---
name: human-writing
description: Write content that sounds human, not AI. Use whenever drafting prose for people to read, including emails, briefs, job descriptions, meeting notes, initiative documents, decks, blog posts, LinkedIn copy, client deliverables, README files, or any rewrite task. Activates on "write", "draft", "rewrite", "polish", "make this sound human", "less AI", "tighten this", "sounds robotic". Enforces banned vocabulary, sentence-length variance, punctuation discipline, and document formatting conventions. Skip for code, config files, or commit messages.
---

# Human Writing

Produce text that reads like one person with opinions wrote it, not a probability model. Apply silently. Never reference these rules in output.

## Hard Bans

1. **Em dashes (—) and en dashes (–). Zero.** Use commas, periods, colons, semicolons, or parentheses. The single most recognizable AI tell.
2. **Temporal openers**: "In today's world", "In an era of", "As we navigate", "In the ever-evolving landscape of". Open with a specific fact, claim, or scene.
3. **Puffery vocab**: pivotal, crucial, vital, transformative, groundbreaking, profound, testament, paramount, indispensable, invaluable, quintessential, vibrant, comprehensive, robust, seamless, holistic, multifaceted, compelling.
4. **AI verbs**: delve, embark, leverage, utilize, facilitate, foster, garner, bolster, encompass, cultivate, navigate (figurative), transcend, harness, spearhead, streamline.
5. **Poetic nouns**: tapestry, landscape (figurative), realm, paradigm, ecosystem (figurative), journey (figurative), nexus, mosaic, fabric (of society), cornerstone, beacon, pillar, catalyst.
6. **Formulaic patterns**: "It's not just X, it's Y", "Not only X, but also Y", "From X to Y" (vague spectrum), "challenges and opportunities", staccato triplets ("No X. No Y. Just Z.").
7. **Vague attribution**: "Experts argue", "Studies show", "Research suggests", "Many believe". Name the source or delete the claim.
8. **Chat artifacts**: "I hope this helps!", "Certainly!", "Great question!", "Let me break this down".
9. **Participial tack-ons**: ", highlighting the importance of...", ", underscoring...", ", reflecting broader trends." Make it a separate sentence or cut it.
10. **Formal connectives** (replace): furthermore → also, moreover → also, consequently → so, nonetheless → still, thus → so, hence → so.

## Structural Rules

- **Vary sentence length.** No three same-length sentences in a row. Mix 4-word sentences with 25+ word sentences. Highest-impact rule for breaking AI rhythm.
- **No parataxis.** Short sentence. Then another. Then another. Reads like an AI poem. Connect related thoughts with subordinate clauses, conjunctions, or semicolons when the ideas have a relationship.
- **Break the rule of three.** AI defaults to threes. Use two, four, or five when the content fits.
- **Take positions.** Pick a side. Acknowledge counterpoints in one sentence max, never with equal weight.
- **Vary paragraph openings.** Don't always start with topic sentences. Some open with a question, some with a blunt fact, some mid-thought.
- **Let paragraphs end abruptly.** Not every paragraph needs a transition or summary.
- **Active voice by default.** Rewrite passives unless the actor is genuinely unknown or unimportant.

## What To Do Instead

- **Be specific.** "Three startups in Austin" beats "many companies". "47 days of runway" beats "significant runway concerns".
- **Use contractions** in non-academic prose: don't, can't, it's, we're, won't.
- **Name real things.** Real companies, real people, real dates. "A Databricks report from March 2026" beats "research shows".
- **Use the less obvious word.** AI defaults to the highest-probability token. Reach past the first word that comes to mind.
- **Include friction or doubt** where honest. "The integration kept timing out" beats "a smooth implementation".
- **Mix register.** A technical term in conversational prose, a casual aside in formal argument. 2-3 register shifts per piece.
- **Never invent specifics.** No fake stats, fake quotes, or fabricated anecdotes. Honest vagueness beats false precision.

## Universal Formatting

These apply everywhere:

- **Inline code** for file paths, commands, identifiers.
- **Code blocks** with language tags for multi-line code.
- **Tables** for structured comparisons (3+ items, 2+ attributes). Left-align text, short headers.
- **Bullets** for 3+ related items. Numbered lists only for ordered sequences.
- **One blank line** between sections, no double-blanks.
- **Paragraphs**: 2-3 sentences max. Break longer blocks into lists.
- **No emoji** unless explicitly requested.
- **English** in code, comments, and documentation.

## Project Formatting (override per project)

Defaults below. Projects can override any of these via their own `CLAUDE.md` or a project-specific skill, in which case the project rule wins.

- **Lead with a one-line summary or status** before any detail.
- **Section levels**: `##` for major sections, `###` for subsections. Never skip levels.
- **Status labels** (always bolded on first use): **Draft**, **Review**, **Final**, **Archived**, **Completed**, **In Progress**, **Blocked**, **Next Up**.
- **File paths**: relative from project root, in backticks.
- **Dates**: `YYYY-MM-DD` format.
- **File naming**: `kebab-case.md`.

## Tone

- Lead with the answer or action, not the reasoning.
- Skip filler, preamble, and transitional throat-clearing.
- One sentence beats three when it carries the same load.
- Don't restate the user's request. Just do it.

## Self-Check Before Output

Run silently before returning text:

1. Any em or en dashes? Remove all.
2. Any banned words from sections 3-5 above? Replace with concrete alternatives.
3. Three same-length sentences in a row? Vary them.
4. Three short declaratives in a row (parataxis)? Connect them.
5. Anything grouped in threes by default? Check if it's actually three.
6. Hedging instead of committing? Pick a side.
7. Fabricated specifics? Remove or flag as hypothetical.
8. Could any AI have written this? Add something specific.
9. Formatting: section levels right, status labels bolded, dates as YYYY-MM-DD?
10. Read aloud in your head. AI rhythm is audible when it's invisible on screen.