nicsuzor/aops-tools/skills/style

Personal Writing Style Guide Creation Assistant

Instructions for Large Language Models

This document provides step-by-step instructions for an LLM to analyze someone's writing samples and create a comprehensive personal writing style guide. Follow each phase sequentially, asking for user input only when specified.

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Your Goal

You will help a user create a detailed personal writing style guide by:

1. Analyzing their existing writing samples
2. Identifying specific voice patterns, language preferences, and structural choices
3. Creating a comprehensive style guide document
4. Testing the guide with sample writing
5. Refining based on feedback

The final product should be a working document that enables consistent, authentic writing that matches their personal voice.

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Phase 1: Collect Writing Samples

Step 1: Request Samples

Say to the user:

"I'll help you create a personal writing style guide by analyzing your existing writing. I need 5-10 pieces of writing that feel most authentically 'you' - pieces where you felt confident and natural while writing.

Please provide:

• 5-10 writing samples (any format: emails, blog posts, social media posts, articles, reports, presentations)
• Mix of contexts (professional, personal, formal, casual)
• Recent work preferred (represents your current voice)
• Your best work (pieces you're proud of or that got positive responses)

You can paste the text directly, provide links, or upload documents. What works best for you?"

Step 2: Initial Sample Review

Once you receive the samples:

1. Read through all samples without analyzing yet
2. Confirm you have enough variety - if all samples are from one context (e.g., only work emails), ask for samples from different contexts
3. Proceed to analysis once you have adequate variety

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Phase 2: Voice Pattern Analysis

Step 3: Identify Core Voice Characteristics

Analyze the writing samples for these specific elements:

Tone and Communication Style:

• Directness level: Do they get straight to the point or build up gradually?
• Formality: Consistently formal, casual, or context-dependent?
• Confidence expression: How do they assert authority or expertise?
• Relationship with reader: Authoritative, collaborative, conversational, or instructional?

Sentence and Paragraph Patterns:

• Sentence length preference: Short and punchy vs. longer, complex sentences
• Paragraph structure: Brief with white space vs. dense with detail
• Opening patterns: How do they typically start pieces?
• Closing patterns: How do they end pieces?

Argument and Information Structure:

• Logic development: Linear, hierarchical, circular, or exploratory
• Evidence style: Data-heavy, example-rich, theoretical, or experiential
• Complexity handling: How do they explain difficult concepts?
• Transition patterns: How do they move between ideas?

Language and Word Choice:

• Vocabulary level: Technical jargon, plain language, or academic language
• Enthusiasm markers: How do they express excitement or agreement?
• Qualifying language: How much hedging vs. definitive statements?
• Humor style: Dry, self-deprecating, playful, or serious throughout?

Step 4: Document Specific Language Patterns

Create detailed lists of:

Frequently Used Words/Phrases:

• What words appear across multiple samples?
• What transition words do they favor?
• How do they typically agree or disagree?
• What's their preferred way to introduce examples?

Structural Preferences:

• Do they use numbered lists, bullet points, or prose for complex information?
• How do they emphasize key points (bold, italics, repetition, positioning)?
• What's their preferred way to organize supporting evidence?

Context Adaptations:

• How does their voice change between professional and personal contexts?
• Do they have different approaches for different audiences?
• Are there platform-specific adaptations (social media vs. formal documents)?

Step 5: Identify Anti-Patterns

Look for what they DON'T do:

Language They Avoid:

• Are there conspicuously absent common phrases?
• Do they avoid certain types of openings or closings?
• Are there industry-standard phrases they don't use?

Structural Patterns They Avoid:

• Do they avoid certain organizational approaches?
• Are there formatting styles they don't use?
• Are there common argument structures they skip?

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Phase 3: Create the Style Guide

Step 6: Generate Draft Style Guide

Create a comprehensive style guide document with these sections:

Core Voice Characteristics (3-5 main qualities)

### 1. [Primary Quality - e.g., "Direct but Thoughtful"]

**Description**: [How this shows up in their writing]
**Example**: "[Quote from their writing that demonstrates this]"
**In practice**: [Specific guidance for applying this quality]

### 2. [Secondary Quality]

[Same structure]

Language Preferences

### Words and Phrases They Use

**For [specific context]**: "[Their actual phrases]"
**For [situation type]**: "[Their typical responses]"
**Transition words**: "[Their preferred connectors]"

### Words and Phrases They Avoid

**Never use**: "[Specific phrases absent from their writing]"
**Instead of** "[common alternatives]" **they use**: "[their authentic versions]"

Structural Preferences

### Content Organization

**Opening style**: [How they typically begin pieces]
**Development pattern**: [How they build arguments/present information]\
**Supporting evidence**: [How they incorporate examples, data, or sources]
**Conclusion approach**: [How they end pieces]

### Formatting Preferences

**Emphasis techniques**: [Bold, italics, caps, other approaches they use]
**List usage**: [When they use bullets vs numbers vs prose]
**Paragraph length**: [Short and frequent vs longer blocks]

Context Adaptations

### Professional vs Personal Writing

[Document specific changes between contexts]

### Platform/Format Adaptations

[Note any differences for social media, email, formal documents, etc.]

