# orwells-rules

This skill edits drafts using Orwell’s six writing rules, trimming clichés and excess words while favoring active voice. Use it to revise prose written by you or an agent.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · ★ 53
- Author: surendranb
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/surendranb/writing-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/orwells-rules/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-09-02
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/orwells-rules

## What it does

orwells-rules guides an agent through a plain-language edit: replace worn-out figures of speech with direct wording, choose short words where they work, remove padding, and put the actor before the action. It also flags jargon. The rules are not absolute; clarity and natural phrasing take priority when a rigid edit would make a sentence awkward or incorrect.

The skill’s workflow starts by pinning down the intended thought, then moves through concrete imagery, cuts, active voice, and a final checklist. It requires a standard Markdown parser and agent context. Those are prerequisites, so an environment without them does not meet the stated requirements.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add surendranb/writing-skills --skill orwells-rules -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/orwells-rules/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/orwells-rules/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add surendranb/writing-skills --skill orwells-rules -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/orwells-rules/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add surendranb/writing-skills --skill orwells-rules -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/orwells-rules/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install surendranb/writing-skills orwells-rules
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/orwells-rules/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add surendranb/writing-skills --skill orwells-rules -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/surendranb/writing-skills --path skills/orwells-rules
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/orwells-rules/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add surendranb/writing-skills --skill orwells-rules -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/surendranb/writing-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/orwells-rules/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- remove tired metaphors from a draft
- swap long words for plain alternatives
- rewrite passive sentences with named actors
- cut padding and jargon from prose

## Example prompts
- Edit this draft using Orwell’s rules; remove clichés and unnecessary words.
- Rewrite this paragraph in active voice and use plainer words.
- Check this text against Orwell’s rules, keeping the phrasing natural.

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: cea1881d5e634882.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE cea1881d5e634882
```text
---
name: orwells-rules
description: Apply George Orwell's 6 rules for clear, honest, and unpretentious writing from "Politics and the English Language" (1946). Use when the user asks for Orwell's rules, George Orwell style, cutting dead metaphors and clichés, eliminating jargon and Latinate words, converting passive to active voice, or ruthless cutting of verbal false limbs to clarify thought.
compatibility: Requires standard Markdown parser and agent context
---

# Orwell's Rules for Writing

Clarity over pretension, truth over ornament. Never let ready-made phrases think for you.

## The core rule

**Choose words for exact meaning and fresh imagery: cut stale metaphors, replace long Latinate words with short Saxon terms, strip every useless syllable, use active voice, and break any rule sooner than write barbarous prose.**

Workflow: `decide the exact thought` → `visualize concrete images` → `prune verbal false limbs and clichés` → `convert passive to active` → `run the Verify checklist`.

## Mechanics

1. **Ban dead metaphors.** Never use a metaphor, simile, or figure of speech you are used to seeing in print (e.g., *ring the changes*, *Achilles' heel*, *swan song*, *hotbed*, *stand shoulder to shoulder*, *toe the line*, *play into the hands of*, *no stone unturned*, *silver lining*). Use fresh, visual images or plain statements.
2. **Short Saxon words over long Latinates.** Never use a long word where a short one will do. Replace Latinate and polysyllabic terms with plain English (e.g., *help* not *facilitate*, *end* not *terminate*, *show* not *demonstrate*, *start* not *commence*, *try* not *endeavor*, *use* not *utilize*).
3. **Ruthless word-cutting (prune verbal false limbs).** If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. Strip operator phrases that eliminate simple verbs (e.g., *render inoperative* → *break*, *make contact with* → *meet/call*, *give rise to* → *cause*, *have the effect of* → *do*, *in view of the fact that* → *because*).
4. **Active voice by default.** Never use the passive where you can use the active. Put the actor before the action ("The committee approved the budget" not "The budget was approved by the committee"). Eliminate bureaucratic evasions ("mistakes were made").
5. **Everyday English over foreign phrases and jargon.** Never use a foreign phrase, scientific word, or jargon if you can think of an everyday English equivalent (e.g., *status quo* → *current state*, *vis-à-vis* → *compared to*, *ad hoc* → *special/unplanned*, *synergy* → *cooperation*, *methodology* → *method*).
6. **The barbarism override (Rule 6).** Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. Clarity, honesty, and natural rhythm always override dogma.

## Verify

- Zero dead metaphors or prefabricated clichés from the ban list
- Long and Latinate words replaced with short Saxon equivalents
- Verbal false limbs pruned (no "render inoperative", "give rise to", "with regard to")
- Passive voice under 10% of total sentences; actors explicitly named
- Zero unneeded foreign phrases (*status quo*, *vis-à-vis*, *ad hoc*) or buzzwords
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE cea1881d5e634882

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the cea1881d5e634882 tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

First 3152 of 4315 bytes. © surendranb · MIT · https://github.com/surendranb/writing-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/orwells-rules/SKILL.md

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