Writing Clearly and Concisely
Overview
Write with clarity and force. This skill covers what to do (Strunk) and what not to do (AI patterns).
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 the relevant section file
- Have the subagent copyedit and return the revision
Loading a single section (~1,000-4,500 tokens) instead of everything saves significant context.
Elements of Style
William Strunk Jr.'s The Elements of Style (1918) teaches you to write clearly and cut ruthlessly.
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
Reference Files
The rules above are summarized from Strunk's original text. For complete explanations with examples:
| Section |
File |
~Tokens |
| Grammar, punctuation, comma rules |
02-elementary-rules-of-usage.md |
2,500 |
| Paragraph structure, active voice, concision |
03-elementary-principles-of-composition.md |
4,500 |
| Headings, quotations, formatting |
04-a-few-matters-of-form.md |
1,000 |
| Word choice, common errors |
05-words-and-expressions-commonly-misused.md |
4,000 |
Most tasks need only 03-elementary-principles-of-composition.md — it covers active voice, positive form, concrete language, and omitting needless words.
AI Writing Patterns to Avoid
LLMs regress to statistical means, producing generic, puffy prose. Avoid:
- Puffery: pivotal, crucial, vital, testament, enduring legacy
- Empty "-ing" phrases: ensuring reliability, showcasing features, highlighting capabilities
- Promotional adjectives: groundbreaking, seamless, robust, cutting-edge
- Overused AI vocabulary: delve, leverage, multifaceted, foster, realm, tapestry
- Formatting overuse: excessive bullets, emoji decorations, bold on every other word
Be specific, not grandiose. Say what it actually does.
For comprehensive research on why these patterns occur, see signs-of-ai-writing.md. Wikipedia editors developed this guide to detect AI-generated submissions — their patterns are well-documented and field-tested.
Bottom Line
Writing for humans? Load the relevant section from elements-of-style/ and apply the rules. For most tasks, 03-elementary-principles-of-composition.md covers what matters most.
1---2name: writing-clearly-and-concisely-23description: Use when writing prose humans will read—documentation, commit messages, error messages, explanations, reports, or UI text. Applies Strunk's timeless rules for clearer, stronger, more professional writing.4license: MIT5---6
7# Writing Clearly and Concisely
8
9## Overview
10
11Write with clarity and force. This skill covers what to do (Strunk) and what not to do (AI patterns).
12
13## When to Use This Skill
14
15Use this skill whenever you write prose for humans:
16
17- Documentation, README files, technical explanations
18- Commit messages, pull request descriptions
19- Error messages, UI copy, help text, comments
20- Reports, summaries, or any explanation
21- Editing to improve clarity
22
23**If you're writing sentences for a human to read, use this skill.**
24
25## Limited Context Strategy
26
27When context is tight:
28
291. Write your draft using judgment
302. Dispatch a subagent with your draft and the relevant section file
313. Have the subagent copyedit and return the revision
32
33Loading a single section (~1,000-4,500 tokens) instead of everything saves significant context.
34
35## Elements of Style
36
37William Strunk Jr.'s *The Elements of Style* (1918) teaches you to write clearly and cut ruthlessly.
38
39### Rules
40
41**Elementary Rules of Usage (Grammar/Punctuation)**:
42
431. Form possessive singular by adding 's
442. Use comma after each term in series except last
453. Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas
464. Comma before conjunction introducing co-ordinate clause
475. Don't join independent clauses by comma
486. Don't break sentences in two
497. Participial phrase at beginning refers to grammatical subject
50
51**Elementary Principles of Composition**:
52
538. One paragraph per topic
549. Begin paragraph with topic sentence
5510. **Use active voice**
5611. **Put statements in positive form**
5712. **Use definite, specific, concrete language**
5813. **Omit needless words**
5914. Avoid succession of loose sentences
6015. Express co-ordinate ideas in similar form
6116. **Keep related words together**
6217. Keep to one tense in summaries
6318. **Place emphatic words at end of sentence**
64
65### Reference Files
66
67The rules above are summarized from Strunk's original text. For complete explanations with examples:
68
69| Section | File | ~Tokens |
70|---------|------|---------|
71| Grammar, punctuation, comma rules | `02-elementary-rules-of-usage.md` | 2,500 |
72| Paragraph structure, active voice, concision | `03-elementary-principles-of-composition.md` | 4,500 |
73| Headings, quotations, formatting | `04-a-few-matters-of-form.md` | 1,000 |
74| Word choice, common errors | `05-words-and-expressions-commonly-misused.md` | 4,000 |
75
76**Most tasks need only `03-elementary-principles-of-composition.md`** — it covers active voice, positive form, concrete language, and omitting needless words.
77
78## AI Writing Patterns to Avoid
79
80LLMs regress to statistical means, producing generic, puffy prose. Avoid:
81
82- **Puffery:** pivotal, crucial, vital, testament, enduring legacy
83- **Empty "-ing" phrases:** ensuring reliability, showcasing features, highlighting capabilities
84- **Promotional adjectives:** groundbreaking, seamless, robust, cutting-edge
85- **Overused AI vocabulary:** delve, leverage, multifaceted, foster, realm, tapestry
86- **Formatting overuse:** excessive bullets, emoji decorations, bold on every other word
87
88Be specific, not grandiose. Say what it actually does.
89
90For comprehensive research on why these patterns occur, see `signs-of-ai-writing.md`. Wikipedia editors developed this guide to detect AI-generated submissions — their patterns are well-documented and field-tested.
91
92## Bottom Line
93
94Writing for humans? Load the relevant section from `elements-of-style/` and apply the rules. For most tasks, `03-elementary-principles-of-composition.md` covers what matters most.
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