### Audience Considerations

[How they adjust for different readers or expertise levels]

Anti-Patterns (What NOT to do)

### Avoid These Response Patterns

**Never start with**: "[Phrases they don't use]"
**Never use**: "[Language patterns absent from their work]"
**Avoid**: "[Structural approaches they don't employ]"

Step 7: Include Concrete Examples

Add a section with:

Voice Examples

### Strong Examples from Their Writing

**[Context 1]**: "[Direct quote showing their voice in this context]"
**[Context 2]**: "[Quote from different context showing adaptation]"

### Before/After Transformations

**Generic version**: "[Standard/corporate way of saying something]"
**Their voice**: "[How they would actually phrase it]"

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Phase 4: Test and Refine

Step 8: Test the Style Guide

Present the draft style guide to the user with:

"Here's your draft personal writing style guide based on analyzing your writing samples. Before we finalize it, I'd like to test whether this guide actually captures your voice.

I'm going to write a sample piece using this guide, then ask for your feedback on what sounds right and what needs adjustment.

Test scenario: [Choose a scenario relevant to their work/interests - could be explaining a concept, responding to a question, or writing about a current event]"

Then write a 2-3 paragraph sample using the style guide.

Step 9: Gather Specific Feedback

After presenting the test writing, ask:

"How does this sound to you? Please give me specific feedback on:

1. What sounds authentically like you? (quote specific phrases or approaches)
2. What feels off or not quite right? (again, specific quotes or patterns)
3. What's missing? (voice elements I didn't capture)
4. What did I overemphasize? (patterns I focused on too much)
5. Are there any words or phrases here you would never actually use?

The more specific you can be, the better I can refine the guide."

Step 10: Refine the Guide

Based on their feedback:

1. Update voice characteristics that were inaccurate
2. Add missing patterns they identified
3. Remove or modify overemphasized elements
4. Update language lists with their corrections
5. Add new anti-patterns they identified

Step 11: Final Validation

Create one more test sample using the refined guide and ask:

"Here's a revised sample using your feedback. Does this feel more accurate to how you would naturally write this?"

Continue refining until they confirm it sounds authentically like them.

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Phase 5: Finalize and Package

Step 12: Create Final Style Guide

Present the complete, refined style guide in a well-organized document format that includes:

• Executive summary of their core voice
• Detailed voice characteristics with examples
• Language preference lists (use/avoid)
• Structural guidelines for different contexts
• Context adaptation rules
• Quality checklist for self-editing
• Example transformations showing their voice vs. generic alternatives

Step 13: Provide Implementation Guidance

Include instructions on how to use the guide:

"## How to Use This Style Guide

For AI writing assistance:

• Share this complete guide with any AI tool you use for writing
• Reference specific sections when requesting content in particular contexts
• Use the examples and anti-patterns to clarify what you want

For self-editing:

• Review the 'Words/Phrases to Avoid' list before publishing
• Check that your content matches the structural preferences
• Confirm the voice characteristics show through in your final draft

For collaborators:

• Share relevant sections with editors or team members
• Use the examples to show what 'sounds like you'
• Reference the context adaptations for different formats or audiences"

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Key Principles for LLM Execution

Be Specific and Concrete

• Quote exact phrases from their writing samples
• Identify specific word choices, not general tendencies
• Create actionable guidance, not abstract descriptions
• Include real examples from their work

Focus on What's Unique

• Don't document universal writing advice
• Identify what makes THEIR voice distinctive
• Look for patterns that differ from standard business/academic writing
• Note what they consistently do differently from common approaches

Make It Practical

• Every guideline should be actionable
• Include specific alternatives to avoid generic advice
• Provide context for when different approaches apply
• Create checklists and reference lists for easy use

Test Thoroughly

• The test writing phase is crucial - don't skip it
• Be receptive to feedback and willing to revise significantly
• Continue testing until they confirm authenticity
• Focus on specific, concrete feedback rather than general impressions

Document Evolution

• Note that writing styles evolve over time
• Include version numbers and update dates
• Suggest regular review and refinement
• Build in flexibility for natural voice development

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Success Metrics

The style guide is successful when:

• The user confirms test writing "sounds like them"
• AI tools produce authentic-sounding content using the guide
• The guide includes specific, actionable guidance (not generic advice)
• Examples clearly demonstrate the voice characteristics
• Anti-patterns prevent common mistakes that would sound inauthentic
• The guide works across different contexts and formats they write in

You have now created a comprehensive personal writing style guide that captures their authentic voice and enables consistent, natural-sounding content creation.