Writing Core — Shared Foundation

Load this skill before any profession-specific writing skill (job-seeker, consultant, etc.). It defines the universal writing quality baseline all human-voice skills share.

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Burstiness Principle

AI detectors measure "burstiness": sentence length variance. Human writing has HIGH burstiness. AI has LOW.

Target these sentence length patterns:

• Mix short (3–8 words), medium (12–20 words), and long (25–40 words) in every paragraph
• Never have 3+ consecutive sentences of similar length
• Use fragments. They work. Really.
• One-word sentences? Occasionally.
• Let a sentence run long when the thought needs room to breathe, winding through qualifications before landing
• Vary paragraph length dramatically — four sentences, then one line. Like this.

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Perplexity Principle

AI detectors also measure "perplexity": how predictable each word is. AI text has LOW perplexity. Human text has HIGHER — more surprising word choices.

Increase perplexity naturally by:

• Choosing the second or third word that comes to mind, not the first (the most statistically likely, the one AI would pick)
• Using domain-specific jargon or slang appropriate to the audience
• Making unexpected analogies from personal experience
• Occasionally using informal transitions ("Anyway,", "So here's the thing:", "Look,", "Thing is,")

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Soul Injection Techniques

Removal alone does not produce human writing. These make the difference between "AI-clean" and "human":

1. Have actual opinions. Don't just report. React. "This approach is frustrating" is more human than "This approach has certain limitations."
2. Acknowledge uncertainty honestly. "I'm not sure this is right, but..." beats both false confidence and excessive hedging.
3. Use specific sensory or experiential details. Not "the process is complex" but "debugging this at 2am with a cold coffee and a stack trace that makes no sense."
4. Reference shared human experiences. "You know that feeling when..." creates connection.
5. Allow tangents and asides. A brief digression signals a thinking mind, not an algorithm.
6. Vary paragraph length dramatically. Four sentences, then one line. Like this.
7. Use the imperfect start. Begin mid-thought: "So I was looking at the numbers and..." or "Here's what nobody tells you about..."
8. Break parallel structure occasionally. Three items with the same grammar, then make the fourth different. Humans aren't that consistent.
9. Use callbacks. Reference something mentioned earlier. "Remember that point about X? It gets worse."
10. Self-correct. "The system handles auth — well, authentication and authorization are separate, but you get the idea." A small correction signals a mind thinking in real time. Use once per document maximum.
11. End without wrapping up. Not every piece needs a neat conclusion. Sometimes just stop.

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Community-Discovered Patterns (2026)

Surfaced from HackerNews, Substack, Wikipedia's editorial guidelines, and writing practitioner blogs. Sources cited inline.

P38: Paragraph-Reshuffling Immunity. LLMs generate parallel blocks rather than an unfolding argument. Test: can you swap paragraph 2 and paragraph 4 without breaking the piece? If yes, it's AI. Fix: make paragraph N+1 depend on something concrete in paragraph N — references, callbacks, causal linkage. If two paragraphs are interchangeable, merge or cut one. Source: HackerNews, May 2025

AI: Remote work improves balance. Many workers prefer it. Studies show productivity rises. Additionally, commuting costs drop. Human: Remote work's flexibility is the obvious sell. The harder question is what you lose — the hallway conversation that turns into your best idea.

P39: Paragraph-Closing "Whether" Summary Sentences. LLMs treat paragraph endings as local summaries, mimicking SEO blog structure where each section self-explains. Humans rarely end flowing prose this way. Fix: cut the closing "whether" sentence. End on the strongest specific point, not a hedge that gestures at the range covered. Source: Gone Travelling Productions, Aug 2025

AI: Tokyo offers everything from Michelin-starred restaurants to humble ramen stalls. Whether you prefer fine dining or street food, Tokyo has something for every palate. Human: Tokyo's best ramen counter doesn't take reservations and hasn't changed the broth recipe since 1987.

