Welcome back to Fun Prompt Friday! Last week, we got our hands dirty with the art of extraction, teaching our favorite AI tools how to dig through unstructured texts and unearth rich, structured nuggets of information. If you’ve ever wanted a machine that could comb through raw data and deliver it to you on a silver platter of clarity, that was your moment.
This week, we shift gears—but stay in the same car, so to speak. What do you do with all those extracted facts? After all, family history research isn’t just about gathering names, dates, and places. It’s about turning those fragments into narratives that bring ancestors to life. That’s where today’s prompt comes in: a powerful use case for generation, the art of transforming a plain list of facts into a coherent, engaging story.
You might call this a genealogy storyteller’s secret weapon. You give the AI the bare bones—the who, what, when, and where—and it fills in the connective tissue, weaving those facts into a narrative tapestry that’s as vivid as it is accurate. Whether you’re writing a family history book, preparing a presentation for a reunion, or simply looking to reimagine your research in a more human context, this week’s prompt will help you make the leap from information to imagination.
And just as last week’s extraction prompt paved the way for this moment, next week we’ll show how the two can be used together seamlessly, as part of a larger strategy for integrating AI into your research workflow—without the hassle of copy-and-pasting between tools.
Ready to turn facts into stories? Let’s dive in!
Before we dive into the details of this week’s narration prompt, let me remind you that, just like last week’s extraction tool, there are two ways to get your hands on this powerful storytelling assistant. First, you can use the freely available saved prompt I’ve shared, called “Steve’s Fact Narrator,” which you’ll find ready to go at https://chatgpt.com/g/g-5EsrFHgIJ-steve-s-fact-narrator. No fuss, no setup—just load it up and watch the magic happen.
Second, for those of you who like to see under the hood, I’ve included the full text of the narration prompt below. This way, you can copy, adapt, or fine-tune it as you see fit, ensuring it works seamlessly for your unique genealogical projects.
If you joined us last week, you’ll remember that the extraction prompt worked its magic by transforming unstructured text into a clean, structured list of facts in the format LABEL: Value. For example, from the obituary of Susan B. Anthony, we pulled gems like:
BIRTH_DATE: 1820-02-15SIGNIFICANT_EVENT_1: 1872 arrest for voting in Presidential election in Rochester
With these, and dozens of other facts neatly labeled and ready to go, you’ve got a treasure trove of information—but the real magic happens when we breathe life into those facts. That’s where this week’s narration prompt comes in. It’s designed to take a list like this—our trusty LABEL: Value format—and turn it into a story worthy of your family history scrapbook or next reunion presentation. All you need to do is provide the list, and the prompt will do the rest, weaving those bare-bones details into a narrative that’s as compelling as it is cohesive. Let’s take a closer look!
<PROMPT>
You will be given a set of facts about a person, place, event, or topic. Your task is to write a narrative based on these facts. This narrative should be useful for social scientists such as historians, genealogists, and linguists. Here are the facts:
<facts>
{{FACTS}}
</facts>
To complete this task, follow these instructions:
1. Carefully read and analyze all the provided facts.
2. Organize the facts into a logical sequence or grouping. This may be chronological, thematic, or another appropriate structure based on the nature of the information.
3. Write a narrative that incorporates all the given facts. Do not add any information, speculation, or editorialization beyond what is explicitly stated in the facts.
4. Use complete sentences and form well-organized paragraphs. Each paragraph should focus on a specific aspect or time period of the subject.
5. Maintain a dry, factual tone throughout the narrative. Avoid using emotive language or making subjective judgments.
6. Ensure that the narrative flows logically from one point to the next, creating a coherent account of the subject.
7. If dates or specific time periods are mentioned in the facts, include them in your narrative to provide a clear timeline.
8. If names of people, places, or organizations are mentioned, include them as they appear in the facts.
9. If there are any direct quotes in the facts, incorporate them into your narrative using proper quotation marks.
10. Do not include any personal opinions, modern-day comparisons, or attempts to relate the information to current events.
11. If the facts contain any conflicting information, present both pieces of information without attempting to resolve the conflict.
12. Do not use phrases like "according to the facts" or "the information states." Simply present the information as established fact.
13. Write your narrative in the third person perspective.
14. Aim for a formal, academic tone suitable for use in scholarly works.
Present your completed narrative within <narrative> tags. The narrative should be a single, cohesive piece of writing without subheadings or bullet points.
<metadata>
TITLE: Steve's Facts Narrator, version 2
CREATOR: Steve Little; https://AIGenealogyInsights.com/
DATE: Friday 10 January 2025
LICENSE: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC 4.0 License.
</metadata>
</PROMPT>A couple of quick observations:
- This is structured, formal prompt, instructing the AI in some detail how to craft the narrative;
- You are allowed, invited, and encouraged to modify the prompt as your context requires (I’ve shared this prompt under a Creative Commons license);
- Note that this version instructs for a “formal, academic tone”; you, again, are allowed, invited, and encouraged to change the voice, tone, mood, and style of the narrative to that which meets your context.
Now, let’s see an example of how this prompt works. For this, we’ll use the list of facts extracted from the Susan B. Athony obituary last week. Again, if you are using the Custom GPT version of the saved prompt (the free, online version), you go to the tool, paste the list of facts, and send the message. Recall that you do not need to include the prompt with a Custom GPT because the prompt has already been saved inside the tool (that’s the whole point).
