Stop Overloading Your AI Prompts: The Real Key to Cleaner, Sharper AI Images (Patreon)

Hey there, lovely creators!

Today, I want to talk about how you can actually get more out of your AI prompts, by writing less.

Let’s start with a quick throwback. AI image generation really took off back in early 2022. OpenAI’s DALL·E made waves with its surreal “avocado chair” images, and soon after, Midjourney arrived, founded by David Holz (yep, the same co-founder behind Leap Motion).

Midjourney started its alpha testing in early 2022 and went fully public that summer. So we’ve officially had about three years of AI image generation, wild, right? And yet, I still see so many creators struggling with one thing: how to write effective prompts.

That’s why I wanted to do a quick little post showing how you can create amazing results using way less text.

Whenever I hop into the Midjourney Explore section, I like to check out what’s trending, what prompts are working, what’s not, and what people are experimenting with. And today, I noticed a pattern I’ve seen over and over: creators writing really, really long prompts.

And honestly? You don’t need to.

I’m not sure if it’s because people are leaning on ChatGPT to write prompts or just think that adding more detail will help, but it usually doesn’t. I still see words like “hyper-realistic” and “ultra-realistic” floating around too (and if you’ve read my earlier post, you already know how I feel about that one 😂).

So today, I wanted to show you three real examples I found in the Explore section. I took these long, wordy prompts and trimmed them down by about 50% to see what would happen.

And guess what? The results were just as good, and maybe even better.

One prompt even had a phrase the creator wanted to appear in the background — “Ice Cream Time” — but it didn’t show up. After simplifying the prompt, mine actually generated that text perfectly!

Below, you’ll see the original long prompts alongside my shorter versions, plus the resulting images. I think you’ll be surprised by how effective shorter, cleaner prompts can be.

My hope is that this helps you feel more confident trimming down your own prompts, because when it comes to AI art, sometimes less really is more. 💡

Examples of how shorter prompts can still create beautiful AI images:

Original AI Image Prompt (Image on the left): 

A natural 20-year-old girl with black wavy hair sitting on a wooden chair in a grassy field, touching her own hair, photographed from the side profile view. No makeup, natural beauty, looking down with downcast eyes, gazing into the distance, pensive expression, not looking at camera, casual relaxed pose, wearing modest clothing with low exposure, simple comfortable clothes. The photo was taken from far away, wide shot showing full body including feet, distant view, small figure in vast landscape, lots of negative space, emphasis on the landscape, with warm muted colors and soft desaturated tones. Vintage film aesthetic, shot on expired 35mm film, soft focus with shallow depth of field, film grain and light leaks, nostalgic 70s color palette, slight vignetting, organic imperfections, warm peachy and coral tones with dusty blue sky, analog photography feel, grainy texture, cinematic quality, dreamy atmosphere.

My edited version (Image on the right):

A natural 20-year-old girl with black wavy hair sitting on a wooden chair in a grassy field, touching her face, photo, profile, natural beauty, gazing into the distance, pensive expression, relaxed pose, wearing an oversized sweater, wide shot full body, vintage film aesthetic, shallow depth of field, nostalgic color palette, dusty blue sky,

Original AI Image Prompt (Image on the left):

A small, adorable mun chickin kitten wearing a pastel pink-and-blue striped apron and a tiny matching cap stands behind an ice cream counter in a bright, cheerful Baskin-Robbins-style shop. The kitten’s front paws rest on the glass counter, eyes wide with a friendly expression as if greeting a customer. Behind the kitten are colorful tubs of ice cream in soft shades of strawberry pink, mint green, vanilla, and sky blue, neatly arranged in a frosted display. The background includes a pastel wall with playful signage and a glowing “Ice Cream Time!” neon light. The lighting is soft and creamy, with a warm tone that highlights the kitten’s fur and reflects off the polished counter. The camera angle is slightly low, giving the kitten a professional, welcoming presence. The atmosphere feels sweet, cozy, and heart-meltingly cute, like a real Baskin-Robbins commercial. v7

My edited version (Image on the right):

A small, adorable kitten wearing a pastel striped apron and a matching cap, standing behind an ice cream counter in a bright style shop, front paws rest on the glass counter, eyes wide, colorful tubs of ice cream in soft shades of strawberry pink, mint green, arranged in front, a pastel wall with a glowing text sign “Ice Cream Time!” low angle view, bright lighting.

