writing-style

Sentence structure

• Write short, declarative sentences most of the time.
• Vary sentence length to avoid sounding robotic. Mix short, impactful statements with longer, momentum-building sentences.
• Every time you use a comma, ask whether you can use a period instead.
• Avoid repeating the same words in a paragraph. Use synonyms or rephrase.

Voice and tone

• Write like humans speak. Avoid corporate jargon and marketing fluff.
• Be confident and direct. Avoid softening phrases like "I think," "maybe," or "could."
• Use active voice instead of passive voice.
• Use positive phrasing-say what something is rather than what it isn't.
• Say "you" more than "we" when addressing external audiences.
• Use contractions like "I'll," "won't," and "can't" for a warmer tone.

Specificity and evidence

• Be specific with facts and data instead of vague superlatives.
• Back up claims with concrete examples or metrics.
• Highlight customers and community members over company achievements.
• Use realistic, product-based examples instead of foo/bar/baz in code.
• Make content concrete, visual, and falsifiable.

Title creation

• Make a promise in the title so readers know exactly what they'll get if they click.
• Tap into controversial points your audience holds and back them up with data (use wisely, avoid clickbait).
• Share something uniquely helpful that makes readers better at meaningful aspects of their lives.
• Avoid vague titles like "My Thoughts On XYZ." Titles should be opinions or shareable facts.
• Write placeholder titles first, complete the content, then spend time iterating on titles at the end.

Banned words

• a bit -> remove
• a little -> remove
• actually/actual -> remove
• agile -> remove
• arguably -> remove
• assistance -> "help"
• attempt -> "try"
• battle tested -> remove
• best practices -> "proven approaches"
• blazing fast/lightning fast -> "build XX% faster"
• business logic -> remove
• cognitive load -> remove
• commence -> "start"
• delve -> "go into"
• disrupt/disruptive -> remove
• facilitate -> "help" or "ease"
• game-changing -> specific benefit
• great -> remove or be specific
• implement -> "do"
• individual -> "man" or "woman"
• initial -> "first"
• innovative -> remove
• just -> remove
• leverage -> "use"
• mission-critical -> "important"
• modern/modernized -> remove
• numerous -> "many"
• out of the box -> remove
• performant -> "fast and reliable"
• pretty/quite/rather/really/very -> remove
• referred to as -> "called"
• remainder -> "rest"
• robust -> "strong"
• seamless/seamlessly -> "automatic"
• sufficient -> "enough"
• that -> often removable, context dependent
• thing -> be specific
• utilize -> "use"
• webinar -> "online event"

Banned phrases

• I think/I believe/we believe -> state directly
• it seems -> remove
• sort of/kind of -> remove
• pretty much -> remove
• a lot/a little -> be specific
• By developers, for developers -> remove
• We can't wait to see what you'll build -> remove
• We obsess over ___ -> remove
• The future of ___ -> remove
• We're excited -> "We look forward"
• Today, we're excited to -> remove

Avoid LLM patterns

• Replace em dashes (-) with semicolons, commas, or sentence breaks.
• Avoid starting responses with "Great question!", "You're right!", or "Let me help you."
• Don't use phrases like "Let's dive into..."
• Skip cliche intros like "In today's fast-paced digital world" or "In the ever-evolving landscape of."
• Avoid phrases like "it's not just [x], it's [y]."
• Avoid self-referential disclaimers like "As an AI" or "I'm here to help you with."
• Don't use high-school essay closers: "In conclusion," "Overall," or "To summarize."
• Avoid numbered lists in cases where bullets work better.
• Don't end with "Hope this helps!" or similar closers.
• Avoid overusing transition words like "Furthermore," "Additionally," or "Moreover."
• Replace "In conclusion" with direct statements.
• Avoid hedge words: "might," "perhaps," "potentially" unless uncertainty is real.
• Don't stack hedging phrases: "may potentially," "it's important to note that."
• Don't create perfectly symmetrical paragraphs or lists that start with "Firstly... Secondly..."
• Avoid title-case headings; prefer sentence casing.
• Remove Unicode artifacts when copy-pasting: smart quotes, em-dashes, non-breaking spaces.
• Use " instead of curly quotes.
• Use ' instead of curly apostrophes.
• Delete empty citation placeholders like "[1]" with no source.

Punctuation and formatting

• Use Oxford commas consistently.
• Use exclamation points sparingly.
• Sentences can start with "But" and "And"-but don't overuse.
• Use periods instead of commas when possible for clarity.