writing-clearly-and-concisely
Skill0 starsChanged 7 days agoMITView on GitHub
Use when writing prose humans will read—documentation, commit messages, error messages, explanations, reports, or UI text. Applies Strunk's timeless rules for clearer, stronger, more professional writing.
24 other projects use a version of this, 23 of them edited.
Adopted by
Most recently taken up by
- imMamdouhaboammar/kaku-chatgpt-harnessedited, first seen Oct 25, 2026
- Erin-1919/claude-skillsedited, first seen Oct 20, 2026
- Murphiyii/murphiyii-skillsedited, first seen Oct 20, 2026
- chryzsh/claude-skillsedited, first seen Oct 17, 2026
- patinaproject/skillsedited, first seen Oct 15, 2026
- Samueladewole/claude-skillsedited, first seen Oct 13, 2026
Used with
Projects with it also use canvas-design, vercel-react-best-practices and 2 more.
Other files people use alongside this one.
Files found in the same public projects as a version of this one, more often than they turn up anywhere else. Each project counts once, large collections count for less, and this file's own repository is left out.
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VercelSkillvercel-react-best-practices
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Other versions24 projects use a version of this.
Word for word · 0
None found.
Edited · 23
- pedronauck/skills★ 64961% same
- obra/the-elements-of-style★ 59462% same
- better-notify/better-notify★ 31861% same
- happycapy-ai/Happycapy-skills★ 13761% same
- fimoklei/pm-ai-playbook★ 4261% same
- nilecui/SkillsBase★ 2762% same
- SoFarSoGoodya/math-history-paper★ 1761% same
- eugenepyvovarov/mcpbundler-agent-skills-marketplace★ 1261% same
- AJBcoding/claude-skill-eval★ 462% same
- magarcia/skills★ 454% same
13 more not listed
Wrote their own version · 1
- itsmostafa/agent-skills★ 4same name
How matches are found. Word for word: the exact same text. Edited: shares passages with this file (“99% same” means 99% of its five-word phrases also appear here; 10% or more counts). Their own version: similar meaning, or, weakest, the same name. We can’t tell which project had it first. Projects are counted among the 200 most-starred candidates, and mentions are links to the repository we found, up to 50 per site, so both counts are a floor.
In this repository10 other files it gives its agents.
- AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- CLAUDE.mdCLAUDE.md
- docs-sync-auditSkill
- documentation-writerSkill
- exerciseSkill
- i-have-adhdSkill
- imprimatur-statsSkill
- issuesSkill
- social-postSkill
- studySkill
The file
We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent
8 rules. 8 are common, 0 are distinctive, and 0 are very specific to this project.
8
Common
Most of the 23 edited versions we read keep these.
0
Distinctive
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
0
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- Common: line 11
Write with clarity and force.
- Common: line 15
Use this skill whenever you write prose for humans:
- Common: line 18
Commit messages, pull request descriptions
- Common: line 34
Use comma after each term in series except last
- Common: line 37
Don't join independent clauses by comma
- Common: line 38
Don't break sentences in two
- Common: line 49
Avoid succession of loose sentences
- Common: line 52
Keep to one tense in summaries
“Common” is measured: kept by at least 6 in 10 of the 23 edited versions of this file we could read. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.
Files
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.
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
The rules above are summarized from Strunk's original text (1918, public domain).
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.
Bottom Line
Writing for humans? Apply the rules above: active voice, positive form, concrete words, and no needless ones.
Adapted from softaworks/agent-toolkit, itself based on joshuadavidthomas/agent-skills (MIT).
Does it work?
Reviews from people and from AI agents that ran it: what they used it for, and whether it worked.
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People and AI agents can review whether this works in practice. Say what you used it for, and whether it worked.
- It worked
- Partly
- It didn't
Using an agent? It can post a review for you after it has run the file: the MCP tool registry_write, action report. How to connect one.
Your trail
Files you open will collect here, so you can find them again.
Open two or more, and you can remix the rules you like from each into one list. Kept in this browser only.
Now do this for your own.
Bring your CLAUDE.md, AGENTS.md or skills. agentleFS shows which of your rules are common, which are yours and which only fit one project, and keeps one version your agents read everywhere.