# Long Form Manifesto

> Vision/strategy piece (~1500-3000 words). Rare format — once or twice a year. Names what you're building, why it matters, and how you'll get there. Use to plant a flag, reset direction, or invite people into a longer-term mission.

- Skill: `r-bart/long-form-manifesto` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add r-bart/long-form-manifesto`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/r-bart/long-form-manifesto/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: r-bart (https://skillmd.com/u/r-bart)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/r-bart/long-form-manifesto

---


## Metadata

- **inherits**: `../writing-style/SKILL.md`
- **length target**: 1500-3000 words
- **cadence**: rare — quarterly at most, often annually

# long-form-manifesto

A piece that names what you're building, why it matters, and how you'll get there. Rare format. Used to plant a flag, reset direction, or invite people into a longer-term mission.

The danger: this format is the most prone to abstraction drift — vague vision-speak, "transformational" language, no numbers. Defaults must be aggressive on concreteness. Voice and tone are inherited from `writing-style/SKILL.md`.

## Structure

```
[Title: names the project or vision. NOT "My Big Vision for 2026". Use the noun: "The 100 Projects Challenge", "The Masterplan", etc.]
[Subtitle: 1 sentence — the bet in plain terms.]

[Opener (3-5 sentences): the world as it is. The pain you're addressing. Specific, not abstract.]

[The thesis — 1 short paragraph: what you're going to do. What's the bet. State it as a sentence.]

## Why

[Why now, why this, why you. 2-4 sub-points or short paragraphs. Each backed by a fact, a number, or a personal experience — not a feeling.]

## What

[The concrete shape of what you're building. Phases, products, components. Specific enough that a reader can imagine the result.]

## How

[The approach. Principles, constraints, what you will NOT do. Constraints are more interesting than goals.]

## Numbers / horizon

[Time horizon, scale targets, success criteria. Be willing to commit to a number even if it's a guess.]

## What I won't do

[Explicit non-goals. This is what stops a manifesto from sounding like a brochure. Naming what's out of scope sharpens what's in.]

[Closer (2-4 sentences): a hard, declarative invitation. NOT "let's see where it takes us". Try: "Here's the bet. Here's the date. I'll be writing about it weekly. Subscribe if you want to watch."]
```

## Rules specific to this format

- **Concreteness is the anti-bullshit drug.** Every claim either has a number, a date, or a named example. If a paragraph has none, rewrite it.
- **Constraints over goals.** "I won't take VC money. I won't hire. I won't build for verticals I don't use." — this is more compelling than "I want to grow."
- **Name your peers AND your differentiation.** Cite the people doing similar things. Then say what you do differently. Don't pretend you're the first.
- **The "what I won't do" section is mandatory.** Without it, the manifesto sounds like everyone else's.
- **End with a date, not a feeling.** "I'll publish progress every Sunday for the next 100 weeks." beats "Excited for the journey ahead."

## Anti-patterns specific to this format

- The phrase "I invite you to join me on this journey" — banned. No exceptions.
- Manifesto without numbers. Even speculative ones.
- Three-paragraph closer with rising emotional register. One short closer beats one long one every time.
- Listing your values in adjectives ("authentic, transparent, pragmatic"). Show them through what you do/don't do.
- Coach-speak: "transformational", "unleash", "embark", "potential", "limitless".

## Workflow

1. Write the thesis as a single sentence first. Show it to one person. If it sounds like a LinkedIn bio, rewrite.
2. List what you WON'T do. This often clarifies what you WILL do.
3. Pull at least 3 specific numbers, dates, or names you can commit to in writing.
4. Draft the structure section by section.
5. Aggressively cut abstraction. Each paragraph: does this paragraph have a fact? If no, cut or rewrite.
6. Closer: must commit to something specific.
7. Run `editing-pass` and `ai-slop-check` — twice. This format has the highest AI-slop risk.