Writing Clearly And Concisely
Apply plain-English usage and composition rules so READMEs, specs, UI copy, and agent outputs stay clear and professional.
Overview
Writing-clearly-and-concisely is a journey-wide agent skill that enforces plain English usage and composition rules—usable whenever a solo builder needs readable prose before publishing or merging.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/softaworks/agent-toolkit --skill writing-clearly-and-conciselyWhat is this skill?
- Compact handbook of elementary rules of usage and principles of composition
- Covers possessives, Oxford-comma series, parenthetic commas, and common broken rules
- Suited to tightening agent-generated prose, commit messages, and user-facing strings
- Explicit US Government Printing Office and Oxford University Press usage references
- Framed as essentials before studying finer points in stronger authors
- Structured as Introductory plus Elementary Rules of Usage with numbered rules (e.g. Rule 1 possessives, Rule 2 series co
Adoption & trust: 3.9k installs on skills.sh; 2k GitHub stars; 3/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
Your docs, specs, and UI strings sound muddy or break basic grammar and punctuation conventions readers expect.
Who is it for?
Solo builders polishing documentation, error messages, changelogs, and agent replies who want a fixed ruleset instead of vague "make it better" prompts.
Skip if: Deep technical API reference generation or SEO keyword campaigns where structure and search intent matter more than Strunk-style brevity.
When should I use this skill?
You are drafting or editing human-readable English and want elementary usage and composition rules applied consistently.
What do I get? / Deliverables
Drafts align with concise plain-English rules so READMEs, comments, and customer copy read cleanly without a separate copyeditor pass.
- Revised prose following handbook usage and composition rules
- Shorter, clearer user-facing copy blocks
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Useful at every journey phase - explore requirements and options before committing to a direction.
Where it fits
Revise API overview paragraphs to follow serial-comma and parenthetic comma rules before publishing.
Shorten hero and feature bullets on a waitlist page without losing precise claims.
Rewrite PR description and release notes so reviewers grasp scope in one read.
Tighten announcement posts and changelog emails before they go to subscribers.
Standardize help-center answers so they stay direct and free of padded phrasing.
How it compares
Use as a prose-quality rulebook during editing—not a brainstorm or implementation-plan skill.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is writing-clearly-and-concisely for?
Indie developers and agent users who write a lot of English prose—docs, emails, in-app text—and want consistent, classical clarity rules applied in the loop.
When should I use writing-clearly-and-concisely?
While drafting Build docs; tightening Ship review comments; polishing Validate landing copy; shaping Launch distribution posts; and editing Grow support or lifecycle messages—any time text is user-facing.
Is writing-clearly-and-concisely safe to install?
It is editorial reference content with no implied repo mutation; still review the Security Audits panel on this Prism page before adding any third-party skill pack to your agent.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Writing Clearly And Concisely
## I. Introductory This handbook summarizes the essentials of plain English style. It focuses on the rules of usage and principles of composition most often broken, offering a compact alternative to exhaustive manuals. Master the guidance here, then look to the best authors for finer points of style. ## II. Elementary Rules Of Usage ### Rule 1. Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding 's. Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write, Charles's friend Burns's poems the witch's malice This is the usage of the United States Government Printing Office and of the Oxford University Press. Exceptions are the possessive of ancient proper names ending in *-es* and *-is*, the possessive *Jesus'*, and such forms as *for conscience' sake*, *for righteousness' sake*. But such forms as *Achilles' heel*, *Moses' laws*, *Isis' temple* are commonly replaced by the heel of Achilles the laws of Moses the temple of Isis The pronominal possessives *hers*, *its*, *theirs*, *yours*, and *oneself* have no apostrophe. ### Rule 2. In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after each term except the last. Thus write, red, white, and blue gold, silver, or copper He opened the letter, read it, and made a note of its contents. This is also the usage of the Government Printing Office and of the Oxford University Press. In the names of business firms the last comma is omitted, as, Brown, Shipley & Co. ### Rule 3. Enclose parenthetic expressions between commas. The best way to see a country, unless you are pressed for time, is to travel on foot. This rule is difficult to apply; it is frequently hard to decide whether a single word, such as *however*, or a brief phrase, is or is not parenthetic. If the interruption to the flow of the sentence is but slight, the writer may safely omit the commas. But whether the interruption be slight or considerable, he must never insert one comma and omit the other. Such punctuation as Marjorie's husband, Colonel Nelson paid us a visit yesterday, or My brother you will be pleased to hear, is now in perfect health, is indefensible. If a parenthetic expression is preceded by a conjunction, place the first comma before the conjunction, not after it. He saw us coming, and unaware that we had learned of his treachery, greeted us with a smile. Always to be regarded as parenthetic and to be enclosed between commas (or, at the end of the sentence, between comma and period) are the following: \(1\) the year, when forming part of a date, and the day of the month, when following the day of the week: February to July, 1916. April 6, 1917. Monday, November 11, 1918. \(2\) the abbreviations *etc.* and *jr.* \(3\) non-restrictive relative clauses, that is, those which do not serve to identify or define the antecedent noun, and similar clauses introduced by conjunctions indicating time or place. The audience, which had at first been indifferent, became more and more interested. In this sentence the clause introduced by *which* does not serve to tell which of several possible audiences is meant; what audience is in question is supposed to be already known. The clause adds, parenthetically, a statement supplementing that in the main clause. The sentence is virtually a combination of two statements which might have been made independently: The audience had at first been indifferent. It became more and more interested. Compare the restrictive relative clause, not set off by commas, in the sentence, The candidate who best meets these requirements will obtain the place. Here the clause introduced by *who* does serve to tell which of several possible candidates is meant; the sentence cannot be split up into two independent statements. The difference in punctuation in the two sentences following is based on the same principle: Nether Stowey, where Coleridge wrote The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, is a few miles from Bridgewater. The day will come when y