Genesis
Asking well
State the goal, state the boundaries, and hand over the real artifact instead of your summary of it.
The quality of what comes back tracks the quality of what you sent. State the goal, state the boundaries, and hand over the raw material: the actual email, the actual clause, the actual numbers. A paraphrase throws away exactly the details that decide, and the machine will rebuild them by invention. The real artifact is always shorter than the argument you'll have about the invented one.
Don't make it guess what you already know, and don't guess what it needs. Tell it to ask. Inviting questions turns a form-filling exercise into a two-minute interview that ends with a usable draft. And say which mode you're in: exploring wants breadth and pushback, executing wants one finished thing. Confusing the two produces essays when you wanted a file.
How to practice it
Paste the artifact.
The email, the error, the contract clause, the spreadsheet rows. Raw material in, precision out; summaries in, fiction out.
Say what done looks like.
Format, length, audience, channel. One real spec: “as a bullet list that I can forward with minimal edits.”
Invite the interview.
When pieces are missing, tell it to ask you for what it needs instead of letting it fill the blanks.
Name the mode.
“Brainstorm with me, I don't expect a one-shot” and a request for the finished artifact are different asks. Say which one this is.