P40: Symbolic Gloss / Meaning-Telling. LLMs narrate the meaning of things rather than trusting description to carry it. Triggers: "represents", "symbolises", "speaks to", "embodies", "reflects broader" applied to mundane things. Fix: cut the symbol sentence. State the fact and let the reader interpret. Source: Writewithai Substack, 2025

AI: The closed factory represents the decline of manufacturing and speaks to broader anxieties about post-industrial identity. Human: The factory closed in 2009. Three hundred jobs. The town's high school dropped football the following year.

P41: Infomercial Engagement Hooks. Fake dramatic pauses imported from social-media-optimised AI writing. Triggers: single-sentence paragraphs that mimic viral LinkedIn cadence — "The catch?", "The kicker?", "Here's the thing:", "The brutal truth?", "Want to know the best part?" Fix: delete the hook line. Let the next paragraph make its point directly. Source: Writewithai Substack, corroborated on HackerNews

AI: Most people abandon goals in week three.\n\nThe brutal truth?\n\nThey lack a clear failure threshold. Human: Most people abandon goals in week three. The ones who don't usually make the failure threshold explicit before they start.

P42: Erratic Inline Bolding. Patternless bolding — the model decided certain words felt important, with no consistent rule. Triggers: bold spans of 1–4 words appearing mid-paragraph, not labelling a defined term, multiple bold spans per paragraph with no shared category. Fix: strip all inline bold except glossary terms and UI labels. If something deserves emphasis, the sentence structure should provide it. Source: Gone Travelling, 2025, Wikipedia: Signs of AI writing

P43: The Treadmill Effect (Low Information Density). A 500-word AI section may contain 100 words of new information and 400 words of restatement. Humans advance; AI circles. Triggers: marker phrases inside the paragraph — "In other words,", "Put simply,", "To put it another way,", "Essentially,". Fix: apply the "what's actually new here?" test on each sentence. Delete any that just rephrases what came before. Source: aidetectors.io, HackerNews

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Additional Core Patterns

P3: Superficial -ing Phrases. Tacking present participle phrases onto sentences to fake depth. Triggers: sentences ending with "...ensuring reliability.", "...fostering growth.", "...highlighting the importance of.", "...contributing to.", "...showcasing." Fix: delete the -ing clause. If it contained real information, promote it to its own sentence with a specific source.

AI: The platform processes payments globally, ensuring reliability and fostering growth. Human: The platform processes payments in 47 countries. Uptime is 99.97% over the last 12 months.

P24: Generic Positive Conclusions. Default closing sentences that say nothing. Triggers: "The future looks bright", "exciting times lie ahead", "continues its journey toward excellence", "a step in the right direction", "poised for growth", "we look forward to what comes next." Fix: cut the closing entirely, or end on the last specific fact.

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Banned AI Vocabulary

Single words that mark AI-generated writing — replace with plain language:

delve, leverage, robust, seamless, pivotal, nuanced, tapestry, realm, underscore, elevate, foster, navigate (metaphorical), landscape (metaphorical), synergy, cutting-edge, game-changer, impactful, utilize (use "use"), spearhead, orchestrate, bolster, crucial, garner, multifaceted, interplay, vibrant, showcase, testament

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Scoring Rubric

Score on five dimensions (0–10 each, 50 max). Revise if total < 35.

Dimension	0–4	5–7	8–10
Directness	Long warm-up, buried claim	Main point findable	Claim in first sentence, no hedging
Rhythm	Uniform sentence length, monotone	Some variation	Deliberate mix, reads naturally aloud
Trust	Constant hedging and softening	Occasional hedging	States directly, no apology for existing
Authenticity	Generic, could be anyone	Some specific detail	Sounds like a specific person with a specific history
Density	Padded with filler	Some waste	Every sentence earns its place

• 45–50: Ship it
• 35–44: Minor polish, acceptable
• 25–34: Rewrite before sending
• < 25: Start over