writing-clearly-and-concisely

Writing Clearly and Concisely 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. Limited Context Strategy When context is tight: Write your draft using judgment Dispatch a subagent with your draft and the relevant section file Have the subagent copyedit and return the revision Loading a single section (~1,000-4,500 tokens) instead of everything saves significant context. 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 Reference Files The rules above are summarized from Strunk's original text. For complete explanations with examples: Section File ~Tokens Grammar, punctuation, comma rules 02-elementary-rules-of-usage.md 2,500 Paragraph structure, active voice, concision 03-elementary-principles-of-composition.md 4,500 Headings, quotations, formatting 04-a-few-matters-of-form.md 1,000 Word choice, common errors 05-words-and-expressions-commonly-misused.md 4,000 Most tasks need only 03-elementary-principles-of-composition.md — it covers active voice, positive form, concrete language, and omitting needless words. 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 comprehensive research on why these patterns occur, see signs-of-ai-writing.md . Wikipedia editors developed this guide to detect AI-generated submissions — their patterns are well-documented and field-tested. Bottom Line Writing for humans? Load the relevant section from elements-of-style/ and apply the rules. For most tasks, 03-elementary-principles-of-composition.md covers what matters most.