Keep the final decisions with you.

A general-purpose assistant such as ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini can be a starting point for these exercises. Choose one you can access and check its current terms, features, and data settings. No paid subscription is required by the exercises themselves; availability varies by tool.

1. Turn rough notes into a useful brief.

Give your assistant a few non-sensitive notes, the intended audience, and the output you need. Ask it to separate known information from questions.

Organize the notes below into a short creative brief with: audience, main message, desired action, deliverables, and open questions. Use only the information in my notes. Mark missing details as questions rather than filling them in.

[Paste your notes]

Read the result against your original notes. Correct any assumptions before you use the brief.

2. Explore angles before writing.

When you have a topic but no opening, ask for distinct approaches. Give the assistant a real constraint so the ideas fit the work you want to make.

I’m making a short video for [audience] about [topic]. Suggest five distinct angles that I can demonstrate with [available materials]. For each, give a one-sentence opening and the visual I would show. Avoid exaggerated promises, invented personal stories, and claims that need evidence.

Pick the angle you can explain from experience. Rewrite the opening until it sounds like something you would actually say.

3. Get a second pass on clarity.

Use AI as an editor with a specific job, rather than asking it to “make this better.”

Review this draft for clarity. Identify the main point, flag vague language and unsupported claims, and suggest cuts. Preserve my tone. Show your suggestions separately before rewriting anything.

[Paste your draft]

Accept changes that make the meaning clearer. Keep your own examples, judgment, and point of view.

A short review before you publish

• Accuracy: verify names, numbers, quotes, and factual claims against reliable sources.
• Privacy: remove confidential client details and personal information you don’t have permission to share.
• Voice: read it aloud. Does it sound like you?
• Usefulness: is the result helping a real person do something specific?

Your next experiment

Choose one workflow above and try it on a small, low-stakes piece of work. Save the prompt and note what you had to fix. Repeat it once before deciding whether another tool would help.

The goal is a process you understand and can improve—not a collection of tools you feel obliged to use.