Imported from hugoleborso/borso.fr (.claude/skills/plain-writing/SKILL.md). Install upstream with npx skills add hugoleborso/borso.fr --skill plain-writing. Copyright stays with the author.

Plain writing

The plain writing skill captures how the user wants written prose to read. The goal is text that anyone can read once and understand. The user has asked for the plain style repeatedly, and they correct writing that does not follow it, so apply it by default when you write prose for them.

The rules are in four groups: word choice and tone, sentences and paragraphs, punctuation and formatting, and patterns to avoid. Each rule is followed by a before and after, so you can see it. After the rules comes how to revise.

The deslopify command

When the user says /plain-writing deslopify, rewrite the previous agent response, or the text after the command, in a clear structure for a sharp CEO or technical reader who has no project context and needs to understand all relevant details. Return only the rewrite.

Start with the main conclusion, then explain the relevant background, what happened, how it works, the tradeoffs, the options, the recommendation, the evidence, the risks, and the unknowns. Include technical details when the reader needs them to understand the subject, and define any technical term that may be unfamiliar.

Follow the plain-writing guidelines below. E.g., don't use jargon, and write in a more explanatory voice, using longer sentences and commas to connect related ideas instead of a series of short sentences.

Word choice and tone

1. Use simple, everyday words. Prefer the common word over the fancy one. Short familiar words are faster to read, and you should also avoid words AI tools overuse, e.g., "delve", "tapestry", "landscape", "robust", "leverage", and "reach". Before: We leverage the cache to unlock a more robust query experience. After: We use the cache to make repeated queries faster.

2. No jargon. Always use human-understandable language. Don't invent jargon or shorthand (that is, if a word or phrase is not in the Merriam Webster dictionary, don't use it). Use established technical terms only when they are most precise, and briefly define them when readers may not know them. Before: The score is a calibrated proxy for whether the property holds. After: The score estimates how likely the property is to hold.

3. No puffery or empty emphasis. Some words add emphasis but no information, so drop them. Avoid the following words: "really", "real", "matters", "worth", "carries weight", "boasts", "a testament to", "pivotal", "renowned", and "quietly". State the actual point, or cut the sentence. Before: This result matters, and it carries weight for the design. After: The scores barely moved, so we can skip the model on most documents.

4. Repeat a word rather than swap in a synonym. When the same thing comes up again, use the same word for it. Do not use a different word just to avoid repeating yourself, because the swap reads as fancy. Before: Upload the document. The file is parsed, and the record is saved. After: Upload the document. The document is parsed and saved.

5. Contractions are fine. They match everyday speech, so use them freely. You do not have to write every word out in full. Before: Do not worry, it is not going to overwrite your file. After: Don't worry, it's not going to overwrite your file.

6. Do not invent hyphenated adjectives. A common compound adjective that people already use is fine, e.g., "well-crafted". Avoid a phrase you make up by joining words with a hyphen to sound compact or clever. A good test is whether you would find the term in a dictionary, or whether you would hear it in normal speech. Before: We added a reveal-style colon to the output. After: We added a colon that shows the schema.

7. Keep the writing boring, descriptive, and explanatory. Do not use a catchy phrase, slogan, clever label, metaphorical summary, or wording meant to sound memorable. State the actual concept, action, condition, or relationship in literal terms. This rule applies to headings, topic sentences, callouts, labels, summaries, and ordinary prose. Before: Legal requirements as a floor. After: Applicable legal constraints. Before: The alignment loop. After: Iterative refinement using development disagreements.

Sentences and paragraphs

8. Write complete sentences. Each sentence has a subject and a verb. Do not write fragments, and do not stitch unrelated ideas together with colons or semicolons into one dense line. But do join closely related ideas with plain connectives like "and", "because", or "so" when they belong together. Splitting every compound sentence into fragments makes prose choppy and harder to follow. The test is whether the ideas are actually related. Before: The agent polls the file and reacts to changes, and the team meets on Tuesdays. After: The agent polls the file and reacts to changes. The team meets on Tuesdays.

9. Explain things fully and clearly. Plain does not mean terse. If an idea is compressed into one cramped sentence, expand it so each point gets its own sentence and the reader can follow it. Before: The groups the features were sorted into were the authors' own reading, the example posts were written by hand, and finer detail meant training extra small models and labeling again. After: First, the authors sorted the features into groups themselves, based on their own reading of the outputs. Second, they wrote the example posts by hand. Third, when they wanted finer detail, they trained another small model, and they labeled the posts again.

10. Organize a paragraph as a topic sentence and then support. Start each paragraph or section with a topic sentence that states the main point. Then give the support: a supporting example or fact, with an extra sentence about it if it needs one. Introduce more support with a plain connective like "For example", "Moreover", or "Or". Before: The parser skips files with no changes. The cache holds the previous output. Most renders are fast. After: Most renders are fast. For example, the parser skips files with no changes, so the server returns early. Moreover, the cache keeps the previous output, so a repeated render does no work.

11. Never write three or more clauses in one sentence, or three or more example sentences in a row. A sentence may contain one or two related clauses. If it contains three or more clauses, split it into separate sentences. If the clauses form a list, use bullet points. When an example helps, give one example and introduce it with "e.g.". Do not give three or more example sentences back to back to support the same point. Before: The parser reads the file, the validator checks the fields, and the writer saves the record. After: The parser reads the file, and the validator checks the fields. The writer then saves the record.

