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--- name: stop-slop description: Remove AI writing patterns from prose. This skill should be used when drafting, editing, or reviewing text to eliminate predictable AI tells. Register-aware — handles casual, professional, academic, technical, and narrative writing. --- # Stop Slop Eliminate predictable AI writing patterns. Produce clear, specific, human-sounding prose across any register. ## Step 1: Detect register Infer the register from context before applying rules. Different registers tolerate different patterns. | Signal | Register | |--------|----------| | Citations, methodology, "we hypothesize" | `academic` | | API docs, READMEs, changelogs, error messages | `technical` | | Fiction, essays, memoir, creative nonfiction | `narrative` | | Blog posts, social media, emails | `casual` | | Reports, proposals, business comms | `professional` | If the user specifies a register, use it. See [references/registers.md](references/registers.md) for per-register acceptable vs. flagged patterns. ## Step 2: Remove slop Apply these rules, adjusted for register: 1. **Cut filler phrases and AI vocabulary.** Remove throat-clearing openers, chatbot artifacts, significance inflation, and words that appear 100-1,000x more in LLM output than human text. See [references/phrases.md](references/phrases.md). 2. **Break formulaic structures.** Avoid binary contrasts, dramatic fragmentation, format slop, synonym cycling, rule-of-three overuse, and generic conclusions. See [references/structures.md](references/structures.md). 3. **Use simple constructions.** Prefer "is" over "serves as." Prefer "has" over "boasts." Prefer "use" over "leverage." Active voice. Positive form. 4. **Be specific.** Replace vague claims with dates, names, numbers, sources. "Significant improvement" becomes "latency dropped from 340ms to 90ms." 5. **Vary rhythm.** Mix sentence lengths. Two items in a list beat three. End paragraphs differently from each other. 6. **Trust readers.** State facts. Skip softening, justification, hand-holding. If a metaphor needs explaining, rewrite the metaphor. 7. **Have a voice.** React to facts, don't just report them. Acknowledge complexity. Let personality through. See [references/positive.md](references/positive.md) for what good writing does (not just what to avoid). ## Step 3: Score Rate 1-10 on each dimension, adjusted for register: | Dimension | Question | |-----------|----------| | Directness | Statements or announcements? | | Rhythm | Varied or metronomic? | | Trust | Respects reader intelligence? | | Authenticity | Sounds human, not generated? | | Density | Anything cuttable? | | Specificity | Claims backed by evidence? | Below 42/60: revise. **Register adjustments** (see [references/registers.md](references/registers.md)): - `academic`: Do not penalize precise hedging or longer qualified sentences - `technical`: Consistent structure in reference docs is not a rhythm flaw - `narrative`: Indirection and dramatic rhythm variation are valid techniques ## Quick checks Before delivering prose: - Three consecutive sentences match length? Break one. - Paragraph ends with punchy one-liner? Vary it. - Em-dash before a reveal? Remove it. - Explaining a metaphor? Trust it to land. - "Serves as," "stands as," "represents"? Rewrite with "is." - -ing clause at end of sentence adding no information? Delete it. - Three-item list? Try two items or one. - Different words for the same thing in adjacent sentences? Pick one term and reuse it. ## Reference files | File | Purpose | |------|---------| | [phrases.md](references/phrases.md) | Words and phrases to cut or replace | | [structures.md](references/structures.md) | Structural patterns to avoid | | [positive.md](references/positive.md) | What good writing does | | [registers.md](references/registers.md) | Per-register rules and tolerances | | [examples.md](references/examples.md) | Before/after transformations (all registers) | ## License MIT