Writing Clearly And Concisely

Writing Clearly and Concisely

Overview

Three-level optimizer: clarity rules, AI patterns, voice injection. Scan Quick Reference first; load references as needed.

Important

• Preserve meaning. Never change facts or technical details.
• Preserve tone intent. Match desired tone. No casual→formal unless asked.
• Don't over-edit. Leave clean sentences unchanged. Single-sentence

changes should not exceed ~30% unless clearly broken.

• Level 3 is context-sensitive. Inject personality only in personal

blogs, social media, informal emails, or when user asks for "more human". Skip for technical docs, legal text, error messages, and UI copy.

When to Use / When NOT to Use

Use: docs, READMEs, commits, PRs, error messages, UI copy, reports, summaries, puffy/robotic/AI-generated prose. Do NOT use: fiction/poetry, legal contracts, translation-only, code, data analysis, math, tone-shifting without clarity needs.

Quick Reference

Level 1 — Foundation: Load 03-elementary-principles-of-composition.md for most tasks. Load 02-... for grammar issues, 05-... for word-choice debates.

Level 2 — Detection: Scan first, load references/signs-of-ai-writing.md for details. Core: C1–C7 Content, L1–L5 Language, S1–S5 Style, CM1–CM3 Communication, F1–F3 Filler/Hedging. Extended: M1–M4 Markup, H1–H4 Historical (check if context permits).

Level 3 — Enhancement (Inject voice): Use ONLY for personal/informal contexts. Skip for technical/legal/UI text.

• Opinions over neutral lists; vary sentence rhythm
• Acknowledge complexity; use "I" when appropriate
• Be specific about feelings ("unsettling" > "concerning")

Process

If vague ("polish", "润色"), default conservative: Level 1 + 2. Do NOT apply Level 3 unless promotional/personal or user asks for "more human".

1. Read input. Note context.
2. Level 1 — Load 03-.... Check active voice, concision,

parallel structure. Skip if clean.

1. Level 2 — Scan C1–F3. If suspicious, load signs-of-ai-writing.md

for guidance. M1–M4: check only if text contains Markdown/wikitext markup or is intended for Wikipedia/MediaWiki.

1. Level 3 — ONLY if personal/informal or user asks for "more human".

Skip for technical docs, legal, errors, UI, reports.

1. Quality check — Natural aloud, varied structure, specifics replace

vagueness. If <3 minor changes, return original with note.

1. Output — Preserve markdown. Return rewritten text + bullet list

of changes. See references/full-example.md for format.

Common Issues

See references/common-issues.md for typical pitfalls and how to avoid them.

Reference

• references/signs-of-ai-writing.md — AI patterns C1–H4.
• references/03-elementary-principles-of-composition.md — Strunk Rules 8–18.
• references/02-elementary-rules-of-usage.md — Grammar Rules 1–7.
• references/04-a-few-matters-of-form.md — Formatting.
• references/05-words-and-expressions-commonly-misused.md — Word choice.
• references/full-example.md — Worked example.

Source & license

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

• Author: Wolido
• Source: Wolido/subagent-isolation
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://www.npmjs.com/package/subagent-isolation

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