# Intro Related Writing

> Write or revise a paper's Introduction and Related Work sections using recipes distilled from dissecting top ML researchers' papers. Use when drafting an intro, a contributions list, or a related-work section, or when restructuring how a paper positions against rivals. Applies the seven-question funnel, the credit-then-contrast pattern, and mechanical checklists.

- Skill: `alexyskoutnev/intro-related-writing` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add alexyskoutnev/intro-related-writing`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/alexyskoutnev/intro-related-writing/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: Alexyskoutnev (https://skillmd.com/u/alexyskoutnev)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/alexyskoutnev/intro-related-writing

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# Introduction + Related Work (master method)

Follow `intro-related-guide.md` in this folder, the complete plain-English method.
This file is the operating summary.
## Process

1. **Contributions first.** Before any intro prose, write the contribution bullets:
   each one a refutable claim with a strong bold opening line, not a parts list. The
   intro is then built backwards from them, every paragraph earns a bullet.
2. **Draft the funnel**: seven reader questions, in order: why care (hook) / what
   world (shared ground) / what is missing and what it costs (the gap, named as
   concrete costs) / what you built (the artifact, named once) / how it works (ONE
   mechanism, concept only, details go in Method) / what you found (one headline
   number, stated early, never saved for a surprise) / how it differs (one clause; the
   full comparison lives in Related Work).
3. **Weave related work by theme, far to near.** Group by idea, not by paper; order
   groups from distant background to the closest rival, closest LAST. For engaged
   rivals make the system the sentence subject; for background use citation clusters.
   Every rival gets credit-then-contrast: name what they introduced (warmly), state
   what you keep, then the one difference and its consequence. Never write an
   annotated bibliography (a list of papers with no relation to your work).
4. **Run the checklists** in the guide (intro + related work), then read both cold, in
   one pass, as a stranger.
## Hard rules

- The intro and the abstract must tell the same story; if the abstract's thesis
  changed, the intro's prose funnel changes with it, not only the bullets.
- Attach every number to the exact claim it measures; numbers travel in pairs.
- One named axis for your key idea, coined once and reused verbatim.
- Your closest rival is your likeliest reviewer: credit their paper warmly and place
  its group last, immediately before your differentiation.
- Mechanism details (constants, per-step mechanics) belong in Method; the intro keeps
  only the concept.
## Reference file

- `intro-related-guide.md`: full guide: term translations, the funnel, three intro
  recipes with fill-in templates, the related-work recipe with worked
  credit-then-contrast examples, checklists, tense table, assembly line.