Writing Clearly and Concisely
Adapted from softaworks/agent-toolkit
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.
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
The Most Important Rules (10-13, 16, 18)
- Active voice: "The team shipped the feature" not "The feature was shipped by the team"
- Positive form: "He forgot" not "He did not remember"
- Specific language: "It rained every day for a week" not "A period of unfavorable weather set in"
- Omit needless words: "The question as to whether" → "Whether". "He is a man who" → "He". "The reason why is that" → "Because"
- Keep related words together: Subject near verb, modifier near the word it modifies
- Emphatic words at end: "Humanity has barely noticed this loss" not "This loss has barely been noticed by humanity"
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 the full catalog of AI writing tells (sentence structure, tone, composition patterns), use /write-as-human.
Bottom Line
When writing for humans: use active voice, put statements in positive form, be specific, and omit needless words. If it sounds like marketing copy, rewrite it.
1---2name: writing-clearly3description: Rules for clear, concise writing. Apply when drafting or editing docs, READMEs, comments, commit bodies, or any user-facing prose.4---56# Writing Clearly and Concisely78> Adapted from [softaworks/agent-toolkit](https://github.com/softaworks/agent-toolkit)910## Overview1112Write with clarity and force. This skill covers what to do (Strunk) and what not to do (AI patterns).1314## When to Use This Skill1516Use this skill whenever you write prose for humans:1718- Documentation, README files, technical explanations19- Commit messages, pull request descriptions20- Error messages, UI copy, help text, comments21- Reports, summaries, or any explanation22- Editing to improve clarity2324**If you're writing sentences for a human to read, use this skill.**2526## Elements of Style2728William Strunk Jr.'s *The Elements of Style* (1918) teaches you to write clearly and cut ruthlessly.2930### Rules3132**Elementary Rules of Usage (Grammar/Punctuation):**33341. Form possessive singular by adding 's352. Use comma after each term in series except last363. Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas374. Comma before conjunction introducing co-ordinate clause385. Don't join independent clauses by comma396. Don't break sentences in two407. Participial phrase at beginning refers to grammatical subject4142**Elementary Principles of Composition:**43448. One paragraph per topic459. Begin paragraph with topic sentence4610. **Use active voice**4711. **Put statements in positive form**4812. **Use definite, specific, concrete language**4913. **Omit needless words**5014. Avoid succession of loose sentences5115. Express co-ordinate ideas in similar form5216. **Keep related words together**5317. Keep to one tense in summaries5418. **Place emphatic words at end of sentence**5556### The Most Important Rules (10-13, 16, 18)5758- **Active voice**: "The team shipped the feature" not "The feature was shipped by the team"59- **Positive form**: "He forgot" not "He did not remember"60- **Specific language**: "It rained every day for a week" not "A period of unfavorable weather set in"61- **Omit needless words**: "The question as to whether" → "Whether". "He is a man who" → "He". "The reason why is that" → "Because"62- **Keep related words together**: Subject near verb, modifier near the word it modifies63- **Emphatic words at end**: "Humanity has barely noticed this loss" not "This loss has barely been noticed by humanity"6465## AI Writing Patterns to Avoid6667LLMs regress to statistical means, producing generic, puffy prose. Avoid:6869- **Puffery:** pivotal, crucial, vital, testament, enduring legacy70- **Empty "-ing" phrases:** ensuring reliability, showcasing features, highlighting capabilities71- **Promotional adjectives:** groundbreaking, seamless, robust, cutting-edge72- **Overused AI vocabulary:** delve, leverage, multifaceted, foster, realm, tapestry73- **Formatting overuse:** excessive bullets, emoji decorations, bold on every other word7475Be specific, not grandiose. Say what it actually does.7677For the full catalog of AI writing tells (sentence structure, tone, composition patterns), use `/write-as-human`.7879## Bottom Line8081When writing for humans: use active voice, put statements in positive form, be specific, and omit needless words. If it sounds like marketing copy, rewrite it.
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