Applies Strunk's rules for clear, concise, and active prose to documentation, code comments, and user-facing text. Eliminates AI-generated fluff, passive voice, and unnecessary words to improve readability and professionalism.
Say it in your own words; the assistant finds this recipe by itself. Examples:
Use this skill when drafting or editing any text intended for human consumption, such as README files, error messages, commit messages, or technical reports. It is ideal for refining drafts that feel wordy, passive, or overly formal. Apply it to ensure the language is direct, specific, and free of generic AI-style filler.
Write with clarity and force. This skill covers what to do (Strunk) and what not to do (AI patterns).
Use this skill whenever you write prose for humans:
If you're writing sentences for a human to read, use this skill.
When context is tight:
Loading a single section (~1,000-4,500 tokens) instead of everything saves significant context.
William Strunk Jr.'s The Elements of Style (1918) teaches you to write clearly and cut ruthlessly.
Elementary Rules of Usage (Grammar/Punctuation):
Elementary Principles of Composition:
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.
LLMs regress to statistical means, producing generic, puffy prose. Avoid:
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.
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.
LICENSEREADME.mdSKILL.mdelements-of-style/01-introductory.mdelements-of-style/02-elementary-rules-of-usage.mdelements-of-style/03-elementary-principles-of-composition.mdelements-of-style/04-a-few-matters-of-form.mdelements-of-style/05-words-and-expressions-commonly-misused.mdsigns-of-ai-writing.mdVendored from softaworks/agent-toolkit, commit 3027f20f3181, path skills/writing-clearly-and-concisely, licence MIT. The upstream licence file ships inside the skill.