Home · Jobs & career · Plan an essay or report before you write
Plan an essay or report before you write
The blank page wins. Get an outline, argument spine and reading list prompts from the question.
The prompt · ChatGPT
Plan an essay or report. Question/brief: [paste] Word count: [number] Level: [details] Sources I must use: [optional] Ask me up to 3 short questions first if anything important is missing. Wait for my answers. Then: 1. Two possible thesis lines. 2. Section outline with rough word counts. 3. What evidence each section needs. 4. A first-paragraph starter in my notes style (optional stub, not full essay). 5. Reminder: this is a plan/stub only — submitting AI-written work may break school/uni rules; I must write the final version myself. Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts, steps or official URLs you're not sure of. UK English. Stay in this ChatGPT chat. Do not turn on apps or connectors, and do not use memory from another chat.
A short example
Fill the blanks, then paste. paste: a short note you already have. number: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.
The prompt · Copilot
Plan an essay or report. Question/brief: [paste] Word count: [number] Level: [details] Sources I must use: [optional] Ask me up to 3 short questions first if anything important is missing. Wait for my answers. Then: 1. Two possible thesis lines. 2. Section outline with rough word counts. 3. What evidence each section needs. 4. A first-paragraph starter in my notes style (optional stub, not full essay). 5. Reminder: this is a plan/stub only — submitting AI-written work may break school/uni rules; I must write the final version myself. Only use what I've told you, leave blanks for anything I haven't given, and don't invent facts, steps or official URLs you're not sure of. UK English. Stay in this Copilot chat. Leave plugins off, and do not open a file from OneDrive.
A short example
Fill the blanks, then paste. paste: a short note you already have. number: a short note you already have. Leave the rest of the prompt as written.
You paste the question.
The assistant asks about word count and sources.
You get an outline and thesis options.
What happens
Use Copilot to plan an essay or report before you write
The blank page wins. Get an outline, argument spine and reading list promptsThe instructions you paste into an AI chat. Replace only the words in [brackets]. from the question.
Tools
Paste the prompt, fill the blanks, copy the draft.
- Microsoft Copilot — required. Drafts from the text you paste. Nothing is sent.
The prompt is on this page. A free account saves it.
Create a free account