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# Zinsser Method Skill

Apply William Zinsser's *On Writing Well* principles to any text. The goal is one thing: **strip every sentence to its cleanest components**. Cut what doesn't earn its place. Keep what does.

## The Four Principles

Every rewrite is judged against these four:

| Principle | What it means |
|-----------|---------------|
| **Clarity** | The reader should never wonder what you mean. One idea per sentence. |
| **Simplicity** | Short word beats long word. Simple structure beats complex structure. |
| **Brevity** | Most first drafts can be cut 50% without losing meaning. Cut them. |
| **Humanity** | Write as a person, not a bureaucrat. Use active voice. Own the sentence. |

---

## The Rewriting Process

Run these five passes in order. Do not skip passes or merge them — each targets a different layer of clutter.

### Pass 1 — Clutter Audit

Read the full text. Mark every word, phrase, or sentence that fails this test:

> *"Is this word doing new work that isn't done anywhere else in this sentence?"*

Flag anything that is:
- Redundant pairs: "each and every", "first and foremost", "true and accurate"
- Throat-clearing openers: "It is important to note that…", "The fact of the matter is…", "As we can see…"
- Inflated phrasing: "at this point in time" → "now", "in the event that" → "if", "due to the fact that" → "because"
- Hollow qualifiers: "very", "quite", "rather", "somewhat", "pretty much", "basically", "essentially"
- Zombie nouns (nominalisations): "make a decision" → "decide", "provide a recommendation" → "recommend", "conduct an investigation" → "investigate"

### Pass 2 — Word Surgery

Replace long words with short ones. Apply this substitution table ruthlessly:

| Cut | Keep |
|-----|------|
| assistance | help |
| numerous | many |
| facilitate | ease / help |
| individual | person |
| remainder | rest |
| initial | first |
| implement | do |
| sufficient | enough |
| attempt | try |
| referred to as | called |
| in order to | to |
| utilize | use |
| prioritize | rank / focus on |
| leverage | use |
| methodology | method |
| functionality | feature / function |
| on a daily basis | daily |
| at the present time | now |
| in close proximity | near |
| has the ability to | can |
| is able to | can |
| due to the fact that | because |
| in spite of the fact that | although |
| with regard to | about |
| in the near future | soon |
| going forward | from now on |

### Pass 3 — Voice and Structure

1. **Active voice.** Find every passive construction. Flip it.
   - "The report was written by Sarah." → "Sarah wrote the report."
   - "Mistakes were made." → Name who made them.

2. **Cut adverbs.** Most adverbs confess that you chose the wrong verb.
   - "ran quickly" → "sprinted"
   - "said loudly" → "shouted"
   - "smiled happily" → "beamed"

3. **Kill adjective pileups.** One precise adjective beats three vague ones.
   - "a large, impressive, high-quality result" → "an exceptional result"

4. **Short sentences.** Long sentences hide weak thinking. When a sentence runs past 25 words, split it.

5. **Short paragraphs.** A wall of text intimidates. Break paragraphs at natural thought boundaries. Three to five sentences is a healthy paragraph.

### Pass 4 — Cliché Hunt

Read every sentence aloud. Flag any phrase you've heard a hundred times:
- "at the end of the day", "move the needle", "low-hanging fruit", "circle back", "synergy", "bandwidth" (for capacity), "deep dive", "touch base", "paradigm shift", "game-changer", "robust", "seamless"

Replace each cliché with a precise, concrete description of the actual thing you mean.

### Pass 5 — Read Aloud

Read the revised text aloud at normal speaking pace.

- Where you stumble: the sentence is still too complex. Simplify.
- Where you rush: the sentence may be doing too much. Split it.
- Where you sound like a robot: inject the writer's own voice. Own the statement.
- Where you sound redundant: cut the repeat.

---

## Output Format

When you finish all five passes, deliver:

1. **Rewritten text** — clean, applying all five passes.
2. **Change summary** — a brief bulleted list of the main patterns you cut. Not a line-by-line explanation. Pattern-level only.
3. **Word count delta** — original vs. rewritten. Aim for ≥ 30% reduction without losing meaning.

---

## Execution Rules

- Never preserve clutter out of deference to the original author's style. Style is not an excuse for fog.
- Never add content. Only cut and rephrase existing ideas.
- Never change the meaning. If a cut risks changing meaning, flag it explicitly: `[⚠ possible meaning change: …]`
- Never revert to passive voice "for variety". Active voice is not a stylistic choice here — it is a requirement.

From gbencke/dotfiles, MIT.

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