# No Tropes

> Detect and eliminate common AI writing tropes from generated text. Use when writing or revising prose, documentation, READMEs, commit messages, PR descriptions, blog posts, comments, or any non-code text output. Automatically applied as a self-revision pass (tropes.fyi).

- Skill: `outthislife/no-tropes` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add outthislife/no-tropes`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/outthislife/no-tropes/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Docs & Writing
- Author: outthislife (https://skillmd.com/u/outthislife)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/outthislife/no-tropes

---


# No Tropes (AI writing tells)

After drafting any prose, revise it against the tropes catalog in [tropes-reference.md](tropes-reference.md).

## Core Principle

Write like a human: varied, imperfect, specific. Any single trope used once might be fine. The problem is when multiple tropes stack or a single trope repeats.

## Quick Checklist

Before finalizing text, scan for:

- **Word choice**: "quietly", "delve", "tapestry", "landscape", "serves as", "leverage", "robust"
- **Sentence structure**: "It's not X — it's Y", "The X? A Y.", tricolons, anaphora, false ranges, "-ing" tacked-on analysis
- **Paragraph structure**: Short punchy fragments as standalone paragraphs, listicles disguised as prose
- **Tone**: "Here's the thing", "Think of it as", "Imagine a world", "Let's break this down", invented concept labels, grandiose stakes inflation
- **Formatting**: Em-dash overuse (2-3 max per piece), bold-first bullets, unicode arrows (→)
- **Composition**: Fractal summaries, dead metaphors beaten into the ground, historical analogy stacking, one-point dilution, "In conclusion"

## Revision Protocol

1. Read the full draft
2. Flag any trope matches from the reference
3. Rewrite flagged passages using plain, direct language
4. Prefer simple verbs ("is" over "serves as"), concrete nouns, and varied sentence structure
5. Cut filler transitions ("It's worth noting", "Importantly", "Interestingly")
6. If you catch yourself writing the same structural pattern 3+ times, break the pattern