How to Make ChatGPT Write Longer and Meet Your Word Count

According to a HubSpot study, the ideal blog post length for SEO is 2,100 to 2,400 words. That’s because Google demands substance, evidence, and facts from authority entities when evaluating content.

Turns out, long-form content has these elements baked into it as it allows you to cover topics in-depth and provide valuable information. This is why long-form content typically ranks better in organic search than short content.

If you’re using BrandWell, meeting this word count range is easy peasy. But what if you’re not yet ready to scale and are just beginning to experiment with artificial intelligence? Can a generalized chatbot like ChatGPT write long-form?

ChatGPT’s response is often limited to around 500 words. But in this guide, we’ll share with you tips and tricks on how to make ChatGPT write longer.

You’ll learn strategies for crafting prompts that make ChatGPT generate longer responses so you can write longer essays, blog articles, ebooks, and more. And because nobody likes being cut off mid-sentence by token limits, we’ll explore ways around them so your conversations stay flowing.

Table of Contents

How Does ChatGPT Generate Responses?

Imagine a master linguist fluent in the nuances of natural language processing, or NLP for short.

This is the core of how ChatGPT works.

NLP is like having an invisible assistant that helps artificial intelligence models understand and generate human-like text. It breaks down your prompts into digestible pieces, so to speak.

This process allows it to regenerate responses that feel contextually relevant and tailored just for you.

In essence, when you chat with this technological marvel, it’s leveraging its training on vast datasets to mimic a real conversation partner.

Impact of Training Data on Response Quality

The breadth and depth of data that ChatGPT has studied is staggering.

This massive dataset informs its responses by providing examples from countless scenarios — like preparing it for almost any curveball question thrown at it.

A key stat about these language models? They do have token limits which can affect response length.

Although ChatGPT does not have a strict word limit for individual responses, there are token limits imposed by the underlying model architecture.

The maximum token limit for GPT-3.5 is 4096 tokens or approximately 500 words.

Tokens can be as short as one character or as long as one word, depending on the tokenization scheme.

It’s important to note that if a conversation or input prompt becomes too long, it may exceed the model’s token limit, and you might need to truncate, omit, or otherwise manage the text to fit within the constraints.

Additionally, very long inputs may result in incomplete responses as the model’s response generation must also fit within the token limit.

When interacting with ChatGPT, it’s a good practice to be mindful of the token limit to ensure effective communication with the model.

Read more about ChatGPT limitations like outdated information, inaccurate responses, and biased answers.

How to Make ChatGPT Write Longer

To nudge ChatGPT into generating more comprehensive answers, clarity in your question sets the stage.

Detailed Initial Prompts

The key to unlocking longer responses lies in how you formulate your initial inquiry.

A precise and well-structured question not only defines the scope but also encourages detailed responses.

If you want an elaborate discussion on the impact of climate change, ask about specific effects on coastal ecosystems rather than a general query about climate change.

Coherent and Logical Prompts

Besides being detailed, your prompts should also maintain logical coherence so that they’re easy for ChatGPT to parse.

For instance, if you want an essay about Oppenheimer’s life and career along with his views on non-proliferation after the Manhattan Project, each aspect of this request must flow logically into the next one.

Regenerate Response

Sometimes all it takes is clicking the regenerate response button for ChatGPT to produce lengthier answers than what it wrote initially. This feature might not always yield longer essays but it’s worth a try given how easy it is to do.

We tried clicking the regenerate button three times and ChatGPT produced around 600 words for each response. While this is generally satisfactory, it’s important to note that if the response is truncated towards the end, additional prompts might be necessary for ChatGPT to complete its answer.

Ask ChatGPT to Write Longer Text

You can directly instruct ChatGPT to compose a longer essay, whether or not you explicitly use the term ‘long.’ As long as the instruction is clear, ChatGPT will consider it when generating a response.

By adding this directive to your detailed prompt, your request for a longer response will result in a more extensive word output.

Mention a Specific Word Count

Another way how to make ChatGPT write longer is to specify a word count.

For example, instead of asking for “an article about dogs,” ask for “a 500-word article discussing different dog breeds’ temperaments.” The added detail gives ChatGPT direction and allows it to produce a longer piece.

In our case, it did exceed the 600-word barrier. It sadly fell way short of the 2000-word target we had requested. Nevertheless, getting a hundred words more than its prescribed limit is still a notable success.

