- name
- prose-polish
- description
- Evaluate and elevate writing effectiveness through multi-dimensional quality assessment. Analyzes craft, coherence, authority, purpose, and voice with genre-calibrated thresholds. Use for refining drafts, diagnosing quality issues, generating quality content, or teaching writing principles.
Prose Polish v2
Evaluate and elevate writing effectiveness through multi-dimensional quality assessment. Goal is not "less AI-like" but genuinely better writing—coherent, credible, purposeful, and distinctive.
Philosophy
Writing Effectiveness = f(Text, Author, Audience, Context, Genre)
We optimize for quality, not undetectability. These often correlate, but the distinction matters:
- Bad goal: "Make this not sound like AI"
- Good goal: "Make this effective writing"
Quick Start
Analysis: Detect genre → Load detection-patterns.md → Apply 6-dimension evaluation → Generate quality profile
Elevation: Analyze → Load remediation-strategies.md → Phase 1 (Structure) → Phase 2 (Style) → Explain changes
Prevention: Load prevention-prompts.md → Build genre-calibrated constraints → Generate → Self-verify
Core Capabilities
1. Detection & Analysis
When: User asks to "analyze," "evaluate," "check," or "score" text
Process:
- Detect Genre (before scoring)
- Technical | Business | Academic | Creative | Personal | Journalistic - Apply genre-appropriate thresholds
- Load
references/detection-patterns.md
- Perform 6-Dimension Analysis:
- Craft (0-100): Lexical patterns, structural variance, rhetorical execution - Coherence (0-100): Logical flow, functional specificity, earned transitions - Authority (0-100): Earned vs delegated vs false expertise signals - Purpose (0-100): Clear intent, stakes, audience calibration - Voice (0-100): Distinctiveness, embodiment, appropriate register - Effectiveness (0-100): Genre-weighted synthesis
- Generate Quality Profile
Report Format:
WRITING EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS
Genre: [Detected] | Calibration: [Applied]
QUALITY PROFILE:
Craft: ████████░░ 80 - [Brief interpretation]
Coherence: ██████░░░░ 60 - [Brief interpretation]
Authority: █████░░░░░ 50 - [Brief interpretation]
Purpose: ███████░░░ 70 - [Brief interpretation]
Voice: █████████░ 90 - [Brief interpretation]
Effectiveness: ███████░░░ 70 - [Genre-weighted average]
KEY INSIGHT: [Diagnostic based on dimension gaps]
Example: "High craft but low authority = generic specificity problem"
DETAILED ANALYSIS:
CRAFT ISSUES:
- Lexical: [specific patterns, with genre context]
- Structural: [sentence variance, paragraph patterns]
- Rhetorical: [commitment level, specificity quality]
COHERENCE ISSUES:
- Logical flow: [do ideas connect across paragraphs?]
- Specificity function: [relevant vs decorative details]
- Transition authenticity: [earned vs mechanical]
AUTHORITY ISSUES:
- Type: [Earned / Delegated / False / Mixed]
- Expertise signals: [insider knowledge present/absent]
- Stakes: [skin in the game visible?]
PURPOSE ISSUES:
- Intent clarity: [what is this FOR?]
- Audience calibration: [appropriate for reader?]
- Stakes: [why should reader care?]
VOICE ISSUES:
- Distinctiveness: [recognizable author?]
- Embodiment: [feels like a person?]
- Register: [appropriate for genre?]
TOP 5 PRIORITY IMPROVEMENTS:
1. [Most impactful, actionable fix]
2. [...]
3. [...]
4. [...]
5. [...]Scoring Philosophy:
- Be ruthless in scoring. Avoid grade inflation.
- Dimension gaps are diagnostic (high craft + low coherence = decorative writing)
- Genre calibration prevents false positives on appropriate conventions
2. Elevation & Remediation
When: User asks to "improve," "fix," "elevate," or "rewrite" text
Process:
- Perform quick 6-dimension analysis
- Load
references/remediation-strategies.md - Apply Two-Phase Remediation:
Phase 1: Structural (The Editor) Focus on logic and authority before touching style.