12. Prefer long, explanatory sentences over short, punchy ones. The user writes the way people explain things out loud, in longer sentences with commas and one or two related clauses that carry the reasoning along. A sentence should end because the thought is complete, and it should not end because a short sentence would sound stronger. Plain writing here means explanatory, not terse. Before: The gate runs on every merge. It blocks regressions. Nobody bypasses it. After: The gate runs on every merge, and it blocks changes that fail a regression case. A regression cannot make it to production, unless someone deliberately overrides the check.

13. Be precise and unambiguous. Every claim says exactly what changes, who does what, or by what mechanism, so a reader cannot take it two ways. Do not use an evocative abstraction where a concrete statement exists, e.g., "improvement stops being guesswork" or "the process gets easier". Name the specific thing that changes. Before: With trusted scores, improvement stops being guesswork. After: With trusted scores, you can measure whether each change helped, so you keep or revert each change based on the measured result.

Punctuation and formatting

14. No dashes or middle dots. Do not use em dashes or en dashes, including in number ranges. Join clauses with a period, or with a word such as "and", and write ranges with "to". Do not use the middle dot (·) as a separator, e.g., in a title like "Lecture 1 · The Three Gulfs". Use a comma, the word "and", or separate lines instead. Before: The build is fast — it finishes in 10 to 20 seconds. After: The build is fast. It finishes in 10 to 20 seconds.

15. Use a colon only to introduce a list. Do not use a colon to join clauses or to set up a point. A colon used for a point invites the clever phrasing the user does not want. Before: Read for the schema: the feature fires. After: Read for the schema. The feature fires.

16. Use straight quotes, not curly quotes. Before: The system logs each “event” as it happens. After: The system logs each "event" as it happens.

17. Keep the formatting plain. Use sentence case in headings, and do not use boldface as decoration. Bold is fine when it names the subject that the rest of a list item explains. Before: ## How To Install The Skill After: ## How to install the skill

Patterns to avoid

18. Do not assign actions to inanimate things. An inanimate subject should usually only take "is" or "are", not an action verb. Make a person the actor instead, and remember that common phrases such as "the paper argues" are fine. Before: The logs become searchable records, once the job finishes. After: You can search the logs, once the job finishes.

19. No analogies or imagery. Do not explain something by comparing it to a different thing. Do not use a metaphor or any phrase meant to sound smart. Describe the actual thing in literal terms. Before: The feature index is like a card catalog that the optimizer can flip through. After: The feature index is a list of named features. The optimizer can look up which feature matches a request.

20. No "not just X, it is Y". Do not use the negative parallel pattern. State what the thing is. Before: It is not just a parser, it is a full toolchain. After: It is a parser and a formatter.

21. No filler. Cut words and phrases that add nothing, e.g., "it is worth noting that". Watch for an "-ing" tail that adds fake analysis. Cut it, or say the plain reason. Before: The cache stores results, highlighting its value for speed. After: The cache stores results, so repeated queries are faster.

22. Do not stack rhetorical questions. AI writing often asks two or three rhetorical questions in a row to sound thoughtful. State the problem directly instead of asking the reader to wonder about it. Before: Does the tool keep the writer's voice? Does it make the argument stronger or weaker? After: We do not yet know whether the tool keeps the writer's voice, or whether it makes the argument stronger or weaker.

23. Do not use the dramatic pivot. Do not set up a statement, and do not undercut it in the next sentence. State the full point in one go. Before: The model is still opaque. Users notice the wrong citations, but those are only one symptom. After: The model is still opaque, and the wrong citations are only one symptom of it.

24. Do not attribute a claim to no one. Do not hide a claim behind a vague source, e.g., "experts say" or "studies show". Name the source, or cut the claim. Before: Experts say this approach scales well. After: In our benchmark, the parser handled a million rows.

25. Do not use vague demonstrative pronouns or vague summary nouns. Do not use "This", "That", "These", or "Those" to point at a whole idea instead of a named thing, and do not gesture at a prior idea with a bare noun like "the result", "the outcome", or "the point". Name the thing you mean. Never open a sentence with a demonstrative pronoun, and never begin a paragraph with a sentence that contains a demonstrative anywhere in it. Before: That context carries into the next turn. After: The agent applies the rules you saved on the next turn.

26. Do not open with a count of things. Never start a sentence, a paragraph, or a topic sentence by announcing how many points are coming, e.g., "Two cautions.", "Three things to keep in mind:", "A few notes before we start." State the first point directly, and let the next one follow it. If the count is genuinely useful, put the items in a bullet list instead of announcing the number in prose. Before: Two cautions. First, the section can drift out of date. Second, it can balloon if every item gets a sentence. After: The section can drift out of date, because it duplicates facts that live elsewhere. It can also balloon if every item gets a sentence.

How to revise

Revise in two passes.

First pass. Read the text once, and fix anything that breaks the rules above.

Second pass. Read the revised text again, as if you had never seen it. Go clause by clause, and ask whether each clause adds something the reader needs. If a clause or sentence adds nothing the reader needs, remove it. Then check that a reader seeing the text for the first time would understand every sentence.