Reviewing Prose

Detect and fix formulaic patterns that signal machine-generated or lazy writing. Flag specific violations and suggest concrete rewrites.

Core rule: Zero tolerance. Every pattern in the reference catalog is a violation. Do not excuse any instance as "single use" or "it lands here." If a sentence triggers a pattern, flag it. If a sentence triggers two patterns simultaneously, it is the highest priority flag.

Before reviewing, read /standardizing-prose for the complete catalog of 30+ anti-patterns across 6 categories.

Six categories of patterns to detect. Each is detailed with examples in the reference file.

Word choice -- Significance adverbs ("quietly", "deeply"), authenticity adverbs ("genuinely", "truly", "actually"), overused vocabulary ("delve", "leverage", "robust", "genuine"), ornate nouns ("tapestry", "landscape", "paradigm"), pompous verbs ("serves as", "stands as").

Sentence structure -- Negative parallelism ("It's not X -- it's Y"), stacked negations ("Not X. Not Y. Just Z."), rhetorical self-answers ("The result? Devastating."), anaphora abuse, tricolon stacking, filler transitions ("It's worth noting"), tacked-on significance ("highlighting its importance"), false ranges, gerund fragment litanies, tautological definitions ("An irreversible change does not revert"), redundant paired examples.

Paragraph structure -- Strings of punchy fragments as standalone paragraphs, listicles disguised as prose ("The first... The second... The third...").

Tone -- False-suspense transitions ("Here's the kicker"), unnecessary metaphors ("Think of it as..."), hypothetical openers ("Imagine a world where..."), performed vulnerability, asserting clarity ("The truth is simple"), grandiose stakes inflation, teacher-student condescension ("Let's break this down"), vague attributions ("Experts argue"), invented concept labels ("the supervision paradox").

Formatting -- Em-dash overuse, bold-first bullets, unicode decoration.

Composition -- Fractal summaries, dead metaphors, historical analogy stacking, one-point dilution, content duplication, signposted conclusions, dismissive optimism ("Despite its challenges...").

1. Read /standardizing-prose for the anti-pattern catalog
2. Read the text to review
3. Flag each violation with the specific pattern name and category
4. Suggest concrete rewrites -- don't just say "avoid X", show the fix
5. Summarize: total violations found, most frequent category, overall assessment

Review is complete when:

• Every flagged violation names the specific pattern and category
• Every flag includes a concrete rewrite, not just a label
• The summary gives a count, identifies the most frequent category, and assesses overall quality
• Zero tolerance -- every pattern match is flagged as a violation, never excused as "single use" or "it works here"
• Co-occurring patterns in a single sentence are the highest-priority flags

| Skill | When to Read | | ---------------------- | -------------------------- | | /standardizing-prose | Always -- before reviewing |

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: outcomeeng
• Source: outcomeeng/claude
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.