How do I install the Writing Clearly And Concisely skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add aiskillstore/writing-clearly-and-concisely in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Writing Clearly And Concisely safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Independent scanners report: SkillSpector: PASS, Skill Scanner: PASS. Capability flags: docs only. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Writing Clearly And Concisely?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Writing Clearly And Concisely free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Writing Clearly And Concisely?

aiskillstore (@aiskillstore) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Writing Clearly And Concisely by aiskillstore

Name: Writing Clearly And Concisely
Rating: 4.5 (4 reviews)
Author: aiskillstore

Writing Clearly And Concisely

Apply Strunk's timeless writing rules to ANY prose humans will read—documentation, commit messages, error messages, explanations, reports, or UI text. Makes your writing clearer, stronger, and more professional.

aiskillstore Updated Sep 8, 2026

File contents

Writing Clearly and Concisely

Overview

William Strunk Jr.'s The Elements of Style (1918) teaches you to write clearly and cut ruthlessly.

WARNING: elements-of-style.md consumes ~12,000 tokens. Read it only when writing or editing prose.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill whenever you write prose for humans:

Documentation, README files, technical explanations
Commit messages, pull request descriptions
Error messages, UI copy, help text, comments
Reports, summaries, or any explanation
Editing to improve clarity

If you're writing sentences for a human to read, use this skill.

Limited Context Strategy

When context is tight:

Write your draft using judgment
Dispatch a subagent with your draft and elements-of-style.md
Have the subagent copyedit and return the revision

If you REALLY REALLY need to preserve context, you can skip the full elements-of-style.md and instead use Orwell's rules:

Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

All Rules

Elementary Rules of Usage (Grammar/Punctuation)

Form possessive singular by adding 's
Use comma after each term in series except last
Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas
Comma before conjunction introducing co-ordinate clause
Don't join independent clauses by comma
Don't break sentences in two
Participial phrase at beginning refers to grammatical subject

Elementary Principles of Composition

One paragraph per topic
Begin paragraph with topic sentence
Use active voice
Put statements in positive form
Use definite, specific, concrete language
Omit needless words
Avoid succession of loose sentences
Express co-ordinate ideas in similar form
Keep related words together
Keep to one tense in summaries
Place emphatic words at end of sentence

Section V: Words and Expressions Commonly Misused

Alphabetical reference for usage questions

Bottom Line

Writing for humans? Read elements-of-style.md and apply the rules. Low on tokens? Dispatch a subagent to copyedit with the guide.

---name: writing-clearly-and-conciselydescription: Apply Strunk's timeless writing rules to ANY prose humans will read—documentation, commit messages, error messages, explanations, reports, or UI text. Makes your writing clearer, stronger, and more professional.---# Writing Clearly and Concisely## OverviewWilliam Strunk Jr.'s *The Elements of Style* (1918) teaches you to write clearly and cut ruthlessly.**WARNING:** `elements-of-style.md` consumes ~12,000 tokens. Read it only when writing or editing prose.## When to Use This SkillUse this skill whenever you write prose for humans:- Documentation, README files, technical explanations- Commit messages, pull request descriptions- Error messages, UI copy, help text, comments- Reports, summaries, or any explanation- Editing to improve clarity**If you're writing sentences for a human to read, use this skill.**## Limited Context StrategyWhen context is tight:1. Write your draft using judgment2. Dispatch a subagent with your draft and `elements-of-style.md`3. Have the subagent copyedit and return the revisionIf you REALLY REALLY need to preserve context, you can skip the full `elements-of-style.md` and instead use Orwell's rules:- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.- Never use a long word where a short one will do.- If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.- Never use the passive where you can use the active.- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.## All Rules### Elementary Rules of Usage (Grammar/Punctuation)1. Form possessive singular by adding 's2. Use comma after each term in series except last3. Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas4. Comma before conjunction introducing co-ordinate clause5. Don't join independent clauses by comma6. Don't break sentences in two7. Participial phrase at beginning refers to grammatical subject### Elementary Principles of Composition8. One paragraph per topic9. Begin paragraph with topic sentence10. **Use active voice**11. **Put statements in positive form**12. **Use definite, specific, concrete language**13. **Omit needless words**14. Avoid succession of loose sentences15. Express co-ordinate ideas in similar form16. **Keep related words together**17. Keep to one tense in summaries18. **Place emphatic words at end of sentence**### Section V: Words and Expressions Commonly MisusedAlphabetical reference for usage questions## Bottom LineWriting for humans? Read `elements-of-style.md` and apply the rules. Low on tokens? Dispatch a subagent to copyedit with the guide.

Frequently asked questions