writing-voicelisted

# Writing Voice **Core principle**: Write for the ear, not just the eyes. Prose should be suitable to read out loud. ## The Test Read it out loud. If it: - Sounds like a press release → rewrite - Sounds like a corporate memo → rewrite - Sounds stilted or unnatural → rewrite - Sounds like you explaining to a colleague → ship it ## AI Dead Giveaways Patterns that scream "AI wrote this": - **Bold formatting everywhere**: Never bold section headers in body content - **Bullet list everything**: Convert to flowing paragraphs when possible - **Marketing words**: "game-changing", "revolutionary", "unleash", "empower" - **Structured sections**: "Key Features:", "Benefits:", "Why This Matters:" - **Vague superlatives**: "incredibly powerful", "seamlessly integrates" - **Dramatic hyperbole**: "feels like an eternity", "pain point", "excruciating" — use facts instead - **AI adjectives**: "perfectly", "effortlessly", "beautifully" - **Space-hyphen-space**: "The code works - the tests pass" - **Overusing fragments**: "Every. Single. Time." (once is emphasis, twice is a pattern) - **Staccato buildup**: Setup. Fragment. Fragment. Fragment. Punchline. This "dramatic reveal" pattern feels manufactured. Combine into one flowing sentence with em dashes or semicolons instead. - **Forced specificity**: Random numbers that don't add meaning ## Punctuation Never use " - " (space-hyphen-space) or " — " (space-em-dash-space). Prefer simpler punctuation: | Prefer | When