writing-clearly-and-concisely
obra/the-elements-of-style
Apply Strunk's timeless writing rules to make any prose clearer, stronger, and more professional.
What is writing-clearly-and-concisely?
This skill teaches you to write clearly and concisely using William Strunk Jr.'s *The Elements of Style*. Use it whenever you write documentation, commit messages, error messages, UI text, or any prose intended for humans to read.
- Apply 18 elementary rules of usage covering grammar and punctuation
- Use active voice and positive form to strengthen statements
- Choose definite, specific, concrete language over vague alternatives
- Omit needless words to improve clarity and conciseness
- Keep related words together and place emphatic words at sentence end
- Reference an alphabetical guide to commonly misused words and expressions
How to install writing-clearly-and-concisely
npx skills add https://github.com/obra/the-elements-of-style --skill writing-clearly-and-conciselyHow to use writing-clearly-and-concisely
- 1.Read elements-of-style.md when actively writing or editing prose
- 2.Apply the 18 elementary rules of usage and composition to your draft
- 3.For tight context, write your draft first, then dispatch a subagent with your text and the style guide for copyediting
- 4.Reference the alphabetical section on commonly misused words when uncertain about usage
Use cases
- Editing technical documentation and README files to improve clarity
- Refining commit messages and pull request descriptions
- Improving error messages and UI copy for better user understanding
- Copyediting reports, summaries, and technical explanations
- Reviewing comments and help text for conciseness and precision
- Technical writers and documentation authors
- Software developers writing commit messages and code comments
- Product managers and UX writers crafting user-facing copy
- Anyone writing prose that humans will read and evaluate
writing-clearly-and-concisely FAQ
Use it whenever you write prose for humans: documentation, commit messages, error messages, UI text, reports, or explanations. If sentences will be read by people, apply this skill.
The elements-of-style.md file consumes approximately 12,000 tokens. Read it only when actively writing or editing, or dispatch a subagent with your draft to conserve context.
Write your draft using your judgment, then dispatch a subagent with your draft and elements-of-style.md to copyedit and return the revision.
Yes, it covers elementary rules of usage including possessives, commas, parenthetic expressions, and sentence structure, plus composition principles like active voice and concrete language.
Yes. Any prose humans will read—including code comments, docstrings, and inline explanations—benefits from applying these writing principles.
Full instructions (SKILL.md)
Source of truth, from obra/the-elements-of-style.
name: writing-clearly-and-concisely description: Apply Strunk's timeless writing rules to ANY prose humans will read—documentation, commit messages, error messages, explanations, reports, or UI text. Makes your writing clearer, stronger, and more professional.
Writing Clearly and Concisely
Overview
William Strunk Jr.'s The Elements of Style (1918) teaches you to write clearly and cut ruthlessly.
WARNING: elements-of-style.md consumes ~12,000 tokens. Read it only when writing or editing prose.
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.
Limited Context Strategy
When context is tight:
- Write your draft using judgment
- Dispatch a subagent with your draft and
elements-of-style.md - Have the subagent copyedit and return the revision
All 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
Section V: Words and Expressions Commonly Misused
Alphabetical reference for usage questions
Bottom Line
Writing for humans? Read elements-of-style.md and apply the rules. Low on tokens? Dispatch a subagent to copyedit with the guide.
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