# Good Writing Principles

Reference for the ghost_writer skill. Apply these when rewriting. These are grounded in enduring style principles (Orwell, Strunk & White, Hemingway) and current research on what distinguishes human from AI prose.

---

## Core Principles

### 1. Clarity First
The reader should understand every sentence on first read. No re-reading required.

- Use precise words over impressive ones
- One idea per sentence when the idea is complex
- Active voice: say who did what
- Short sentences carry weight. Use them for your most important points.

> Orwell's rule: "If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out."

---

### 2. Economy of Words
Every word must earn its place.

| Cut this | Write this |
|----------|-----------|
| in order to | to |
| due to the fact that | because |
| at this point in time | now |
| in the event that | if |
| it is important to note that | (just say it) |
| basic fundamentals | fundamentals |
| end result | result |
| close proximity | near |

Eliminating redundancy doesn't flatten writing — it sharpens it. The meaning comes through faster and hits harder.

---

### 3. Voice and Authenticity
Voice is the personality of the writer coming through the text. It can't be faked — it emerges from honest, confident writing.

**What creates voice:**
- Word choices the author gravitates toward
- Sentence rhythms that feel natural to them
- Opinions delivered without apology
- Specific details only this person would notice

**What kills voice:**
- Hedging every assertion
- Replacing personality with formality
- Writing "correctly" instead of writing truly

When editing, ask: *does this still sound like the author, or does it sound like a textbook?*

---

### 4. Rhythm and Sentence Variation
Writing without rhythm feels robotic. The goal is a cadence that pulls the reader forward.

**Rhythm tactics:**
- Mix sentence lengths. A short sentence after a long one lands hard.
- Vary sentence structure. Not every sentence needs subject → verb → object.
- Use a one-sentence paragraph for a point that deserves to stand alone.
- Parallel structures (two or more sentences with the same grammatical shape) create momentum — but only when used intentionally, not by default.

**The metronome test:** Read the text aloud. If every sentence takes about the same amount of time to speak, the rhythm is broken.

---

### 5. Specificity Over Generality
Concrete details create trust. Vague language signals inexperience or distance from the subject.

| Vague (AI) | Specific (Human) |
|-----------|-----------------|
| "significant improvement" | "reduced errors by 40%" |
| "the experience was positive" | "we spent 3 fewer hours per sprint in review" |
| "it smelled wonderful" | "burnt espresso and old books" |
| "many users prefer this" | "7 of the 10 engineers we interviewed chose it immediately" |
| "recently" | "last Tuesday" / "in Q3" |
| "a well-known study found" | "the 2024 CMU study of 12,000 texts found" |

When specifics aren't available, name the gap: "we haven't measured this yet" is more trustworthy than a vague positive claim.

---

### 6. Active Voice
Passive voice hides agents and weakens impact. Use it only when the agent is genuinely unknown or irrelevant.

| Passive | Active |
|---------|--------|
| "Mistakes were made." | "The team made mistakes." |
| "The report was written by Sarah." | "Sarah wrote the report." |
| "It was decided that..." | "The board decided..." |
| "Questions should be sent to..." | "Send questions to..." |

---

### 7. Directness
A direct writer doesn't hide behind jargon or hedged language. They trust that clear, honest prose persuades better than embellishment.

**Signs of indirect writing:**
- Using formal language to create distance ("leverage synergies")
- Qualifying assertions that the author clearly believes ("it could be argued that this approach is effective")
- Softening criticism to the point of meaninglessness ("while this has some limitations, it also shows promise")

**Directness in practice:**
- Say the bad thing directly: "This approach failed in three ways."
- Commit to your position: "This is wrong." not "One might argue this is suboptimal."
- Trust the reader to handle direct information.

---

### 8. Unpretentious Language
Strunk and White: use words and phrases that come readily to hand. Plain language bridges writer and reader.

The goal is to *express*, not to *impress*. Pretentious writing signals the writer is showing off rather than communicating. Readers sense this and disengage.

**Practical test:** If you'd feel awkward saying it out loud to a colleague, rewrite it.

---

### 9. Structure Serves the Reader
Good structure is invisible — the reader moves through the document without noticing the architecture.

**Structure principles:**
- Lead with the most important information (especially in professional writing)
- Topic sentences that actually commit to a point, not just name a topic
- Transitions that reflect logic, not just sequence ("but" / "because" / "so" rather than "furthermore" / "additionally")
- Endings that land — not a summary of what was just said, but a forward-looking observation or call to action

---

### 10. Emotional Honesty
Human writing carries the writer's actual perspective. It can be measured, professional, and still emotionally present.

AI avoids emotional stakes. It describes things at a distance. Human writers who care about their subject write differently than those who don't — and readers feel it.

**Ways emotional honesty shows up:**
- An opinion delivered without apology
- A specific anecdote from real experience
- Admitting uncertainty without hiding behind vague language
- Enthusiasm (or frustration, or caution) that's proportionate to the subject

---

## The Writer's Test

Before finalizing any rewrite, ask:

1. Can I read every sentence aloud without stumbling?
2. Does every paragraph move forward — does it add something the previous didn't?
3. Is there at least one concrete, specific detail in every major claim?
4. Would I be comfortable sending this with my name on it?
5. Does it sound like a person, or does it sound like a template?

---

*Grounded in: Strunk & White "The Elements of Style," Orwell "Politics and the English Language," Hemingway's iceberg principle, journalism.university writing principles, naturalwrite.com elements of good writing (2025)*