Write Like Me

Write Like Me

You are rewriting or polishing text to match a specific voice. Follow these layers in order:

Step 1: Load the Voice Profile

Check for a voice profile in one of these locations (in priority order):

1. A file the user points you to
2. references/voice-profile.md in this skill directory
3. If no profile exists, tell the user: "No voice profile found. Either provide one, or use the voice-extractor skill to generate one from writing samples."

Read the voice profile before proceeding.

Step 2: Apply Concise Writing Rules

Regardless of the voice profile, apply these baseline rules. They override the voice profile if there is a conflict. (Based on Strunk & White's Elements of Style -- for the full original rules, see references/elements-of-style.md if available, or install from github.com/obra/the-elements-of-style.)

1. Omit needless words. Every word must earn its place. Cut filler phrases entirely.

   • "in order to" -> "to"
   • "the question as to whether" -> "whether"
   • "he is a man who" -> "he"
   • "the reason why is that" -> "because"

2. Use concrete, specific language. Vague claims hide weak thinking. Pin things down.

   • Bad: "Significant revenue growth was achieved across multiple segments."
   • Good: "Revenue grew 30% in Q3, driven by enterprise sales."

3. Prefer active voice. Active voice is shorter and clearer. Use passive only when the actor is unknown or irrelevant.

   • Bad: "The feature was shipped by the team after testing was completed."
   • Good: "The team shipped the feature after testing."

4. Lead with the point. State your conclusion, then support it. Don't make the reader wait.

   • Bad: "After careful analysis of the data and consideration of several factors, we concluded that..."
   • Good: "We should cancel the project. The data shows..."

5. Put statements in positive form. Say what something is, not what it isn't. Negatives are harder to parse.

   • Bad: "He was not very often on time."
   • Good: "He usually came late."

6. One idea per sentence. If a sentence carries two ideas, split it. If a paragraph drifts to a second topic, break it.

7. Don't hedge unless genuinely uncertain. Hedging weakens everything around it.

   • Bad: "This may potentially have an impact on performance."
   • Good: "This slows performance." (Or if uncertain: "I'm not sure whether this affects performance.")

8. Use plain words. Fancy synonyms don't make you sound smarter.

   • "use" not "utilise" / "help" not "facilitate" / "method" not "methodology" / "start" not "commence" / "about" not "with regard to"

9. Cut qualifiers. "Very", "really", "quite", "somewhat", "fairly" almost always weaken. Remove them and see if the sentence is better. It usually is.

10. Vary sentence length for rhythm. Default to short. Use a longer sentence occasionally to carry a complex idea, then follow it with a short one. This creates pace.

11. Place emphatic words at the end. The end of a sentence carries the most weight.

    • Weak: "Failure was, in the end, the result."
    • Strong: "In the end, the result was failure."

12. No filler transitions. "Furthermore", "Moreover", "Indeed", "Additionally", "It's important to note that" -- cut these. If the next sentence follows logically, it doesn't need a signpost.

Step 3: Ban AI Anti-Patterns

Never use these in the output. If they appear in the draft, replace them.

Banned words/phrases:

• delve, realm, tapestry, landscape (metaphorical), leverage (as verb), utilise, facilitate, endeavour
• "In today's [adjective] world/landscape/environment"
• "Let's dive in", "Let's unpack this"
• "At the end of the day"
• "Revolutionise", "game-changer", "cutting-edge", "innovative" (unless literally describing an innovation)
• "It's important to note that..."
• "Transformative", "paradigm shift", "synergy"

Banned structural patterns:

• Snappy triads: "Fast, efficient, and reliable." (Don't string three adjectives for rhetorical effect)
• Negation flips: "It's not X -- it's Y." / "No X, no Y, just Z."
• Unearned profundity: "Something shifted." / "And that changes everything."
• Rhetorical questions as transitions: "But what does this really mean?"
• False build-ups: "The solution? It's simpler than you think."
• Ending with inspirational calls-to-action unless the user asked for one
• Summarising what was just said: "In summary..." / "As we've seen..."

Step 4: Rewrite

With the voice profile, conciseness rules, and anti-patterns all loaded:

1. Read the draft text the user wants polished
2. Rewrite it to match the voice profile while applying all rules above
3. Keep the same structure and ideas -- don't add or remove points unless the user asks
4. Present the rewritten version
5. If you changed the structure or emphasis significantly, briefly note what you changed and why

Notes

• This skill is for the polish/rewrite step, not for initial drafting. The user will have already generated or dictated content.
• Keep the rewritten output roughly the same length or shorter. Never inflate.
• When in doubt between matching the voice profile and following the conciseness rules, prefer conciseness. Good writing is the floor; voice is the layer on top.