How do I write good prompts for AI image generators?

You write good prompts by being specific about the subject, style, and details you want — and by leaving out what you don't want. Think of it like giving directions to a very literal painter. You wouldn't just say 'paint a landscape.' You'd mention the time of day, the weather, the colors, and maybe even the art style. AI image generators work the same way. The more precise you are, the closer you'll get to what's in your head. I've found that a solid prompt has three layers. First, the main subject: 'a red fox sitting on a mossy log.' Second, the environment and lighting: 'in a foggy forest at dawn, soft golden light filtering through pine trees.' Third, the artistic style: 'digital painting, Studio Ghibli inspired, detailed fur texture.' That's a complete prompt. It tells the AI exactly what to render and how to render it. You can also add technical terms. Words like '4K,' 'photorealistic,' 'cinematic lighting,' or 'shallow depth of field' push the output toward a certain look. Most generators — Midjourney, DALL-E, Stable Diffusion — respond well to these. One thing that trips people up is negative prompting. This is where you tell the AI what to avoid. In tools like Stable Diffusion, you might add 'ugly, blurry, extra fingers, distorted face' to the negative prompt field. It's not perfect, but it helps. A tip most beginners miss: study other people's prompts. Midjourney's public gallery lets you see the exact text used for any image. Reverse-engineering good work teaches you faster than any tutorial. Just copy a prompt you like, tweak one thing, and see what changes. You'll develop an intuition for what words actually matter.