Over the past couple of years, AI image generators, AI video tools, AI PPT makers, and AI writing assistants have exploded in number. But a lot of people run into the same problem the first time they use them:
They have a clear picture in their head, but the prompt they write never quite produces the right result.
Maybe the character doesn't look right, or the composition feels off. Maybe the style comes out way too generic, or the details are full of mistakes. What I eventually realized is that the problem usually isn't the model — it's that the prompt is written too vaguely.
Take something a lot of people would write:
Generate an image of a beautiful girl, high definition, photorealistic.
Sure, this prompt will produce something, but the result is totally random. That's because words like "beautiful," "high definition," and "photorealistic" are way too broad. The AI has no idea what kind of person you actually want, what setting, what kind of shot, what lighting, what mood.
1. Move from Adjectives to Visual Descriptions
A good prompt isn't a pile of keywords — it's a description that paints a clear picture.
For example, instead of just writing:
A cyberpunk girl.
Try something like:
A nighttime street in a futuristic city. A short-haired girl stands beneath a neon sign, wearing a black techwear jacket, with faint blue mechanical patterns on her face. Rain-slicked pavement reflects the light in the background, with distant high-rise lights glowing. Cinematic composition, bust close-up, cool tones, rich in detail.
You'll notice this covers several key dimensions:
Who is the subject?
Where are they?
What are they wearing?
What are they doing?
How is the shot framed?
What's the lighting and atmosphere?
What's the overall stylistic direction?
AI handles this kind of description much more effectively.
2. Structure Your Prompts Around "Subject + Setting + Action + Style + Shot + Lighting"
Here's a structure I use a lot:
Subject + appearance details + setting/environment + pose/action + shot composition + lighting/color + style/texture
For example:
A young female teacher standing at the lectern in a high school classroom, wearing a light blouse and a dark long skirt, holding a piece of chalk. The blackboard behind her reads "Functions and Graphs." Student desks are softly blurred in the foreground. Gentle sunlight pours in through the window. Photorealistic style, medium shot, natural light, warm and bright, clean composition.
This prompt is way more consistent and reliable than just "a female teacher giving a lecture."
3. The More Practical the Use Case, the More Clearly You Need to State It
If you're making a cover image, a poster, a PPT visual, an e-commerce graphic, or a video storyboard, don't just describe the scene — tell the AI what the image is actually for.
For example:
Suitable as a cover image for an education-focused WeChat official account, with space left on the left side for title text.
Or:
To be used as the title slide background for a business plan PPT. Clean composition with a tech feel, blank space on the right for placing a title.
This kind of information matters a lot, because the AI isn't just generating "a picture" — it needs to generate "a usable picture."
Especially for PPTs, covers, and marketing graphics, things like negative space, composition, and room for text are way more important than just looking pretty.
4. Don't Chase Complexity — Lock In One Direction First
A lot of people struggle with prompts because they try to cram too much in all at once:
Cyberpunk, Chinese traditional style, cinematic, dreamy, photorealistic, anime, commercial blockbuster, futuristic tech…
When these styles clash, the model gets confused.
A better approach is to lock in one primary style first:
Photorealistic
Anime illustration
Commercial poster
Film still
Minimalist design
Chinese ink wash
Tech blue-purple
High-end black and gold
Then build out the details around that direction.
For example, if you want a "tech feel," don't also throw in a bunch of "retro, pastoral, hand-drawn, ink wash." The more cohesive the style, the more consistent the results.
5. Studying Great Prompts Is Way Faster Than Figuring It Out Alone
One of the most important things I do now when writing prompts is study how other people write theirs.
Not copying them outright — studying the structure.
For example, when it comes to portrait images, great prompts usually specify:
Age, vibe, clothing
Expression, pose, gaze direction
Setting and background
Camera angle
Lighting type
Color palette
Aspect ratio
Whether there's negative space
After seeing enough examples, you'll gradually develop your own instinct for writing prompts.
If you're not sure where to find good references, I recently put together an AI inspiration gallery: ccprompt.com
It mostly features AI-generated examples — images, videos, PPTs, and more — each paired with its corresponding prompt, so you can see exactly how other people describe scenes, styles, and settings. My go-to method is: find an example that's close to what I have in mind, then tweak the subject, setting, style, and use case. It's way faster than starting from scratch.
It works better as a prompt reference tool — not the kind of site where you just browse finished images.
6. Don't Just Say "Good-Looking" — Describe Why It Looks Good
For example, "high-end feel" is a super common phrase, but the AI's grasp of "high-end feel" isn't always consistent.
You can break "high-end feel" down into more concrete descriptions:
Low-saturation color palette, clean background, plenty of negative space, soft side lighting, refined textures, restrained composition.
You can break "cinematic" down too:
Shallow depth of field, backlighting, filmic color grading, wide aspect ratio, subject placed along the rule of thirds, blurred background.
And "photorealistic":
Natural skin texture, true-to-life light and shadow, no over-airbrushed look, everyday environment, photographic lens quality.
Writing this way makes it way easier for the AI to nail the effect you're going for.
7. Build Your Own Set of Prompt Templates
If you use AI for creative work a lot, I'd highly recommend building a personal library of prompt templates.
For example, for portraits:
A [character identity] in a [setting], [action/pose], [clothing and appearance details], [camera angle], [lighting], [visual style], [use case and aspect ratio].
For PPTs:
Generate a PPT on [topic], targeting [audience], for use in [scenario], overall style [style], content covering [core content direction]. Requirements: clear structure, presentation-friendly, slides with clear title hierarchy and visual focal points.
For video storyboards:
Generate a video scene of [theme]. [Subject] is [action] in a [setting]. Camera movement: [camera movement]. Visual style: [style]. Lighting: [lighting]. Overall mood: [mood].
Once you have templates like these, writing prompts gets way faster.
Summary
AI prompting isn't some kind of dark art — it's more like a visual communication skill.
Writing good prompts isn't about cramming in as many fancy words as possible. It's about whether you can clearly describe the picture in your head.
Here's what's worked for me:
Use fewer vague adjectives
Write more concrete visual descriptions
Clearly define the subject, setting, action, shot, and lighting
Keep the style consistent — don't let it become a mess
Study great examples often
Build your own prompt template library
If you're just getting started with AI prompting, don't try to nail it perfectly in one shot. Find some existing examples, compare the prompts with the results they produced, and you'll quickly figure out which words actually do the work and which ones are just filler.
I'm constantly curating examples like these over at ccprompt.com. If you're interested, feel free to use it as a prompt reference library. The more you see, the more natural writing prompts will feel.