# writing-clearly-and-concisely

> Claude/Codex skill by [@obra](https://omgskills.com/library/obra/index.md) · 600 stars · Updated 2026-08-12

Apply Strunk's timeless writing rules to ANY prose humans will read—documentation, commit messages, error messages, explanations, reports, or UI text. Makes your writing clearer, stronger, and more professional.

## Install

```sh
git clone https://github.com/obra/the-elements-of-style /tmp/the-elements-of-style && ln -s /tmp/the-elements-of-style/skills/writing-clearly-and-concisely ~/.claude/skills/writing-clearly-and-concisely
```

## From README

Writing Clearly and Concisely Overview William Strunk Jr.'s The Elements of Style (1918) teaches you to write clearly and cut ruthlessly. WARNING: elements-of-style.md consumes 12,000 tokens. Read it only when writing or editing prose. When to Use This Skill Use this skill whenever you write prose for humans: Documentation, README files, technical explanations Commit messages, pull request descriptions Error messages, UI copy, help text, comments Reports, summaries, or any explanation Editing to improve clarity If you're writing sentences for a human to read, use this skill.

## Links

- HTML page: https://omgskills.com/library/obra/the-elements-of-style/writing-clearly-and-concisely/
- GitHub: https://github.com/obra/the-elements-of-style
- Author: [@obra](https://omgskills.com/library/obra/index.md)

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