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stop-slop

stop-slop

github.com/brycewang-stanfordCreative & media4.8k53 installsUpdated 3d ago
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About stop-slop

Stop Slop is a set of writing rules and checks for reducing predictable AI prose patterns, aimed at writers and editors. It focuses on removing filler, using specific active language, varying rhythm, and evaluating drafts against defined criteria.

Key features

  1. 01Cut filler and adverbs
  2. 02Avoid formulaic structures
  3. 03Favor active, specific language
  4. 04Check rhythm and paragraph structure
  5. 05Score drafts across writing criteria

Use cases

  1. 01Edit AI drafts to remove clichés
  2. 02Review prose for passive voice
  3. 03Vary sentence rhythm and paragraph endings

Install

Copy the command and run it in a terminal.

$npx skills add https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/auto-empirical-research-skills --skill stop-slop

After installing, type/stop-slopin Claude Code to confirm it loaded.

Bundled files

References and scripts installed along with SKILL.md.

CHANGELOG.md
LICENSE
README-original.md
references/
examples.md
phrases.md
structures.md

Details

From the project README

Stop Slop

Eliminate predictable AI writing patterns from prose.

Core Rules

  1. Cut filler phrases. Remove throat-clearing openers, emphasis crutches, and all adverbs. See references/phrases.md.

  2. Break formulaic structures. Avoid binary contrasts, negative listings, dramatic fragmentation, rhetorical setups, false agency. See references/structures.md.

  3. Use active voice. Every sentence needs a human subject doing something. No passive constructions. No inanimate objects performing human actions ("the complaint becomes a fix").

  4. Be specific. No vague declaratives ("The reasons are structural"). Name the specific thing. No lazy extremes ("every," "always," "never") doing vague work.

  5. Put the reader in the room. No narrator-from-a-distance voice. "You" beats "People." Specifics beat abstractions.

  6. Vary rhythm. Mix sentence lengths. Two items beat three. End paragraphs differently. No em dashes.

  7. Trust readers. State facts directly. Skip softening, justification, hand-holding.

  8. Cut quotables. If it sounds like a pull-quote, rewrite it.

Quick Checks

Before delivering prose:

  • Any adverbs? Kill them.
  • Any passive voice? Find the actor, make them the subject.
  • Inanimate thing doing a human verb ("the decision emerges")? Name the person.
  • Sentence starts with a Wh- word? Restructure it.
  • Any "here's what/this/that" throat-clearing? Cut to the point.
  • Any "not X, it's Y" contrasts? State Y directly.
  • Three consecutive sentences match length? Break one.
  • Paragraph ends with punchy one-liner? Vary it.
  • Em-dash anywhere? Remove it.
  • Vague declarative ("The implications are significant")? Name the specific implication.
  • Narrator-from-a-distance ("Nobody designed this")? Put the reader in the scene.
  • Meta-joiners ("The rest of this essay...")? Delete. Let the essay move.

Scoring

Rate 1-10 on each dimension:

DimensionQuestion
DirectnessStatements or announcements?
RhythmVaried or metronomic?
TrustRespects reader intelligence?
AuthenticitySounds human?
DensityAnything cuttable?

Below 35/50: revise.

Examples

See references/examples.md for before/after transformations.

License

MIT

Comments

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