Prompting

The Questions That Turn Four Names Into a Family Tree

The exact questions that turn four half remembered names into your family history

5min read
4prompts to copy
6sections

Work in order. Question set one gets what is in your head. Set two turns it into something you can look at. Set three gives every person a world. Set four is the one that actually matters, and it is not for Claude, it is for your mum.

Step 1 of 4Let it interview you

Do not write a prompt describing your family. You will forget half of it. Make Claude pull it out of you one question at a time, because the follow up questions are where the real detail lives.

PASTE THIS INTO CLAUDE, THEN JUST ANSWER
I want to build my family tree, and I only remember pieces.
Interview me one question at a time. Do not ask me to write
an essay and do not ask ten things at once.
Start with me and work backwards. For every person, get:
full name, and any other name they went by
birth year, or your best guess and why you guess it
the town, village, or country they came from
what they did for work
one story the family always repeats about them
Rules:
If I say I do not know, ask a smaller question instead.
If I contradict myself, say so and ask which is right.
Mark anything I am unsure about as UNCONFIRMED.
Keep going until I say stop, then show me everything you
have as a clean list with the gaps marked.

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