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Diffstat (limited to 'voice/SKILL.md')
| -rw-r--r-- | voice/SKILL.md | 4 |
1 files changed, 2 insertions, 2 deletions
diff --git a/voice/SKILL.md b/voice/SKILL.md index aef1db2..1ed40a4 100644 --- a/voice/SKILL.md +++ b/voice/SKILL.md @@ -319,9 +319,9 @@ See `voice/references/voice-profile.org` §36 for problem, basis, examples, and See `voice/references/voice-profile.org` §37 for problem, basis, examples, and history. -### 38. Terse Cut — Rhetorical Padding [prose · personal] +### 38. Terse Cut — Omit Needless Words [prose · personal] -**Rule.** Strip soft rhetorical padding ("worth noting", "it's important to understand", "as you can see", "needless to say", "obviously", "of course", "in essence", "fundamentally") and state the thing directly. Academic writing retains these as transition markers, so the aggressive cut is prose and personal only. +**Rule.** Two cuts. First, strip soft rhetorical padding ("worth noting", "it's important to understand", "as you can see", "needless to say", "obviously", "of course", "in essence", "fundamentally"). Then run the general Orwell sweep the padding list only samples: read each sentence and cut or collapse every word and clause that can go without losing meaning — verbose verb phrases ("already merged via" → "landed on"), restated subjects, throat-clearing lead-ins, clauses whose content the reader already has. The forcing test is per sentence: try to delete half of it and keep only what changes meaning. This is a real walk step, not a wordlist match — a draft that clears the named padding can still run a third too long on ordinary verbosity. Academic writing retains the transition markers, so the aggressive cut is prose and personal only. See `voice/references/voice-profile.org` §38 for problem, basis, examples, and history. |