Blog voice & style

When writing or editing a blog post:

• Lead with the reader's problem, not the product. Most people scan and read maybe a quarter of the words, so front-load the point — first in the post, first in each section and paragraph.
• Short paragraphs, 2–4 sentences, one idea each. White space is a feature, not filler.
• Descriptive subheads that read as a map: skim only the H2s and you should get the gist. Break up any section that runs past ~300 words. Use lists for steps or anything parallel.
• Most sentences under ~20 words. Active voice. Cut hedges: "just", "simply", "very", "really".
• Concrete over abstract; show an example before stating a principle.
• No exclamation points; no "in today's fast-paced world" openers.
• Match length to what the question needs — there's no magic word count. A quick answer can be a few hundred words; a real guide earns its length. Don't pad to hit a number.
• Mind the SEO surface: one descriptive title (~50–60 chars, keyword near the front), a short hyphenated slug, 3–5 internal links with real anchor text, and alt text on meaningful images. See references/format-specs.md for the numbers.

Structure

1. Hook — the problem or tension, in the reader's words; promise the payoff and preview it.
2. Stakes — why it matters now.
3. Payoff — the idea/solution, with one concrete example.
4. Close — the single takeaway, then one focused next step. No "in conclusion".

References

• references/best-practices.md — sourced checklist of current blog tactics (scanning, hook, structure, readability, length, SEO basics, close).
• references/format-specs.md — concrete specs: title/meta length, heading hierarchy, word-count ranges, readability targets, slug, alt text, internal links.
• references/banned-words.json — the list of words to avoid. Read it once up front for awareness, then run the check_style tool on your draft to check it against this file before proposing the draft to the writer.

Shared references

Shared global references for all skills in the content agent. These apply regardless of the content type.

• references/ai-phrases-to-avoid.md — AI-tell words, phrases, and punctuation to avoid.
• references/plain-english-alternatives.md — plain-English swaps for bloated or vague wording.