One of the most powerful BRD features

Most publishers who start using PublishFlow completely underestimate the Writing Instructions.
This field is actually one of the most powerful features we have. It allows you to create highly customized, abstract, and complex book concepts that simply wouldn't fit into a standard chapter-and-subchapter outline. Using writing instructions ensures that the AI writer interprets your outline exactly the way you want it to during the writing phase.
Think of the writing instructions as a detailed briefing that you hand over to a professional ghostwriter so they understand your vision 100% correctly.

How Writing Instructions work with your Outline

You can describe to the AI exactly how you envision the structure of the text. However, it is important to understand how these instructions interact with your actual Outline:

• Content vs. Structure: The Writing Instructions dictate the content and the flow, but the Outline tab dictates the structure.
• Deleting unwanted structure: If your instructions tell the AI to write a continuous list of facts with no subchapters, the AI will write the facts—but if you left subchapters in your Outline tab, those subheadings will still appear in the text! If you don't want subheadings, make sure to actually delete them from your Outline.

Global vs. Chapter-Specific Instructions

• Global Instructions: The main Writing Instructions field in the BRD applies to your entire book. If you have recurring text blocks, sections, or concepts (like 500 facts, 100 lessons, or 200 tips), you specify here how they should be written in a standardized manner across all chapters.
• Chapter-Specific Instructions: If you only need a specific rule for one chapter, you don't need to put it in the global instructions. In the Outline tab, there is a description field at the top of every main chapter (before the subchapters begin). You can easily type chapter-specific writing instructions directly into that field!

Best Practice: Use Word Ranges, Not Exact Numbers

When setting constraints, you might be tempted to say, "Write exactly 100 words." While the AI is capable of hitting exact numbers, it is not recommended.
When the AI is forced to hit an exact word count, it focuses so hard on the "math" that the actual writing quality drops. Instead, always use ranges (e.g., "between 80 and 120 words"). This guarantees that your text stays within your desired limits while allowing the AI the freedom to keep the quality and flow at a maximum.

Real-World Examples

Here are two examples of how you can use the Writing Instructions to perfectly control the AI's output, especially if you are working with strict formatting templates (like in Canva or KDP) where space is limited.

Example 1: The Facts Book (Continuous Text)“The book needs to have 300+ facts. Divide those facts into the 5 chapters you see in the outline. The facts should be anything from fascinating and useful facts to curious facts and abstract facts that people never thought of. > *Each fact has a punchy headline, and the fact itself should have between 60 and 120 words max. Every 6-10 facts, I want a topic list. For example, use “The 5 Most X” as the headline, and then list 5 things, each with a 20-30 word description (so 100-150 words for that entire topic list). These topic lists can be about anything, they just always need to be either 4 or 5 things and fit the facts that come before the list.**The beginning of the first chapter should be a short intro about the book and how to use it. Thereafter, write a small introduction to the bonus of the book, telling the reader to scan the QR code and register with their email to get access. Then the first fact starts.*The entire book only consists of this intro and then all the 300+ facts divided into the 5 big chapters. All paragraphs, except for the intro of the book, are facts; there is nothing else than the chapter headlines the intro chapter and the facts in the book.”

As you can see, this prompt explains the core concept, sets word count ranges because of strict layout limitations, and commands the flow of the text. (Note: To make this work perfectly, the user also deleted all subchapters from their Outline tab).

Example 2: The Structured Guide (Bullet Points & Lists)"At the end of every single subchapter in this book, I need a specific summary section. Do not write a traditional summary paragraph. Instead, create a section called 'Key Takeaways'. Under this section, provide exactly 3 different lists. Each list must have its own bolded sub-headline. Each of these 3 lists must contain between 3 and 5 bullet points. Make sure that the text for each individual bullet point is snappy and brief, strictly between 50 and 80 characters long."

Need help writing your instructions?

While we highly recommend that you write the core concept of your Writing Instructions yourself, you can use the AI Assistant Chat on the right side of your screen to help you refine them. Just paste your draft into the chat and ask the Assistant to optimize it for clarity before you paste it into the final BRD field!

Updated on: 13/05/2026