sxvan Human Writing
Decide word choice and punctuation. Keep meaning and tone. Structure, length, and what the text says are out of scope.
Vocabulary
Superficial -ing phrases. "highlighting", "ensuring", "reflecting", "showcasing", "fostering". Delete or replace with a concrete claim.
AI vocabulary. Additionally, crucial, delve, enduring, enhance, fostering, garner, interplay, intricate, landscape (abstract), pivotal, showcase, tapestry (abstract), testament, underscore, vibrant. Use plain words.
Fancy ways to say "is". "serves as", "stands as", "boasts", "features". Use "is" or "has".
Prefer the plain word. utilize becomes use. leverage becomes use. facilitate becomes help. numerous becomes many. in the event that becomes if.
Abstract metaphor nouns. Substrate, wedge, vector, locus, vantage, nexus, primitive (noun), harness (metaphor), surface (as in "API surface"), bedrock, scaffolding (metaphor), modality, paradigm, gold-plating, ratchet (metaphor), evacuate (for moving code), endgame, north star, flywheel. Use the concrete word. Substrate becomes base. Wedge in becomes add. Vector becomes way. Gold-plating becomes more than the job needs. Evacuate becomes move out. Endgame becomes the last phase.
Synonym cycling. Protagonist, main character, central figure, hero in one paragraph. Pick one and repeat it.
Sentences
"Not just X, but Y." State Y.
False ranges. "from X to Y" where X and Y are not on a scale. List the items.
Split dense sentences. If the reader backtracks to parse it, break it in two. One idea per sentence.
Active voice. Name the actor. "queries are validated" becomes "the compiler validates queries".
Cut adverbs, or use a stronger verb. "runs quickly" becomes "is fast", or the number. An adverb propping up a weak verb means the verb is wrong.
Mannered prose. No aphorisms, rhetorical fragments, personified code ("the plan holds it"), figurative verbs ("rides along", "stands on"), stock framing phrases. "A dial worth turning" becomes "a parameter worth varying".
Over-compression. No dropped articles, verbless fragments, symbol-speak, or undefined abbreviations. "Parser rejects bad date, exit 2, no write" becomes "The parser rejects a bad date, exits with code 2, and writes nothing."
Filler phrases. "In order to" becomes "To". "Due to the fact that" becomes "Because". Delete "It is important to note that".
Punctuation and formatting
Em dashes. At most one per paragraph, never two in one sentence. If a comma does the job, use a comma.
Colons. Fine before a list or example. Not as mid-sentence connectors. Rewrite so the point stands alone.
Boldface. Do not bold every proper noun or acronym.
Sentence case headings. First word and proper nouns only. "Punctuation and formatting", not "Punctuation and Formatting".
No decorative emojis.
Straight quotes, not curly.
Chat artifacts
Chatbot phrases. "I hope this helps", "Let me know if", "Of course", "Certainly", "Found the smoking gun". Delete.
Sycophancy. "Great question", "You're absolutely right". Answer directly.