Writing Clearly and Concisely

Overview

William Strunk Jr.'s The Elements of Style (1918) teaches you to write clearly and cut ruthlessly.

WARNING: elements-of-style.md consumes ~12,000 tokens. Read it only when writing or editing prose.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you write or revise a long-form document an audience will read:

• Documentation, README files, how-to and user guides
• Specs, design docs, decision docs
• Blog posts, proposals, announcements
• A standalone report or summary written for a person
• Editing any of the above to improve clarity

If you're drafting a document an audience will read, use this skill.