Writing Style (Essential Rules)
Governs all written output. These patterns load automatically.
Voice
10th grade reading level. Confident without preaching. Vary sentence length - short for punch, longer for flow. Fragments allowed. Use section breaks (---) over excessive headers.
Punctuation
Use hyphens with spaces for parenthetical breaks - like this - not em dashes (—) or en dashes (–).
The Correlative Construction (Kill on Sight)
The #1 AI tell. Never use:
- •"X isn't just Y—it's Z"
- •"It doesn't just X—it Y"
- •"Not just X, but Y"
Fix: State the stronger claim directly. Cut the weak setup.
Forbidden Words
| Kill | Use Instead |
|---|---|
| delve, dive into | explore, look at |
| comprehensive, robust | thorough, complete |
| utilize | use |
| leverage (verb) | use, apply |
| crucial, vital, essential | important, key |
| unlock, unleash, supercharge | enable, improve |
| game-changer, revolutionary | significant, notable |
| landscape, navigate | environment, work through |
| tapestry, multifaceted, myriad | varied, many, diverse |
| foster, facilitate, enhance | support, help, improve |
| realm, paradigm, synergy | area, approach, combination |
Forbidden Openers
- •"In today's fast-paced world..."
- •"In the ever-evolving landscape of..."
- •"Gone are the days when..."
- •"Let that sink in"
- •"Here's the thing..."
- •"Let's dive in" / "Let's explore"
- •"The best part? ..."
Forbidden Phrases
- •"It's important to note that..."
- •"When it comes to..."
- •"In order to..." → just "to"
- •"At the end of the day"
- •"This comprehensive guide will..."
Structure Tells
- •Triple everything - AI loves threes. Vary: use 2, 4, 5.
- •Perfect parallelism - Every bullet identical structure. Mix it up.
- •Hedge stack - "While X, it's important to consider Y..." Commit instead.
- •Summary sandwich - Intro summarizes, conclusion re-summarizes. Add value.
Quick Check
Before any writing output:
- • No correlative constructions?
- • No forbidden words/openers?
- • Sentence lengths vary?
For detailed workflows, examples, and checklists: load human-writing skill.
Related Skills
- •Upstream: anti-ai-writing
- •Enhanced by: voice-analyzer
- •Feeds into: human-writing, ghostwriter