- Coherence Pass:
- Check: Does logic flow across paragraphs? - Check: Is every detail doing work? - Fix: Remove decorative specificity - Fix: Repair logical gaps - Fix: Ensure transitions are earned
- Authority Pass:
- Check: Is authority earned or delegated? - Fix: Replace institutional voice with speaker - Fix: Add demonstrated expertise signals - Fix: Introduce appropriate stakes/vulnerability
Phase 2: Stylistic (The Writer) Now refine rhythm, commitment, and voice.
- Rhythm Pass:
- Sentence variance per genre threshold - Structural breaks appropriate to genre - Information density variance (avoid uniform medium-density)
- Commitment Pass:
- Remove cowardly hedges (opinion avoidance) - Preserve protective hedges (epistemic honesty) - Add functional specificity - Make claims with stakes
- Voice Pass:
- Add embodiment markers - Inject appropriate personality (avoid "LinkedIn Influencer" overcorrection) - Risk-taking calibrated to genre
Output:
ELEVATED VERSION:
[Rewritten text]
PHASE 1 CHANGES (Structure):
- Coherence: [What logical issues were fixed]
- Authority: [How expertise was demonstrated]
PHASE 2 CHANGES (Style):
- Rhythm: [Sentence variation details]
- Commitment: [Hedge removal, specificity additions]
- Voice: [Personality calibration]
BEFORE/AFTER EXAMPLES:
[3-5 transformations with principles explained]Depth Control (Aggressiveness Levels):
Users can control the extent of remediation:
| Level | What It Does | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | Phase 1 only (Coherence + Authority) | Preserve voice, fix logic only |
| Moderate | Both phases, light Phase 2 | Balance improvement with original tone |
| Aggressive | Both phases, full transformation | Complete rewrite for maximum quality |
How to request:
- "Fix the logic but keep my voice" → Conservative
- "Improve this while keeping the general tone" → Moderate
- "Rewrite this for maximum effectiveness" → Aggressive
Default: Moderate (both phases, respects original intent)
3. Prevention & Generation
When: User asks to "write" or "generate" with quality emphasis
Process:
- Identify genre and audience
- Load
references/prevention-prompts.md - Construct genre-calibrated constraints
- Generate with quality dimensions in mind
- Self-verify against 6-dimension framework
- Refine if any dimension scores below threshold
4. Training & Teaching
When: User wants to learn quality evaluation
Process:
- Load appropriate reference files
- Explain the 6 dimensions and why they matter
- Show examples of dimension gaps (high X, low Y)
- Demonstrate genre calibration effects
- Practice exercises with real text
Genre Calibration
Detect genre before scoring. Apply appropriate thresholds:
| Genre | Sentence Variance | Hedge Tolerance | Passive Voice | Template OK | Voice Expectation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Technical | 5+ StdDev | Higher (precision) | Higher | Expected | Neutral authority |
| Business | 6+ StdDev | Standard | Lower | Structure OK | Professional human |
| Academic | 6+ StdDev | Higher (epistemic) | Moderate | If fresh content | Measured expertise |
| Creative | 8+ StdDev | Low | Low | = Failure | Distinctive required |
| Personal | 8+ StdDev | Low | Low | Must be organic | Strongly embodied |
| Journalistic | 7+ StdDev | Standard | Low | Lead structure OK | Clear but present |
Genre-Specific Signals
Technical Documentation:
- Allow: "certain," "particular," "specific" (precision, not hedging)
- Allow: Consistent sentence length (clarity, not robotic)
- Require: Explains WHY not just HOW
- Authority: Demonstrated through insider terminology and tradeoff awareness
Business Writing:
- Require: Friction acknowledgment (what challenges exist?)
- Require: Clear ownership and next steps
- Watch: Institutional hiding ("it is recommended" vs "I recommend")
- Authority: Numbers with interpretation, not just data dumps
Academic Writing:
- Require: Synthesis over summarization
- Require: Clear contribution statement
- Allow: "It appears that" as epistemic honesty
- Authority: Citation genealogy, not just name-dropping
Creative/Narrative:
- Require: Surprise, sensory embodiment
- Require: Specificity that reveals character, not decorates
- Watch: Generic emotional beats ("hollow ache" without texture)
- Authority: Earned through embodied experience
Dimension Deep Dives
Coherence (NEW in v2)
What it catches: Decorative specificity, logic gaps, non-sequiturs
Red Flags:
- Details that don't advance understanding
- Causal claims that don't hold ("teaching calculus → cracked hands")
- Transitions that connect syntactically but not semantically
- Specificity that signals "human-ness" rather than builds meaning
Questions to Ask:
- If I remove transitions, do ideas still connect?
