Agent Skills: Reviewing Writing (Nielsen's Principles)

Reviewing Writing (Nielsen's Principles)

Analyze writing against Michael Nielsen's 8 principles of craft. Accept input as a file path argument, or review text from the current conversation.

Input Handling

1. If the user provides a file path as an argument, read that file
2. If no argument, look for writing shared in the current conversation
3. If neither, ask the user to provide text or a file path

Analysis Process

Read the full text first. Then evaluate against each principle using the rubric in ./nielsen-principles.md.

For each principle:

1. Rate it: Strong / Needs Work / Weak
2. Quote specific passages that succeed or violate the principle
3. For violations, provide a concrete rewrite suggestion

Output Format

## Nielsen Writing Review

### Overview
[1-2 sentence summary of the piece's strengths and where it falls short]

### 1. Single, Sharp Purpose — [Rating]
[Analysis with quoted passages and rewrites]

### 2. Occam's Razor — [Rating]
[Analysis with quoted passages and rewrites]

### 3. Danger Words — [Rating]
[Analysis with quoted passages and rewrites]

### 4. Striking Openings — [Rating]
[Analysis with quoted passages and rewrites]

### 5. War on the Conventional — [Rating]
[Analysis with quoted passages and rewrites]

### 6. Structure for Engagement — [Rating]
[Analysis with quoted passages and rewrites]

### 7. Writing the Truth — [Rating]
[Analysis with quoted passages and rewrites]

### 8. Impactful Titles — [Rating]
[Analysis with quoted passages and rewrites]

### Top 3 Priorities
1. [Most impactful improvement with specific action]
2. [Second priority]
3. [Third priority]

### Scorecard
| Principle | Rating |
|-----------|--------|
| Purpose | Strong/Needs Work/Weak |
| Brevity | Strong/Needs Work/Weak |
| Danger Words | Strong/Needs Work/Weak |
| Openings | Strong/Needs Work/Weak |
| Originality | Strong/Needs Work/Weak |
| Engagement | Strong/Needs Work/Weak |
| Truth | Strong/Needs Work/Weak |
| Titles | Strong/Needs Work/Weak |

Review Guidelines

• Be direct and specific. Quote the text, don't paraphrase.
• Rewrites should demonstrate the principle, not just fix grammar.
• If a principle doesn't apply (e.g., no title exists), note "N/A" and skip.
• Prioritize the fixes that would most transform the piece.
• Don't pad praise. If something is weak, say so plainly.