How do I install the Writing Clearly And Concisely skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add xe/writing-clearly-and-concisely in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Writing Clearly And Concisely safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Writing Clearly And Concisely?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Writing Clearly And Concisely free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Writing Clearly And Concisely?

xe (@xe) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Writing Clearly And Concisely by xe

Name: Writing Clearly And Concisely
Author: xe

Writing Clearly And Concisely

Apply Strunk's timeless writing rules to ANY prose humans will read—documentation, commit messages, error messages, explanations, reports, or UI text. Makes your writing clearer, stronger, and more professional.

xe 387ff7d 2 files · 87.3 KB Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

Writing Clearly and Concisely

Overview

William Strunk Jr.'s The Elements of Style (1918) teaches you to write clearly and cut ruthlessly.

WARNING: elements-of-style.md consumes ~12,000 tokens. Read it only when writing or editing prose.

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 elements-of-style.md
Have the subagent copyedit and return the revision

All 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

Section V: Words and Expressions Commonly Misused

Alphabetical reference for usage questions

Bottom Line

Writing for humans? Read elements-of-style.md and apply the rules. Low on tokens? Dispatch a subagent to copyedit with the guide.

---name: writing-clearly-and-conciselydescription: Apply Strunk's timeless writing rules to ANY prose humans will read—documentation, commit messages, error messages, explanations, reports, or UI text. Makes your writing clearer, stronger, and more professional.---# Writing Clearly and Concisely## OverviewWilliam Strunk Jr.'s _The Elements of Style_ (1918) teaches you to write clearlyand cut ruthlessly.**WARNING:** `elements-of-style.md` consumes ~12,000 tokens. Read it only whenwriting or editing prose.## When to Use This SkillUse 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 StrategyWhen context is tight:1. Write your draft using judgment2. Dispatch a subagent with your draft and `elements-of-style.md`3. Have the subagent copyedit and return the revision## All Rules### Elementary Rules of Usage (Grammar/Punctuation)1. Form possessive singular by adding 's2. Use comma after each term in series except last3. Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas4. Comma before conjunction introducing co-ordinate clause5. Don't join independent clauses by comma6. Don't break sentences in two7. Participial phrase at beginning refers to grammatical subject### Elementary Principles of Composition8. One paragraph per topic9. Begin paragraph with topic sentence10. **Use active voice**11. **Put statements in positive form**12. **Use definite, specific, concrete language**13. **Omit needless words**14. Avoid succession of loose sentences15. Express co-ordinate ideas in similar form16. **Keep related words together**17. Keep to one tense in summaries18. **Place emphatic words at end of sentence**### Section V: Words and Expressions Commonly MisusedAlphabetical reference for usage questions## Bottom LineWriting for humans? Read `elements-of-style.md` and apply the rules. Low ontokens? Dispatch a subagent to copyedit with the guide.

Frequently asked questions