Here is what almost everybody does.
You ask for a subject line. You get one. It is fine, not right. So you say make it punchier. Now it is punchy and wrong in a new way. So you say less salesy. Twenty minutes later you have talked yourself in a circle and settled for something you do not love.
The problem is not the tool. You were trying to describe what you wanted before you had seen anything. You cannot specify good writing in advance, but you can recognize it in two seconds. So stop describing and start choosing.
Steal this: the 5 versions prompt
This is the prompt, word for word, from Mariah’s guide. Paste it and fill in the brackets.
Give me 5 genuinely different versions of this, not 5 small tweaks of the same idea. Each one should take a distinct angle, perspective, or style, so I can find the direction I couldn’t describe on my own.
What I want: [your actual request, e.g. "a subject line for my sale email" or "an opening line for this video"]
Context: [who it’s for, the vibe I want, anything that matters]
Make the 5 truly different from each other. Vary things like:
- The angle (curiosity vs bold claim vs story vs question vs contrarian take)
- The emotion (funny, urgent, warm, surprising)
- The structure or length
For each version:
1. Label the angle in 2 to 3 words so I can see the strategy at a glance.
2. Give me the version itself.
Then do 3 things:
- Tell me which one YOU think is strongest and why, in one line.
- Point out if any of them is the "obvious" answer most people would land on, so I can avoid it.
- Ask if I want you to remix the best parts of a few into a final one.
Don’t play it safe. I’d rather have 2 that are a little too bold than 5 that are all fine.
That last line does more work than it looks like. Without it you get five safe options and pick the least safe one, which is still safe.
Then: what to do with your five
Three moves, and most people only know the first.
Keep the best one. Sometimes number three is right and you are finished in ninety seconds.
Steal the best line from each. More often, version two has the right opening and version five has the right ending. Take the good phrase out of each and leave the rest.
Remix them all. Tell it to take the opening from two, the structure from four and the closing from five, and write you one version. This usually beats all five originals, because you are now directing with specifics instead of adjectives.
The real win
You are trading a skill you do not have for one you do.
Describing good work before you see it is genuinely hard. Recognizing it when it is in front of you takes a second. Asking for five options plays to the second, costs the same as asking for one, and takes less of your time than the nudging did.
Next time you catch yourself about to type "make it better," ask for five instead.