jlevy/practical-prose/pprose-de-slop

Remove AI-Writing Tells

This is a focused apply skill: it edits prose to remove documented LLM-register tells without installing a different authorial voice. It may modify the target document.

Before acting, read the bundled ai-prose-corrections.md in full. The reference is part of this skill; the pprose CLI is not required.

In the edit ladder this skill sits between pprose-common-edit (the universal structure-and-formatting tier) and pprose-copy-edit; both pprose-copy-edit and pprose-full-edit include this audit. Apply de-slop wherever prose is drafted or edited, not only on request; load the reference’s Drafting Directives while writing new text. Reserve the broader tiers for when a fuller edit is wanted.

This skill improves prose quality. It does not promise detector evasion, hide authorship, or manufacture signs of human composition.

Inputs

• One or more prose documents or clearly identified passages.
• Optional audience, genre, voice sample, and tolerance for heavier rewriting.

Steps

1. Read references/ai-prose-corrections.md completely before editing.
2. Read the full target and identify its purpose, audience, genre, intended voice, and

local authoring rules.

1. Audit in two passes:

• Find lexical and structural patterns the reference marks for correction.
• Inspect attention flags for repetition or density; do not treat them as banned

words or constructions.

1. Rewrite confirmed tells by naming the actor, claim, relationship, mechanism,

quantity, or consequence the original obscured.

1. Preserve factual meaning, claim strength, citations, technical terms, and useful

structure. Keep intentional rhetoric when it passes the reference’s licensing test or a genre convention requires it.

1. Do not mechanically swap synonyms or add typos, slang, contractions, anecdotes,

quirks, or unevenness to simulate a person. Do not make claims about detector scores or detector evasion.

1. Follow the target project’s formatting and validation rules.

If the target is Markdown, run its configured formatter when one exists.

1. Re-read the result and diff for changed meaning, flattened voice, new repetition,

unsupported specificity, or awkward rhythm.

Output

Report the changed files or passages, the main tell classes corrected, and any flagged construction retained because it carried information or fit the genre.

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