This is what it looks like when we pass the list of facts to the Custom GPT:
And here is the list of facts (as Claude extracted them last week):
<facts>
PERSON_NAME: Susan Anthony (also referred to as Miss Anthony)
BIRTH_DATE: 1820-02-15
BIRTH_LOCATION: South Adams, Massachusetts
DEATH_LOCATION: Rochester, New York
DEATH_YEAR: 1906
FATHER_BACKGROUND: Quaker, cotton manufacturer
MOTHER_BACKGROUND: Baptist
EDUCATION: Friends' boarding school in Philadelphia
OCCUPATION_TEACHER_DATES: 1835-1850
OCCUPATION_TEACHER_LOCATION: Various schools in New-York State
ACTIVISM_START_DATE: 1848
ACTIVISM_FOCUS_INITIAL: Temperance movement
KEY_ASSOCIATES: Mrs. Amelia Bloomer, Mrs. Mary Hallowell, Rev. Antoinette L. Brown, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage
SIGNIFICANT_EVENT_1: 1872 arrest for voting in Presidential election in Rochester
SIGNIFICANT_EVENT_2: 1876 began "History of Woman Suffrage" (completed after her 80th birthday)
ORGANIZATIONAL_ROLES:
● Vice-president-at-large of National Woman Suffrage Association (1869-1892)
● President of National Woman Suffrage Association (1892)
PUBLICATION_FOUNDED: "The Revolution" (women's suffrage newspaper)
PUBLICATION_LOCATION: New York City
PUBLICATION_DEBT: $10,000
LAST_PUBLIC_APPEARANCE: Celebration of 86th birthday in Washington, February 15, 1906
FINAL_ILLNESS: Blood clot on the brain, slight pneumonia
RESIDENCE_FINAL: Lived with sister Mary Anthony in Rochester
ACHIEVEMENTS:
● Helped secure married women's rights to earnings and child guardianship (New York legislature, 1860)
● Distributed 400,000 petitions to Congress for abolition of slavery
● Placed "History of Woman Suffrage" in 1,200 public libraries
● At age 76, conducted Pacific Coast lecture tour (three times daily)
● At age 83, attended International Council of Women convention
POSSIBLE_LAST_WORDS: "The cause is of more importance than I am" (said to Rev. Anna Shaw when declining accompaniment home during final illness)
</facts>And finally, here is the narration as generated by OpenAI’s 4o model, powering ChatGPT. (An interesting comparison would be to hear how Claude or Gemini might craft the narrative; many folks, myself included, have a preference for Claude’s manner of generating text.)
<narrative>
Susan Anthony, widely referred to as Miss Anthony, was born on February 15, 1820, in South Adams, Massachusetts. Her upbringing was shaped by the religious and social values of her parents: her father, a Quaker and cotton manufacturer, and her mother, a Baptist. Susan Anthony received her education at a Friends’ boarding school in Philadelphia, which reflected her father’s Quaker influence on her early life.
Between 1835 and 1850, Anthony worked as a teacher in various schools across New York State. Her career as an educator provided her with firsthand exposure to the limited opportunities available to women, which influenced her subsequent activism. In 1848, she became involved in the temperance movement, marking the beginning of her long career in social reform and advocacy. Over time, she expanded her focus to include women’s rights and suffrage, working alongside notable contemporaries such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage, Mrs. Amelia Bloomer, Mrs. Mary Hallowell, and Rev. Antoinette L. Brown.
Anthony held significant leadership roles in the women’s suffrage movement. She served as vice-president-at-large of the National Woman Suffrage Association from 1869 to 1892 and later became its president in 1892. Her efforts to advance women's suffrage included founding the newspaper The Revolution in New York City, a publication dedicated to the cause. However, this endeavor resulted in a debt of $10,000, which she worked tirelessly to resolve.
Her activism also extended to legislative and grassroots efforts. In 1860, she helped secure married women’s rights to their earnings and child guardianship under New York law. During the Civil War, Anthony distributed 400,000 petitions to Congress advocating for the abolition of slavery, demonstrating her commitment to social justice beyond the suffrage movement. In 1876, at the age of 56, she began work on the monumental History of Woman Suffrage, a multi-volume chronicle of the movement, which was completed after her 80th birthday. She ensured its wide dissemination by placing copies in 1,200 public libraries.
In a bold act of defiance, Anthony was arrested in 1872 for voting in the presidential election in Rochester, New York, an event that underscored her commitment to securing women's right to vote. Her activism continued well into her later years. At 76, she embarked on a lecture tour along the Pacific Coast, delivering up to three speeches daily. At age 83, she attended the International Council of Women convention, remaining active in the movement even as she advanced in age.
Anthony spent her final years living with her sister, Mary Anthony, in Rochester, New York. Her last public appearance occurred on February 15, 1906, at a celebration of her 86th birthday in Washington, D.C. Shortly thereafter, she fell ill with a blood clot on the brain and slight pneumonia. During her final illness, she declined an offer of assistance from Rev. Anna Shaw, reportedly stating, “The cause is of more importance than I am.” Susan Anthony passed away later that year, in 1906.
Anthony’s legacy is defined by her unwavering dedication to the causes of abolition, women’s suffrage, and gender equality. Her life's work included securing legal rights for women, advancing the suffrage movement, and ensuring the historical preservation of these efforts through her publications. Her contributions continue to resonate in the ongoing fight for equality.
</narrative>Again, I hope you find this prompt useful. I look forward to sharing with you something next week that I’m quite excited about: a way to seamlessly chain these prompts together such that the need for copy-and-paste is eliminated and you can use many different saved prompts within one chat conversation. I’ll also have a video, so that you can see this prompt tool in action.
Until then, best wishes, Steve