Original AI Image Prompt (Image on the left):

A small white mouse with soft fur and shiny black eyes, slightly smaller than an orange cat named Momo, walking cautiously through a dark, eerie forest at night, holding a small glowing lantern. The forest is misty and filled with twisted trees, glowing eyes peeking from the shadows, and soft fog covering the ground. Cinematic lighting with warm lantern glow contrasting cold blue moonlight, detailed depth, Pixar or Ghibli-inspired animation style, cute but spooky atmosphere, vivid and saturated colors, soft stylized fur texture, storybook illustration mood.

My edited version (Image on the right):

A small white mouse with soft fur and shiny black eyes, walking through a dark, eerie forest at night, holding a small glowing lantern, misty with twisted trees, glowing eyes peeking from the shadows, cinematic lighting, computer animated anime style, story book illustration

✅ 1. Keep It Simple — Don’t Overload the AI

• Limit your prompt to 4–5 key visual details.
   (Example: one subject, one style, one setting, one lighting type.)

• Too many details can confuse the AI — it will try to blend everything, often resulting in chaos instead of clarity.

🔁 2. Don’t Repeat Concepts

• Avoid using similar terms back-to-back, like “wide view, wide angle, far away shot.”

• Pick one version of an idea. Redundancy doesn’t make it stronger — it just makes the AI unsure which one to prioritize.

🧠 3. Skip Abstract or Emotional Adjectives

• Words like “heartwarming,” “welcoming,” or “beautiful” don’t give the AI concrete direction.

• Instead, use visual substitutes:

• “warm golden lighting” instead of “heartwarming”

• “soft textures and natural tones” instead of “welcoming”

🎨 4. Use Descriptive, Visual Language

• Guide the AI like a director: focus on what can actually be seen.

• “sunlight streaming through dusty windows”

• “misty forest at dawn with soft blue haze”

• Think of describing a scene to someone who’s never seen it — because, well, the AI hasn’t.

⚖️ 5. Balance Specificity and Freedom

• Be specific enough to set direction, but leave creative room for the AI to interpret.

• Too much control (“the cup is red, the saucer blue, the spoon silver, the table green…”) often breaks realism.

• Aim for “a colorful ceramic cup on a rustic table.”

🧩 6. Focus on One Main Subject

• Pick a focal point — the person, creature, or object your image revolves around.

• The more you cram in (multiple people, animals, scenery, actions), the less polished the final image will look.

🚫 7. Avoid Unnecessary Keywords

• Skip trendy fluff like “ultra-realistic,” “HDR,” “8K,” or “photorealistic.”

• These don’t improve quality — they just clutter your prompt and make results unpredictable.

💡 8. Test, Compare, and Edit

• Try generating one image, then trim your prompt and rerun it.

• You’ll be surprised how often less text = better output.

As you can see from my examples, you can still get similar and sometimes even better results by writing far less than you probably think you need in your prompt.

I know it’s really tempting to include all those lovely details and poetic descriptions, but when it comes to AI images, it’s best to leave that kind of language out and focus on what the AI image generator actually understands.

Remember, it’s an algorithm, not a person. It can’t make creative decisions for you, and it doesn’t grasp nuance or abstract ideas. You’re not asking for a result, you’re instructing the AI to generate the image you want.

So try approaching it more like a teacher or coach, and less like a friend helping you brainstorm a design.

I hope that helps with your future AI image creations!