base_writing skill

Overview

This skill is a meta-level writing standard that defines global guidelines and review criteria for all document-writing skills. It captures expert writing habits and enforces structure, clarity, and reviewer-friendly presentation to improve usability and review outcomes. All concrete writing skills should inherit and apply these rules to ensure consistency and evaluability.

How this skill works

The skill inspects document, section, and paragraph structure and enforces a mandatory 'overview–detail–summary' (total—parts—total) pattern. It requires a short logical-framework summary at each chapter start, prefers front-loaded conclusions with evidence, and scores content against a rubric for structure, argument closure, and consistency. Writers and reviewers apply the rules simultaneously so output is both generative and evaluative.

When to use it

• Creating proposals, applications, or any persuasive technical document intended for external reviewers.
• Designing templates or authoring modules for other writing skills to inherit consistent rules.
• Reviewing drafts to check structure, argument completeness, and reviewer readability.
• Consolidating expert feedback into reusable writing rules across teams.
• Refining long documents where clarity, traceability, and measurable claims are required.

Best practices

• Start each section and paragraph with a 1–2 sentence summary of the main point, end with a one-line takeaway.
• Provide a brief logic-frame or flow description at the start of every chapter so readers grasp structure without details.
• Put key conclusions, methods, and contributions up front; limit background to concise context.
• Use lists and parallel items for complex information; quantify claims and define metrics where possible.
• Ensure consistent terminology and define important concepts on first use.
• For every major claim, answer Why → What → How → So What with evidence or measurable criteria.

Example use cases

• Writing a grant or project proposal where reviewers must quickly locate feasibility and impact evidence.
• Authoring a technical report that must present methods, results, and validation in a compact, testable form.
• Building a domain-specific writing skill that inherits global structure and rubric requirements.
• Reviewing a draft to convert long narrative sections into structured, reviewer-friendly subsections.
• Creating document templates that enforce chapter-level logic summaries and evaluation checkpoints.

FAQ