It is tempting to assume that adding more detail always helps. In practice, structure and clarity reliably outperform sheer length.

Key structural elements

1. Role framing. Telling the model who it is activates relevant priors.
2. Task decomposition. Breaking tasks into numbered steps reduces errors.
3. Output format specification. Stating the desired format prevents wasted effort.
4. Constraints before content. State what you do NOT want first.