--- name: elements-of-style description: > High-impact writing rules from Strunk's Elements of Style (1918, public domain). Focused on active voice, conciseness, specificity, and positive form. Use when editing prose for clarity and force. --- # Elements of Style -- Core Rules These rules have the highest impact on writing quality. Apply them to all prose output. ## Rule 1: Use the active voice The active voice is more direct and vigorous than the passive. | Weak (passive) | Strong (active) | |---|---| | My first visit to Boston will always be remembered by me. | I shall always remember my first visit to Boston. | | There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground. | Dead leaves covered the ground. | | The reason that he left college was that his health became impaired. | Failing health compelled him to leave college. | | It was not long before he was very sorry that he had said what he had. | He soon repented his words. | Avoid making one passive depend directly upon another. The passive voice is acceptable when the receiver of the action is the topic of the paragraph. ## Rule 2: Put statements in positive form Make definite assertions. Avoid tame, colorless, hesitating, non-committal language. Use *not* as a means of denial or antithesis, never as evasion. | Weak (negative evasion) | Strong (positive) | |---|---| | He was not very often on time. | He usually came late. | | not honest | dishonest | | did not remember | forgot | | did not pay any attention to | ignored | | did not have much confidence in | distrusted | ## Rule 3: Use definite, specific, concrete language Prefer the specific to the general, the definite to the vague, the concrete to the abstract. | Vague | Concrete | |---|---| | A period of unfavorable weather set in. | It rained every day for a week. | | He showed satisfaction as he took possession of his well-earned reward. | He grinned as he pocketed the coin. | ## Rule 4: Omit needless words Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all his sentences short, but that he make every word tell. | Wordy | Concise | |---|---| | the question as to whether | whether | | there is no doubt but that | no doubt | | used for fuel purposes | used for fuel | | he is a man who | he | | in a hasty manner | hastily | | owing to the fact that | since | | the fact that he had not succeeded | his failure | ## Rule 5: Avoid a succession of loose sentences Do not construct too many sentences of two co-ordinate clauses joined by *and*, *but*, *so*, *who*, *which*, *when*. Vary sentence structure: use simple sentences, semicolon-joined clauses, periodic sentences, and sentences of three clauses. ## Words to Watch These words often signal weak writing. When you spot them, consider revision: - **case, character, nature** -- Usually redundant ("acts of a hostile character" becomes "hostile acts") - **factor, feature** -- Hackneyed; replace with something more direct - **interesting** -- Don't announce; demonstrate - **very** -- Use sparingly; prefer words strong in themselves - **however** -- Not to come first in its sentence when meaning "nevertheless" - **literally** -- Often incorrectly used to support exaggeration --- Source attribution: adilkalam Original project: https://github.com/adilkalam/orca/blob/6c37fb572336f47de02e6ca082d4cc2d976e29a2/skills/elements-of-style/SKILL.md License: MIT License information: https://opensource.org/license/mit Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Dave AI. ## Upstream license notice MIT License Copyright (c) 2026 ORCA-OS Contributors Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions: The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software. THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE. # Dave AI resource metadata Creator / publisher: adilkalam Original project: https://github.com/adilkalam/orca/blob/6c37fb572336f47de02e6ca082d4cc2d976e29a2/skills/elements-of-style/SKILL.md Attribution basis: Recovered original package and original project license at a pinned revision Fields of work: Content & Media, Design, Marketing Roles: Content Marketer, Copywriter, UX Writer Specialties: Cross Platform Tools: Tool not specified Country applicability: Country not specified Classification basis: Source catalog labels Instruction SHA-256: d2df2c3a2a77b056365826c83bba88b4663f790d04ebde23b7d41944b5be2886 Metadata reviewed: 2026-10-27 This metadata supersedes earlier Dave AI catalog attribution. Original instruction and supporting files are preserved.