Stop Slop

Eliminate predictable AI writing patterns from prose.

Core Rules

1. Cut filler words. Remove throat-clearing openers, emphasis crutches, banned AI vocabulary, and empty adverbs. Any other adverb must change the sentence's meaning when deleted, or it goes too. See references/phrases.md.

2. Break formulaic structures. Avoid binary contrasts, negative listings, dramatic fragmentation, rhetorical setups, false agency, colon reveals, fake-analysis clauses, synonym cycling, fake-strong verbs. See references/structures.md.

3. Use active voice. Every sentence needs a human subject doing something. No passive constructions. No inanimate objects performing human actions ("the complaint becomes a fix").

4. Be specific. No vague declaratives ("The reasons are structural"). Name the specific thing. No lazy extremes ("every," "always," "never") doing vague work. No importance puffery ("marks a pivotal moment"): state the fact and let the reader judge. No unsourced authority ("experts agree," "studies show"): name the source or cut the claim.

5. Put the reader in the room. No narrator-from-a-distance voice. "You" beats "People." Specifics beat abstractions.

6. Vary rhythm. Mix sentence lengths. Two items beat three. End paragraphs differently. No em dashes. No semicolons. Split into two sentences instead.

7. Trust readers. State facts directly. Skip softening, justification, hand-holding, and lone-expert flattery ("what most people miss").