Writing Effective Notes

Patterns for notes that give the AI enough to write a real post

The AI drafts only from what is in your notes. It is told never to invent a fact, a number, a quote, or an event, and to say when the notes are too thin rather than pad. So the draft can only be as good as the note.

The rule

A note is raw material, captured while you still remember the specifics. It is not a finished post, and it is not a one-line summary.

Four shapes that work

Problem, then fix. What was wrong, what you tried first, what worked, what it cost.

Bender drifted sharp at rest on the SH-101. First guessed the CV trim;
it was the spring, tension gone. Replaced it, 15 minutes, no desolder.

Lesson. What you assumed, what surprised you, what you do differently now.

Assumed the recap was the fix. Scoped the rails first this time and they
were clean; the noise was a cracked ground joint. Scope before parts.

Finding. What you measured, what it showed, what you will do about it.

Logged the shop's inbound repairs for a quarter. 40% were a dead battery
or a loose jack. Adding a ten-minute triage before quoting.

Take. The received wisdom, why it is incomplete, what you do instead.

What to put in

• Real names, part numbers, prices, durations
• The thing you tried that did not work
• One idea per note

What to leave out

• Instructions to the AI ("write this as a listicle"); that belongs in your voice document
• Polished prose; if it is already a post, the AI has nothing to add

One run, one draft

A drafting run turns everything in the queue into one post and empties the queue. If you queue three unrelated notes before one run, you get one post that tries to cover all three. Queue one idea per run, or accept a roundup.

A quick check before you click Add to queue

• Is there at least one specific detail?
• Is the reasoning there, not just the result?
• Could someone say the main idea in one sentence?

Next: Building Your Voice