Human-Style Writing

Human-Style Writing

This skill helps you write content that reads like it was written by a real person with opinions, personality, and specific knowledge—not a corporate blog generator or AI assistant trying to sound helpful.

Core Principle

Write like you're explaining something to a colleague over coffee, not presenting to a board room.

Good writing is specific, opinionated, and conversational. Bad writing is generic, safe, and sounds like every other tech blog.

What Makes Writing Sound AI-Generated

❌ Patterns to Avoid

1. Over-Enthusiastic Openings

❌ "We're thrilled to announce..."
❌ "Today, we're excited to share..."
❌ "I'm delighted to introduce..."
❌ "Join us on this exciting journey..."

✅ "We built X because Y kept breaking."
✅ "Here's what we learned shipping X to production."
✅ "Most migration tools get you 70% of the way. Here's how we get to 95%."

2. Vague Claims Without Evidence

❌ "This revolutionary approach transforms how developers work."
❌ "Leveraging cutting-edge AI technology..."
❌ "A game-changing solution for modern development."
❌ "Unlock the full potential of your workflow."

✅ "Nango used this to migrate 47 repos in 3 days."
✅ "We tested this on Next.js App Router migration—reduced manual fixes from 800 to 40."
✅ "Stripe's migration guide is 12,000 words. This gets it down to 200 lines of code."

3. Corporate Buzzword Soup

❌ "Empowering developers to leverage synergies..."
❌ "Best-in-class solutions for enterprise-grade..."
❌ "Seamlessly integrate with your existing ecosystem..."
❌ "Drive innovation through collaborative paradigms..."

✅ "Works with whatever you're already using."
✅ "Detects edge cases your regex won't catch."
✅ "One command. No config file. No surprises."

4. Unnecessary Hedging

❌ "This might help you potentially improve..."
❌ "You could possibly consider..."
❌ "This may or may not be useful..."
❌ "Some users have reported that..."

✅ "This cuts migration time in half."
✅ "Use this when codemods aren't enough."
✅ "Three users reported this edge case. We fixed it."

5. Generic Transitions

❌ "Let's dive deep into..."
❌ "Without further ado..."
❌ "At the end of the day..."
❌ "It goes without saying..."

✅ Just start the next section. You don't need a transition.
✅ Or use a specific connector: "Here's why that matters:"

6. Robotic Lists

❌ "Here are 5 key benefits:
1. Enhanced productivity
2. Improved efficiency
3. Better collaboration
4. Increased flexibility
5. Streamlined workflows"

✅ "This saves you time in three ways:
- No more searching docs for edge cases—they're encoded in the package
- AI applies patterns consistently—you don't chase style violations
- Tests are generated, not written—coverage without the grind"

What Makes Writing Sound Human

✅ Patterns to Use

1. Specific Details

❌ "Many developers struggle with migrations."
✅ "We've all copy-pasted from a migration guide, missed an edge case, and spent 2 hours debugging why tests fail."

❌ "Performance is significantly improved."
✅ "Query time dropped from 847ms to 12ms after adding the index."

❌ "Works with popular frameworks."
✅ "Tested on Next.js, Remix, SvelteKit, and Astro."

2. Direct, Confident Language

❌ "This approach may help you potentially improve your workflow."
✅ "This cuts your migration time in half."

❌ "You might want to consider using this feature."
✅ "Use this feature when you have more than 10 files to update."

❌ "Some users have found this useful."
✅ "Three teams adopted this last week. All three shipped in under 2 days."

3. Honest Limitations

❌ "Our comprehensive solution handles all use cases."
✅ "This won't catch dynamic imports or string templates. You'll need to fix those manually."

❌ "Perfectly seamless migration experience."
✅ "Expect about 5% of edge cases to need manual review. That's down from 30%."

❌ "Works with any codebase."
✅ "Works if you're on TypeScript 4.5+. Earlier versions need a polyfill."

4. Conversational Asides

✅ "You could write a 400-line script for this. We did. It broke on Unicode."
✅ "Turns out, most projects have 3-5 edge cases that codemods can't handle."
✅ "We tried docs. Developers don't read them. We tried linting. They ignore the warnings."

5. Active Voice, Present Tense

❌ "The package can be installed by running the command."
✅ "Install the package: prpm install @vendor/​migration"

❌ "Improvements were made to the conversion quality."
✅ "We improved conversion quality from 78% to 94%."

❌ "It has been observed that users prefer..."
✅ "Users prefer X over Y by a 4:1 margin."

6. Strong Opening Sentences

❌ "In this post, we will discuss how migrations work."
✅ "Codemods automate 70% of migrations. This gets you to 95%."

❌ "Let me tell you about a new feature we've added."
✅ "You can now install an entire framework migration as a single package."

❌ "Today, I want to talk about our vision for the future."
✅ "Package managers changed how we ship code. We're doing the same for AI instructions."

Tone Calibration

Technical Posts

• Voice: Knowledgeable peer, not teacher
• Assumptions: Reader knows basics, wants specifics
• Evidence: Code examples, performance numbers, real packages
• Length: As long as needed to be complete, as short as possible to respect time

Example:

# Converting Copilot Rules to Claude Format

GitHub Copilot uses a single `.github/​copilot-instructions.md` file with YAML frontmatter. Claude uses separate skills in `.claude/​skills/`.

Here's how we handle the conversion:

1. Parse the YAML frontmatter with js-yaml
2. Extract the `applyTo` glob patterns
3. Convert to Claude's `fileMatch` format
4. Split multi-concern rules into separate skills

Edge case: Copilot's `applyTo` supports negation patterns (`!**/​*.test.ts`). Claude doesn't. We preserve these as comments and log a warning.

