Picture It First
Before a painter picks up a brush, they usually have a picture in their mind of what they want to create. Before a builder starts hammering, they look at a plan of what the house will look like. They picture the result first. Working with AI is the same. The clearer the picture in your head, the clearer the words you can use to describe it — and the closer the AI's result will be to what you imagined.
How to Picture It First
Picturing it first means taking a quiet moment before you start writing your description. Close your eyes if it helps. Ask yourself these questions: What do I see? Think about what the result looks like. Is it bright or dark? Big or small? What colors do you notice first? What is happening? Is something moving? Is a character doing something? Is it a happy moment or an exciting one? What feeling does it have? Does the result feel cozy, adventurous, silly, or calm? Once you have that picture in your mind, writing the description is much easier — because you are just putting words to something you can already see.
Your imagination is the blueprint. Before you describe something to an AI, spend a few seconds building a clear picture of it in your mind. Then translate that picture into words.
Mia wanted an AI to help her write a poem about her dog. At first she typed really fast: 'Write a poem about a dog.' The AI wrote a poem, but it was about a big energetic dog that loved to run — and Mia's dog, Biscuit, is tiny and sleepy and loves to curl up in blankets. Mia paused and pictured Biscuit. She saw his small brown nose, his fluffy ears, and his favorite blue blanket. This time she wrote: 'Write a gentle, cozy poem about a tiny fluffy dog named Biscuit who loves sleeping under a blue blanket.' The AI's second poem sounded just like Biscuit. The only difference was that Mia pictured it first.
Fill in the blank with the missing step in Mia's process.
Picturing it first does not take long. Sometimes it is just ten seconds of thinking before you start typing. But those ten seconds can save you a lot of back-and-forth trying to fix a result that missed the mark. As you get better at this, you will start doing it automatically. You will build the picture in your head and then describe it almost at the same time. That is the skill of an experienced prompt writer.
If you find it hard to picture something in your mind, try drawing a quick sketch first — even just stick figures! Looking at a sketch helps you notice details you can then add to your description.
Why is it helpful to picture the result in your mind before writing a description?
Mia got a poem that did not match her dog. What did she do to fix it?
Close Your Eyes and See It
- Think of something you would love to have an AI help you create — a picture, a short story, or a poem.
- Close your eyes for 30 seconds and imagine it as clearly as you can.
- With your eyes still closed (or right after), notice: What colors do you see? What is happening? What feeling does it have?
- Open your eyes and write down every detail you noticed.
- Now put all those details into one description sentence.
- Read it back to yourself. Does it match the picture in your head?