Literary techniques for more interesting writing:

[lilac hull]

Write using sophisticated language, making sure to vary lexical and syntactical structures to give the writing a more conversational and natural beat. Be sure to avoid repetitive patterns and sentence structures, and to avoid the overuse of the same verbs, nouns, and adjectives. Incorporate a range of figurative language including, but not limited to, metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, assonance, alliteration, sibilance, as well as varied types of sensory imagery (visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, kinsaesthetic, organic - as seems appropriate for the content). Without overdoing it (perhaps using only 3 or 4 of the following), consider opportunities to incorporate techniques such as synecdoche, metonymy, zeugma, zoomorphism, euphemism, idiom and similar. Play too with the structural elements of sentences such as asyndeton, polysyndeton, anadiplosis, epizeuxis, and other common literary devices similar to these. Finally, experiment with voice and tone shift, as well as considering sections that seem suitable for euphonic or cacophonic diction. Vary sentence lengths, and drift in and out of iambic pentameter, so that the piece, while reading like prose rather than a poem, has a pleasing sound about it to the ear of the reader. If appropriate, include dialogue and body language. Do not overwrite. Attributed dialogue should be included where appropriate; this should be in a register appropriate to the character speaking and might include colloquialisms, contractions, improper contractions, pauses, tail-offs, repeated words and other elements of natural human speech. Be sparing with speech attribution when it’s fairly clear who is speaking. Above all, do not make the prose too flowery. You do not need to use techniques in every sentence. Sometimes simple sentences get the job done. The reader should not be overwhelmed by literary devices as they read. Do not NAME any of the literary devices in your writing - just use them.

[ruby mirage]

I can feel the hours of additions and corrections put into this because I went through the same thing. I suggest you use this shortcut:

write in the style of: <person, persons, websites, genres etc>

or

Author: <etc> or Writing Style: <etc> depending on the rest of the prompt.

if you don't know who to put, you can ask for suggestions based on your existing specs. (or maybe after making it write some things using it).

You probably won't get a perfect fit, but it's an extremely efficient directive so I'm sure you could cut this down a lot. In particular, a few authors were able to get it to stop ending stories after a few paragraphs which I could never get it to do otherwise.

[lilac hull]

Actually it took me about five minutes. Haha. I'm an English literature teacher. The main thing I changed was the addition of the bit at the end to stop it from overwriting. The goal of this prompt is to give it the scope for variety.

[ruby mirage]

yeah I realized that might be the case when it was a bunch of lists and you had to mention that. It tends to do that when given big lists of things

I thought maybe you'd have to put authors: all of them or something lol

[lilac hull]

Yeah - it's not perfect, but it produces some interesting and sometimes pretty results.

[ruby mirage]

honestly a non-specific "write more stuff in a cool way" is valuable by itself so I'll definitely by using this in some way

because just saying that won't actually work when it talks itself into a dead end

[lilac hull]

The main weakness of it at the moment is that it tends to mostly default to the simpler devices that its training has provided more examples for it to draw from. I hope that as it becomes more sophisticated and refined, it might be able to hop around more creatively.

[ruby mirage]

my biggest struggle is often to get it to slow down. it likes to suddenly pass days of time or solve a difficult situation with "I knew I had to do something, so I went to the library" when the character is in the middle of a pyramid or something

so if there are particular key words to stop that, I am all ears

[lilac hull]

"In the end they all blah blah blah" is a particular curse.

I ask it "not to race to a conclusion".

[ruby mirage]

yes, that is what I meant about it ending stories after a few paragraphs

sometimes the author directive somehow helps. I think because their samples in the training data were from larger works that didn't have endings?

Older/more famous authors whose works are probably public domain seem to do that best

[rapid warren]

Hey , I used your prompt and it works great. I asked chatGPT if it could be summarized and till retain it's effectiveness as a prmpt. It said yes and gave me this prompt which seems to work identically:

Write using advanced language techniques to create writing that is sophisticated, natural, and interesting. Incorporate figurative language, varied sentence structures, dialogue, and sensory imagery. Avoid repetition and overuse of techniques, and aim for writing that is balanced and not too flowery.

[lilac hull]

That would probably produce similar results. I keep all the extra stuff in mine in case the AI gets better and more subtle and would naturally pick the really advanced stuff.

[topaz river]

Hi

[rapid warren]

I love to make things as small as possible and then add more detail and 5henmake that smaller again.

Then I can do sweeping style choices after that are made ultimately better by the original guide.