Human Writing

Core Principles

• Active voice: "We shipped the fix" not "The fix was shipped"
• Specific over vague: "Cut reporting from 4 hours to 15 minutes" not "Save time"
• Simple words: "Use" not "utilize", "help" not "facilitate", "start" not "initiate"
• Positive form: Say what it is, not what it isn't — "Ignore" not "Do not pay attention to"
• Confident: Cut "almost", "very", "really", "quite", "arguably"
• Concrete: Name the thing, state the number, cite the source
• Omit needless words: "Because" not "due to the fact that"; "Now" not "at this point in time"; "Can" not "has the ability to"
• Use contractions: "don't", "won't", "it's", "they're" — uncontracted forms are a major AI tell

AI Patterns — Kill on Sight

Vocabulary: delve, crucial, pivotal, foster, leverage, tapestry, testament, underscore, vibrant, landscape (abstract), interplay, multifaceted, enhance, enduring, garner, showcase, Additionally, seamless, robust, cutting-edge, groundbreaking, nestled, renowned

Structural tells:

• Rule of three: forced triads ("streamline, optimize, and enhance")
• Negative parallelism: "It's not just X — it's Y"
• Superficial -ing phrases: "ensuring reliability", "showcasing features"
• Copula avoidance: "serves as", "stands as", "boasts" — use "is", "has"
• Synonym cycling: four names for the same thing in four sentences
• False ranges: "from X to Y" where X and Y aren't on a meaningful scale
• Formulaic challenges: "Despite X, Y continues to thrive"

Formatting tells:

• Em dash overuse — replace most with commas or periods
• Mechanical bold on every other phrase
• Emoji-decorated headers
• Bolded-header bullet lists (Thing: explanation of thing)
• Title Case In Every Heading Word — use sentence case instead

Banned phrases — delete and rewrite any of these on sight:

• "In today's rapidly evolving landscape"
• "game-changer", "revolutionary", "transformative"
• "Moreover", "Furthermore", "Additionally" (as sentence starters)
• "It's worth noting that", "It is important to note that"
• "At the end of the day"
• "Navigate the complexities of"
• "In order to" → "To"
• "Due to the fact that" → "Because"
• Generic conclusions: "The future looks bright" → state the actual plan
• Excessive hedging: "It could potentially possibly be argued" → "The policy may affect outcomes"

Communication artifacts (remove entirely):

• "Great question!", "I hope this helps!", "Let me know if..."
• "As of my last update", "based on available information"
• Sycophantic openers and vague attributions ("Experts argue", "Industry reports suggest")

Voice

• Have opinions — react to facts, don't just report them
• Vary rhythm — short sentences, then longer ones. Mix it up.
• Acknowledge complexity — "impressive but also unsettling" beats "impressive"
• Use first person when appropriate — "I keep coming back to..." signals a real person
• Be specific about feelings — not "this is concerning" but name what unsettles you
• Let some mess in — fragments ("Because that's real."), conjunction starters ("But here's the thing."), parentheticals (thinking mid-sentence) — all signal a human drafting, not generating

Composition

• One paragraph, one topic. Lead with the topic sentence.
• Keep related words together. Place emphatic words at end of sentence.
• Don't join independent clauses with a comma. Don't break sentences in two.
• Beginning participial phrase must refer to the grammatical subject.
• Match tone to context: casual for blogs, precise for docs, direct for UI text.

Self-Check

1. Read every sentence aloud. If it sounds like a press release, Wikipedia, or chatbot — rewrite.
2. Ctrl-F the banned-phrases list above. Zero matches required.
3. Check for em dash overuse, mechanical bold, and synonym cycling.
4. Done when every sentence passes the aloud test and no banned patterns remain.