Conversion quality: 94% (6% requires manual review for negation patterns).

Vision Posts

• Voice: Opinionated builder with receipts
• Assumptions: Reader is skeptical, needs convincing
• Evidence: Real-world examples, before/​after, objections addressed
• Length: Long enough to make the case, tight enough to stay focused

Example:

# Why Docs Aren't Enough

Stripe's migration guide is 12,000 words. It's comprehensive, well-written, and most developers skim it.

Why? Because reading docs requires:
1. Find the right section (3-5 minutes)
2. Understand the pattern (5-10 minutes)
3. Apply to your specific case (10-30 minutes)
4. Repeat 20-50 times per migration

That's 6-15 hours. And you'll still miss edge cases.

PRPM packages encode those patterns once. AI applies them consistently. Total time: 20 minutes.

Tutorial Posts

• Voice: Experienced guide who's made the mistakes
• Assumptions: Reader wants to follow along, copy/​paste, learn
• Evidence: Runnable examples, expected output, common pitfalls
• Length: Complete walkthrough with no missing steps

Example:

# Publishing Your First PRPM Package

## What You'll Build

A Cursor rule that enforces "no default exports" across your TypeScript codebase. By the end, you'll have published it to the registry.

## Prerequisites

- Node.js 18+ (check: `node --version`)
- PRPM CLI installed (`npm install -g prpm`)
- GitHub account (for publishing)

## Step 1: Initialize the Package

```bash
$ mkdir no-default-exports
$ cd no-default-exports
$ prpm init

Format: cursor
Subtype: rule
Name: no-default-exports
Description: Enforce named exports in TypeScript

This creates prpm.json and .cursorrules.

Step 2: Write the Rule

Edit .cursorrules: [... full example ...]

## Structural Techniques

### 1. Start With The Punchline
```markdown
❌ "In this article, we'll explore the challenges of API migrations, discuss various approaches, and ultimately present a solution."

✅ "API migrations fail because docs explain the 'what' but not the 'why.' Here's how to ship the reasoning with the code."

2. Use Subheadings as Scannable Statements

❌ ## Introduction
❌ ## Background
❌ ## Methodology
❌ ## Results

✅ ## The Problem: Docs Go Stale
✅ ## Why Codemods Aren't Enough
✅ ## What PRPM Packages Add
✅ ## Real Example: Next.js App Router

3. Show, Don't Just Tell

❌ "The conversion process is simple and efficient."

✅ "Here's the entire conversion:
```bash
$ prpm install @nextjs/​app-router-migration --as cursor
$ cursor apply @nextjs/​app-router-migration
✓ Migrated 47 files
⚠ 3 files need manual review (dynamic imports)

Done in 90 seconds."

### 4. Break Up Walls of Text
- Use subheadings every 2-3 paragraphs
- Insert code blocks to give eyes a break
- Use bullet lists for 3+ related items
- Add horizontal rules for major section breaks
- Use blockquotes for important callouts

### 5. End With Action, Not Summary
```markdown
❌ "In conclusion, we've discussed how PRPM packages work and why they're useful for migrations."

✅ "Try it:
```bash
prpm install @popular/​package-name

Have questions? Follow @prpmdev or open an issue."

## Voice Examples from PRPM

### Good (from VISION.md):
> "Codemods automate the first 60–80% of migrations. Docs explain the rest. Developers still wrestle with edge cases, conventions, and tests."

**Why it works:** Specific percentages, clear problem statement, no fluff.

> "You could read 47 migration guides. Or install one package."

**Why it works:** Concrete number, stark contrast, confident.

> "We tried this on Nango's SDK migration. 47 repos, 3 days, zero regressions."

**Why it works:** Real company, real numbers, honest outcome.

### Bad (AI-generated style):
> "Our innovative platform leverages cutting-edge AI to streamline your development workflow."

**Why it fails:** Buzzwords, vague, could describe anything.

> "We're excited to announce a revolutionary new approach to migrations."

**Why it fails:** Over-enthusiastic, no specifics, marketing speak.

> "This powerful solution empowers teams to unlock their full potential."

**Why it fails:** Empty claims, corporate jargon, meaningless.

## Self-Check Questions

Before publishing, ask:

1. **Would a human say this out loud?** If not, rewrite.
2. **Is every claim backed by evidence?** If not, add specifics or remove the claim.
3. **Could this sentence appear in any other company's blog?** If yes, make it specific to PRPM.
4. **Does this assume the reader is dumb?** If yes, trust them more.
5. **Am I hedging because I'm uncertain?** If yes, verify facts or own the uncertainty.
6. **Is this a transition I can delete?** If yes, delete it.
7. **Does this open with enthusiasm instead of information?** If yes, lead with the info.

## Quick Fixes

### If it sounds too formal:
- Replace "utilize" → "use"
- Replace "in order to" → "to"
- Replace "at this point in time" → "now"
- Replace "for the purpose of" → "for" or "to"
- Cut "very," "really," "quite," "actually"

### If it sounds too generic:
- Add a specific number
- Name a real company/​project
- Include a code example
- Mention a concrete edge case
- Quote user feedback

### If it sounds too salesy:
- Replace superlatives with comparisons
- Replace "revolutionary" with "different because"
- Replace "amazing" with specific benefits
- Remove exclamation points (except in code comments where appropriate)
- Cut the first paragraph (usually marketing fluff)

## Remember

PRPM users are developers. They have good bullshit detectors. Write like you respect their intelligence and their time.

**Good writing is revision.** First draft: get ideas down. Second draft: cut 30%. Third draft: add specifics. Fourth draft: read it out loud.

If you wouldn't say it in a GitHub issue comment, don't put it in a blog post.