reviewing-writing
Review and critique writing using Michael Nielsen's principles on craft. Analyzes text for purpose focus, brevity, danger words, opening strength, originality, reader psychology, truthfulness, and title impact. Use when the user says "review my writing", "nielsen review", "writing review", "review this writing", "critique my writing", or asks for feedback on prose quality.
Best use case
reviewing-writing is best used when you need a repeatable AI agent workflow instead of a one-off prompt.
Review and critique writing using Michael Nielsen's principles on craft. Analyzes text for purpose focus, brevity, danger words, opening strength, originality, reader psychology, truthfulness, and title impact. Use when the user says "review my writing", "nielsen review", "writing review", "review this writing", "critique my writing", or asks for feedback on prose quality.
Teams using reviewing-writing should expect a more consistent output, faster repeated execution, less prompt rewriting.
When to use this skill
- You want a reusable workflow that can be run more than once with consistent structure.
When not to use this skill
- You only need a quick one-off answer and do not need a reusable workflow.
- You cannot install or maintain the underlying files, dependencies, or repository context.
Installation
Claude Code / Cursor / Codex
Manual Installation
- Download SKILL.md from GitHub
- Place it in
.claude/skills/reviewing-writing/SKILL.mdinside your project - Restart your AI agent — it will auto-discover the skill
How reviewing-writing Compares
| Feature / Agent | reviewing-writing | Standard Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Support | Not specified | Limited / Varies |
| Context Awareness | High | Baseline |
| Installation Complexity | Unknown | N/A |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does this skill do?
Review and critique writing using Michael Nielsen's principles on craft. Analyzes text for purpose focus, brevity, danger words, opening strength, originality, reader psychology, truthfulness, and title impact. Use when the user says "review my writing", "nielsen review", "writing review", "review this writing", "critique my writing", or asks for feedback on prose quality.
Where can I find the source code?
You can find the source code on GitHub using the link provided at the top of the page.
Related Guides
SKILL.md Source
# Reviewing Writing (Nielsen's Principles) Analyze writing against Michael Nielsen's 8 principles of craft. Accept input as a file path argument, or review text from the current conversation. ## Input Handling 1. If the user provides a file path as an argument, read that file 2. If no argument, look for writing shared in the current conversation 3. If neither, ask the user to provide text or a file path ## Analysis Process Read the full text first. Then evaluate against each principle using the rubric in `./nielsen-principles.md`. For each principle: 1. Rate it: **Strong** / **Needs Work** / **Weak** 2. Quote specific passages that succeed or violate the principle 3. For violations, provide a concrete rewrite suggestion ## Output Format ``` ## Nielsen Writing Review ### Overview [1-2 sentence summary of the piece's strengths and where it falls short] ### 1. Single, Sharp Purpose — [Rating] [Analysis with quoted passages and rewrites] ### 2. Occam's Razor — [Rating] [Analysis with quoted passages and rewrites] ### 3. Danger Words — [Rating] [Analysis with quoted passages and rewrites] ### 4. Striking Openings — [Rating] [Analysis with quoted passages and rewrites] ### 5. War on the Conventional — [Rating] [Analysis with quoted passages and rewrites] ### 6. Structure for Engagement — [Rating] [Analysis with quoted passages and rewrites] ### 7. Writing the Truth — [Rating] [Analysis with quoted passages and rewrites] ### 8. Impactful Titles — [Rating] [Analysis with quoted passages and rewrites] ### Top 3 Priorities 1. [Most impactful improvement with specific action] 2. [Second priority] 3. [Third priority] ### Scorecard | Principle | Rating | |-----------|--------| | Purpose | Strong/Needs Work/Weak | | Brevity | Strong/Needs Work/Weak | | Danger Words | Strong/Needs Work/Weak | | Openings | Strong/Needs Work/Weak | | Originality | Strong/Needs Work/Weak | | Engagement | Strong/Needs Work/Weak | | Truth | Strong/Needs Work/Weak | | Titles | Strong/Needs Work/Weak | ``` ## Review Guidelines - Be direct and specific. Quote the text, don't paraphrase. - Rewrites should demonstrate the principle, not just fix grammar. - If a principle doesn't apply (e.g., no title exists), note "N/A" and skip. - Prioritize the fixes that would most transform the piece. - Don't pad praise. If something is weak, say so plainly.
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