MANUAL
Types of text and templates
Every text has a type and a form. Together they are its template, which decides four things: the outline and its guiding questions, what the bottom bar measures, what the assistant looks for, and the text's extra details. A template never touches what you've written.
| Type | Forms | The bar measures |
|---|---|---|
| Essay | Peterson · Dialectic · Toulmin · They say / I say · Pyramid (SCQA) · Exploratory · Five paragraphs | words |
| Free writing | Free · Morning pages (a 750-word goal) | words |
| Blog post | Opinion · How-to · List | words and reading time |
| Newsletter | Personal letter · Digest | words and reading time |
| Script | Long video · Short (≤60 s) · Podcast | minutes out loud, against your target length |
| Speech | Talk · Toast | minutes out loud, against your target length |
The essay forms, briefly:
- Peterson: ten-odd sentences first, then a paragraph for each.
- Dialectic: thesis, antithesis, synthesis — for divisive topics.
- Toulmin: claim, grounds, warrant, limits, rebuttal — the soundest argument.
- They say / I say: start from what others say, then take your stand.
- Pyramid (SCQA): situation, complication, question, answer — short and to the point.
- Exploratory: write to find out what you think; the assistant asks instead of correcting.
- Five paragraphs: introduction, three arguments, conclusion — the classic.
Goals & Settings → Type of text changes the form of a text you've already started. This text holds the details its type keeps:
- Blog post: meta description and slug.
- Newsletter: email subject and preheader.
- Script and speech: target length.