Divide Your Prompt Into Parts

If you’re looking to make ChatGPT write longer, one effective strategy is dividing your prompt into several parts. This approach allows the AI model to focus on each part individually, resulting in more comprehensive and detailed responses.

Just as a writer outlines their thoughts before diving into an essay or report, structuring prompts can help guide AI models like ChatGPT. By breaking down your request into smaller components, you provide clear directions that enable the chatbot to generate extended content accurately.

Ask ChatGPT to Explain, Continue, or Go On

If your prompt doesn’t result in as much detail as desired, use commands like “explain,” “continue,” or “go on.” This encourages the model to continue where it left off rather than generate new replies.

Should you request a much longer response, like around 1,000 words, you’ll have to use the same ‘continue’ or ‘go on’ command and nudge it each time it pauses until it completes the entire response.

Add Page Numbers to Each Response

Another simple trick to make ChatGPT write longer is to input the next page number once ChatGPT stops responding. This tells the AI that the essay is not yet finished and that you want it to continue writing another page.

When ChatGPT produces additional pages, you may notice that much of the content is similar to what it generated earlier. However, within these pages, certain sections might be phrased differently or contain additional information that could be valuable. When copying its response, retain these useful sections and omit anything redundant.

It may be necessary to eliminate certain transition words, such as “In conclusion” or “Finally,” from its response, ensuring there are no indications that the essay has concluded. This way, you can extend the length of your piece indefinitely.

Ask ChatGPT to Rewrite Its Response

You can directly ask ChatGPT to write longer by using prompts such as:

• Expand on the previous answer.
• Rewrite with more detail.
• Extend the length of the response significantly.
• Rewrite the above to increase the word count.
• Provide a longer explanation.

By following these strategies, you can effectively prompt ChatGPT to generate longer and more detailed content according to your needs.

Try ChatGPT Playground

The ChatGPT interface is designed to be straightforward and user-friendly, catering to the requirements of most general users. However, there is an alternative interface known as the ChatGPT Playground which is also free to use. In the Playground, you have the flexibility to adjust certain settings to optimize ChatGPT’s output.

Increase Temperature Settings

The first step in making ChatGPT generate more extensive content involves adjusting the temperature settings. The temperature parameter controls the randomness of the AI’s responses; a higher value will lead to more diverse outputs while lower values result in deterministic answers.

If you want the chatbot to produce longer and more creative texts, consider increasing this setting slightly from its default value (0.8). Remember not to set it too high though as it may lead to incoherent or irrelevant text.

Maximize Token Length

Besides tweaking temperature settings, another effective way to make ChatGPT write longer is by maximizing token length.

A ‘token’ refers to chunks of words or characters processed by GPT-3 at once. By default, each message inputted into ChatGPT uses up some tokens for processing but limiting these tokens restricts how long a response can be.

To get around this limitation and allow for extended conversations, increase the maximum token count up from its usual 4096 limit per conversation.

Note, however, that increasing the token count may result in higher costs as OpenAI charges per token used. Therefore, always balance your need for longer text with the cost implications.

By implementing these two strategies — adjusting temperature settings and maximizing token length — you can significantly enhance the output of ChatGPT to generate longer responses or even lengthy articles.

Write Longer, Easier with BrandWell

FAQs – How to Make ChatGPT Write Longer

How do you get ChatGPT to write longer answers?

Ask for detail-rich explanations or ask it to cover multiple aspects of a topic.

How do I make ChatGPT output longer?

Tweak the prompt, asking for examples, steps, or reasons behind concepts. Be specific.

How do you get ChatGPT to write more than 600 words?

Create multipart questions that need extensive unpacking or request a series of short essays.

Conclusion

Wrapping up, the secret to how to make ChatGPT write longer is all about savvy prompting.

Throw in some prompts like “Hey, give me a bit more detail” or “Can you elaborate more on that?”

And don’t forget the cool trick of using page numbers. It’s all about nudging ChatGPT in the right direction.

With a mix of clever prompts and a touch of creativity, you can turn ChatGPT into your writing sidekick, crafting longer and juicier content.

And remember, if you don’t have the patience or the time to keep writing and tweaking those detailed prompts, you can always switch to BrandWell where you can get a 2,000-word blog post from just a single keyword input. Plus, all the goodies from a complete brand growth platform like keyword research, content intelligence, brand analysis, SEO tools, and generative AI. 🚀✨