writing-clean-prose

Writing Clean Prose

When writing prose for a human reader, write toward the positive standard and away from the weighted tells — without over-correcting. An occasional em-dash, triad, or judicious nominalization is fine; the goal is good writing, not mechanical avoidance.

Before you write

Read these references (same files the auditor uses):

• references/positive-standard.md — what good prose is (the goal).
• references/tells-catalog.md — the weighted patterns to avoid (the smells).
• references/rewrites.md — gold before/after transformations.

While writing — the priorities

1. Concrete over abstract. Point to things in the world; prefer specific facts to vague significance.
2. Active verbs, characters as subjects. Avoid nominalizations and gratuitous passives.
3. Vary sentence length. Mix short and long; never 3+ similar-length sentences in a row.
4. Cut filler. No "it's worth noting", metadiscourse, throat-clearing, or hedge-stacking.
5. No manufactured antithesis ("not just X — it's Y") or trailing significance participles ("…, underscoring its role").
6. Plain diction. Short word over long; "use" not "utilize/leverage".
7. Commit to a point of view. Make definite assertions; drop hollow-profundity endings.

Self-check before finishing

Re-read and remove: any tricolon used as filler, any booster word ("transformative/game-changing") not backed by a concrete claim, any uniform-rhythm passage, any "In conclusion"-style wrap-up.