Concise writing
Enforces tight, scannable prose. Use when the task's output is prose for humans — writing or editing docs, READMEs, commit messages, PR descriptions, emails, messages, announcements, reports, summaries — including bare "write", "draft", or "document" requests when the thing produced is prose. Do NOT use when the artifact produced is source code (including docstrings and code comments), for creative writing or fiction, or when the user explicitly asks for verbose or detailed explanations.From its SKILL.md
npx -y skills add zachmayer/skills --skill concise-writingAssembled from the repository path, not quoted from the project. Check it against their README if it does not work.
One thing to look at
- 2 stars2 stars. Stars are a popularity signal and not a quality one, but at this level it is likely that nobody has read this closely except its author, and you would be relying on your own review.
SKILL.md
2.3 KB, as published. Nobody here has run it
Apply these principles to all writing output:
Core Rules
- Eliminate filler - Remove words that add no meaning: "basically", "essentially", "in order to", "it should be noted that", "as a matter of fact"
- Active voice - "The function returns X" not "X is returned by the function"
- One idea per sentence - If a sentence has "and" or "but", consider splitting it
- Lead with the point - Put conclusions first, supporting details after
- Concrete over abstract - "Latency dropped from 200ms to 50ms" not "Performance improved significantly"
- State each fact exactly once - The document's structure should make repetition unnecessary; if a fact recurs, reorder so it's needed once
Structure
- Short paragraphs - 2-4 sentences max
- Use lists for 3+ related items - vertical lists only, never packed inline into a sentence; the tokens saved aren't worth the scannability lost
- One atomic item per bullet - one line, one item; an item that must enumerate gets sub-bullets, never a run-on line
- Lists follow document rules - atomic items, logical order, each item stated in exactly one place
- Use headers to let readers skip to what they need
- Front-load the most important information
- Apply Gestalt principles - organize the page with proximity, similarity, and whitespace so layout carries structure the prose needn't restate
Cut List
Remove these on sight:
- "I think" / "I believe" - just state it
- "Very" / "really" / "quite" - find a stronger word or drop it
- "In terms of" - rephrase
- "The fact that" - rephrase
- "It is important to note that" - just note it
- Throat-clearing introductions ("Before we begin...", "First, let me say...")
Test
After writing, ask: "Can I remove any sentence without losing meaning?" If yes, remove it.