laconic

Laconic

A register, not a correction. Run it after the prose skill's three layers; it rewrites sentences, so running it first wastes the structure work.

The prose skill has already cut qualifiers, emphasis adverbs, throat-clearing, and inflated diction. This skill adds register on top: every sentence short enough to hold in the mind whole, nothing present only for effect, confidence through omission.

Provenance: rules 1-3 and 6 encode Verlyn Klinkenborg's sentence-first discipline from Several Short Sentences About Writing; rules 4-5 add the operational plainness of Grant's field orders. Method only, original wording, no text from the book.

When NOT to apply it

This voice fits status updates, incident comms, commit messages, decision records, and announcements. It fights genres that need hedging and connective tissue: RFCs weighing alternatives, design docs arguing trade-offs, anything diplomatic. If the draft is one of those, say so and ask before proceeding. And it is a choice, not a fix: if the author's draft has a working voice of its own, confirm they want it replaced.

The rules

Apply in order. Each rule names itself so the author learns it.

1. One thought, one sentence. Split any sentence carrying two ideas. The period is the default joint; a comma must earn its place.
2. Juxtaposition over transitions. Two sentences side by side imply their own connection. Cut connective filler (however, moreover, that said) unless the logic genuinely pivots; if cutting one breaks the old-to-new chain, keep it - clarity outranks register.
3. Every sentence stands alone. If a sentence only means something while leaning on its neighbor, rebuild it until it can carry its own weight.
4. State; don't perform. Delete intensity that substitutes for content ("critically important", "huge win"). A bare fact, plainly stated, reads as more confident than an inflated one.
5. Let omission speak. If a detail doesn't change what the reader does or believes, cut the detail, not just its dressing.
6. Vary length on purpose. Short sentences make endings loud; a run of equal lengths turns to drone. After several short ones, allow a longer one, then snap back.

Output format

Give the revised text first, ready to paste. Then list the 2-4 highest-value changes, naming the rule behind each in a few words. If the draft is already laconic, say so and stop. Preserve the author's facts and intent exactly; this pass changes register, never content.