Ask for Alternatives, Then Choose

Unit ID: PAW-M07-U02 Estimated active time: 20-25 minutes

One answer anchors you

The first version you read becomes the thing you edit. Even when it is mediocre, it sets the structure, and later versions get judged against it rather than against the task.

Asking for alternatives before you have read one avoids the anchor.

Ask for variety on a named axis

"Give me three versions" produces three near-identical drafts.

> Give three openings that differ in how directly they state the problem: one that leads with the problem, one that leads with the context, one that leads with the request.

Now the differences are the point, and you can choose deliberately.

Choose, then say why

The habit worth building is writing one line explaining the choice.

> Chose B because the reader already knows the context and will act faster if the request comes first.

That line is reusable. It is the beginning of a pattern, and it is what you will want when someone asks why the message reads that way.

The alternatives worksheet

ALTERNATIVES

Axis of variation: (what you asked them to differ on)

A:  (one-line description)     strongest when...
B:  (one-line description)     strongest when...
C:  (one-line description)     strongest when...

Chosen:   (which)
Because:  (one sentence about this reader and this decision)
Borrowed: (anything taken from a version you did not choose)

The "borrowed" line is worth keeping. Good openings and weak endings often come from different versions.

Do not ask for too many

Three is usually right. Five produces filler, and the marginal versions make the choice harder rather than better.

If three genuinely different options do not include a good one, the axis was wrong — change the axis rather than adding options.

Mini practice

Take something you write regularly.

Ask for three versions on a named axis, fill the worksheet, and write the "because" line.

Keep it. That sentence is the most reusable thing you will produce today.

Mark complete