Writing beginner and advanced versions of content with AI

Almost every membership has a spread of experience. Some members joined last week and don't know the vocabulary yet. Others have been with you for years and skim anything that starts with the basics. Write for the middle and you risk losing both: beginners feel lost, experienced members feel patronized.

Writing separate versions for different levels used to mean doubling your work. AI makes it realistic to take one solid piece and adapt it, adjusting depth, vocabulary and examples while keeping the core teaching the same. The part that needs care is making sure the simplified version is still true and the advanced version adds real depth rather than just longer words.

Start from one accurate core piece

Adaptation works best when you begin with a piece you've already written and checked. Arjun runs a chess improvement membership with members ranging from people who've just learned how the pieces move to club players with years of tournament experience. His best article on pawn structure was pitched at the middle. He used it as the core and created a beginner and an advanced version from it.

Before adapting, write down what must stay the same in every version: the key ideas, the main recommendation, and any warnings. This short list becomes your check later.

Define each level in plain terms

“Beginner” and “advanced” mean different things in different memberships. Describe each level concretely so the tool knows what to assume.

• What they already know. Terms, techniques and ideas you can use without explanation.
• What they struggle with. The common confusions at this stage.
• What they want. A first success, or a subtle edge.
• How much time they'll give it. Beginners often want shorter pieces; advanced readers may welcome more depth.

Arjun's beginner description included “knows how pieces move but not standard notation,” which told the tool to explain moves in words and to introduce notation gently.

Adapting down for beginners

A good beginner version is not just a shorter one. It defines terms, adds a worked example and removes branches that only matter later.

Here's an article from my membership: [paste article]. Rewrite it for beginners who [describe what they know and struggle with]. Keep these core points exactly: [list]. Define every technical term the first time it appears, in plain words. Add one simple worked example. Remove advanced exceptions, but where removing one could mislead, keep a short note such as “there are exceptions, which you'll learn later.” Keep my voice. Don't add advice that isn't in the original. At the end, list every point you removed so I can check nothing essential went.

That final list is where simplification errors show up. If the tool removed a condition that makes advice safe or correct, put it back. The danger with beginner versions is oversimplifying until a statement is no longer true.

Adapting up for advanced members

An advanced version should skip what experienced members already know and add what they don't: nuance, trade-offs, exceptions and harder examples. AI can help structure this, but the extra depth mostly has to come from you, because it's where your expertise sits.

Here's an article: [paste article]. I want an advanced version for members who [describe what they know]. First, list which parts they'd likely find too basic and could be cut or shortened. Then suggest where the article could go deeper, such as exceptions, trade-offs, common mistakes at a higher level, or questions an advanced reader would ask. Don't write the new material. I'll supply it from my notes: [paste your advanced notes, if you have them].

Arjun used the suggested gaps as prompts for his own thinking and wrote the new sections himself, then asked the tool to fit them into the cut-down structure. The result read as a genuinely different piece rather than the same article with bigger words.

Check each version against the core

Before either version reaches members, read it against your list of core points and ask:

• Is every core point still present and still correct?
• Has anything been simplified into something untrue?
• Are the terms consistent with how you use them elsewhere?
• Does the advanced version add real substance, or just length?

For the beginner version, it helps to ask a newer member or a friend outside your field to read it and tell you where they got stuck. Tightening either version for voice is covered in using AI to edit and tighten your own writing.

Label versions so members find the right one

Adapting content only helps if members can tell which version is for them. Label each clearly by level, link between them (“New to this? Start with the beginner guide”), and consider a start-here path for new members. For the broader question of serving several levels in one membership, see serving beginners and experts in the same membership. If you teach through courses, adapting one course for different levels with AI applies similar ideas to whole courses.

ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot all handle this kind of rewriting. Many owners find one tool keeps their voice better at the simple level and another is better at the advanced structure, so try both versions of the prompt in two tools on a piece you know well.

Your first adaptation

1. Choose one accurate, well-used article pitched at the middle.
2. List the core points every version must keep.
3. Describe your beginner and advanced members concretely.
4. Create the beginner version and review the list of removed points.
5. Build the advanced version from your own notes, using AI for structure.
6. Check both against the core, label them clearly and link them together.