The AI Writing Guidelines section gives you direct control over how the AI writes for your brand. While your Brand Personality settings shape the tone, your Writing Guidelines shape the rules — the specific instructions the AI follows every time it generates content.
You'll find this section at the bottom of your Brand Profile page.
Writing Guidelines
This is a free-text field where you can write custom instructions for the AI. Think of it as a creative brief that applies to everything the AI produces in your workspace.
Embellish defaults
When you first set up your workspace, the Writing Guidelines field comes pre-filled with Embellish's default standards:
Write marketing content that connects with readers on a human level
Focus on the transformation your audience will experience, not just features
Use storytelling when appropriate to illustrate points
Keep paragraphs short and scannable
End with a clear, compelling call-to-action
These defaults are designed to produce solid, audience-focused content out of the box. You can use them as-is, build on them, or replace them entirely.
Customizing your guidelines
Just click into the field and start typing. The moment you edit the text, Embellish marks your guidelines as custom and saves them automatically.
Things worth including in your custom guidelines:
Specific phrases or words you always (or never) use
Structural preferences — do you like short punchy paragraphs, or longer flowing ones?
CTA style — do you prefer a soft invitation or a direct ask?
Any brand-specific rules — like always signing off with your first name, or never using exclamation points
Example custom guidelines:
Always write in first person. Use short paragraphs — no more than 2-3 sentences each. Open every email with a story, observation, or question — never a generic greeting. Avoid the words "journey," "unlock," and "game-changer." End sales emails with a single clear CTA, and end nurture emails with a question that invites a reply. Sign off with just my first name, no title.
Resetting to defaults
If you've customized your guidelines and want to start fresh, click Reset to Embellish Standards.
This brings back the original defaults and clears your custom instructions.
Note: Resetting is immediate and can't be undone, so copy your custom guidelines elsewhere first if you might want them back.
Content-Type Guidelines
Below the main Writing Guidelines, you'll find expandable sections with rules specific to each content type. These let you fine-tune the AI's behavior for different formats — because what works in an email body might not work in an SMS message.
Available content types
Click any section to expand it and see (or customize) the guidelines:
Email Subject Lines Rules for generating subject lines — length, formatting, and style. The defaults cover things like keeping subject lines under 50 characters, front-loading important words, and avoiding spam triggers.
Email Body Rules for email body content — structure, CTAs, paragraph length, and readability. Defaults include opening with a hook, keeping paragraphs to 1–3 sentences, and using "you" more than "we."
Email Preheader Rules for the preview text that appears next to or below the subject line in email clients. Defaults cover keeping preheaders between 40–100 characters and complementing (not repeating) the subject line.
SMS Messages Rules for text messages — character limits, formatting, and compliance. Defaults include staying under 160 characters when possible, leading with the most important information, and including clear sender identification.
Voicemail Scripts Rules for recorded voicemail scripts — duration, pacing, and speech patterns. Defaults target 20–30 seconds (60–90 words), conversational language, and natural pacing.
Customizing content-type guidelines
Click into any section, edit the text, and it saves automatically. When you've customized a content type, you'll see a Custom badge next to its name so you know at a glance which ones you've modified.
Each content type can be reset individually by clicking Reset to defaults within that section.
How defaults and custom guidelines work together
Here's the hierarchy:
Your custom Writing Guidelines (the main field) apply to all AI-generated content
Content-type guidelines add rules specific to each format
When both exist, the AI follows both — your general guidelines set the foundation, and content-type guidelines add format-specific rules on top
If you only customize the main Writing Guidelines and leave the content types at their defaults, the AI will still follow sensible format-specific rules. You only need to customize content types if you want to override or add to the defaults for a specific format.
How this connects to everything else
Your AI Writing Guidelines work alongside your Brand Personality settings and Audience Details. Together, they form the complete creative context:
Brand Personality → Controls tone (how it sounds)
Audience Details → Controls targeting (who it speaks to)
Writing Guidelines → Controls rules (how it's structured and what it does or doesn't do)
All three are pulled into every AI interaction automatically. You don't need to repeat yourself in prompts — just write naturally in the chat, and the AI applies your full context behind the scenes.