Turn a vague idea into three concretely different versions of it
A vague topic isn't an idea yet. It's a category with an idea hiding in it.
- Use it for
- Anyone with an idea that's still too fuzzy to evaluate or start on.
A vague idea feels like it has direction while actually being a category with dozens of genuinely different concrete versions inside it, each implying different work, different audiences, and different odds of succeeding. "A newsletter about productivity" could be a personal essay series, a curated links digest, a tactical how-to format, or a community-driven Q&A — these are different products, not phrasings of the same one, and staying vague lets you avoid the decision instead of making it.
This prompt forces three concretely different versions into existence so there's something specific enough to actually evaluate.
When not to use this
If you already have a specific, concrete version in mind and just want feedback on it, this adds unnecessary divergence — go straight to refining what you have. This is for when the idea is still genuinely fuzzy.
Did this work?
You have three genuinely different, concrete versions of your idea — different enough that choosing between them is a real decision, not just wording variations on the same thing.
Tested on claude-opus-5. Evidence status is draft; it moves to battle-tested only on recorded runs, never by hand.