Step 3 of 5

Plan your article

Define your big idea, narrative arc, and guardrails before Thomas starts writing.

Step 3 gives you fine-grained control over what Thomas writes. Every field here is optional — you can fill in as much or as little as you want.

The Planning step showing fields for reader's state, big idea, narrative arc, and primary CTA — The more you fill in, the more targeted the article will be

Thomas suggests values for most of these fields based on your topic and strategy. You'll see suggestions appear as you arrive on this step.

Key fields

Reader's state — what your reader currently thinks or feels before reading. Example: "Overwhelmed by conflicting advice."
Big idea — the core insight your article will build around. Example: "Start with one small habit and build from there."
Narrative arc — how the story unfolds. Example: "Problem → insight → practical steps → encouragement."
Primary CTA — what you want the reader to do after reading. Example: "Download the free planning template."

Each of these has a dropdown with Thomas's suggestions and a text field where you can type your own. A badge next to each field shows its source: "suggestion", "edited", or "custom".

Additional options

Additional planning fields including template, guardrails, featured content, and word count — Use guardrails to steer Thomas away from topics you want to avoid

Template — choose a structure: listicle, how-to guide, story arc, Q&A, and others.
Outline — add bullet points for specific topics you want covered.
Guardrails — things Thomas should avoid or emphasise. Add them as chips, e.g. "Avoid medical terminology" or "Emphasise sustainability." Thomas suggests some based on your topic.
Featured content — links to resources or existing articles you want Thomas to reference.
Audience — who specifically this article is for.
Notes — any additional instructions for Thomas.
Word count — your target article length.

You don't need to fill in everything. For most articles, setting the big idea and picking a template is enough. Thomas fills in the gaps intelligently using your brand context.

When you're ready, click Generate to start writing.