- Could I swap paragraphs without changing meaning? (Bad if yes)
- Is every specific detail doing work?
- Would a hostile reader find logical gaps?
Authority (NEW in v2)
What it catches: Performed expertise vs demonstrated expertise
Authority Types:
- Earned: Insider details, vulnerability, consequences for being wrong
- Delegated: Citations without synthesis, institutional voice, numbers without interpretation
- False: Stereotypes as expertise, generic specificity, authority cosplay
Note: We measure *signaling*, not *truth*. An LLM cannot verify facts—it can only assess whether authority markers are present. Be honest about this limitation.
Hedge Classification (NEW in v2)
Not all hedges are bad. Classify before penalizing:
Cowardly Hedges (PENALIZE):
- Avoiding opinion: "Some might say," "It could be argued"
- Diluting claims: "somewhat," "fairly," "rather"
- Escape hatches: "in a sense," "in many ways"
Protective Hedges (PRESERVE):
- Epistemic honesty: "The evidence suggests," "Current research indicates"
- Appropriate uncertainty: "appears to," "likely"
- Precision: "certain," "particular," "specific"
Quality Standards
Every output should pass:
Coherence Test: Do ideas connect logically across the piece? Authority Test: Is expertise demonstrated, not just claimed? Purpose Test: Is it clear what this writing is FOR? Voice Test: Would you recognize this author again? Embodiment Test: Does it feel like a person with experiences? Surprise Test: Is there at least one unexpected element?
Effectiveness Calculation
Genre-weighted average:
| Genre | Craft | Coherence | Authority | Purpose | Voice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Technical | 25% | 30% | 20% | 15% | 10% |
| Business | 20% | 25% | 25% | 20% | 10% |
| Academic | 20% | 30% | 20% | 15% | 15% |
| Creative | 15% | 20% | 10% | 15% | 40% |
| Personal | 15% | 20% | 20% | 15% | 30% |
Reference Files
When to Load:
- detection-patterns.md: Always for analysis (includes coherence patterns, authority signals, hedge classification)
- remediation-strategies.md: Always for elevation (two-phase framework)
- prevention-prompts.md: Always for generation (genre-calibrated constraints)
- ai-vocabulary.md: When checking specific banned words
Critical Principles
- Effectiveness Over Detection: Goal is quality writing, not fooling detectors.
- Genre Calibration Is Non-Negotiable: Technical docs and creative fiction have different rules.
- Dimension Gaps Are Diagnostic: High craft + low coherence = decorative writing. High voice + low authority = personality without substance.
- Coherence Before Surface: Fix logic before fixing rhythm. A polished fallacy is still a fallacy.
- Authority Is Signaling: We measure expertise markers, not truth. Be honest about this.
- Hedges Need Classification: Epistemic honesty is not weakness. Only penalize opinion-avoidance.
- Avoid Overcorrection: "LinkedIn Influencer" mode is not the goal. Calibrate voice to genre.
- Radical Simplicity Has Value: Sometimes effectiveness means removing signals, not adding them.
Examples
Analysis Example
Input: Business quarterly report with strong metrics but institutional voice
Output:
WRITING EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS
Genre: Business | Calibration: Applied
QUALITY PROFILE:
Craft: ████████░░ 78 - Clean structure, precise numbers
Coherence: ████████░░ 85 - Logical flow, functional data
Authority: █████████░ 88 - Genuine SaaS expertise visible
Purpose: ███████░░░ 75 - Clear reporting, muted stakes
Voice: ██████░░░░ 62 - Institutional, could be any company
Effectiveness: ████████░░ 82 - Strong business communication
KEY INSIGHT: High authority through insider metrics (NRR, churn analysis)
compensates for institutional voice. Genre-appropriate execution.
DETAILED ANALYSIS:
...Elevation Example (Two-Phase)
Phase 1 Output:
STRUCTURAL FIXES:
- Coherence: Moved security section before feature description (foundations first)
- Authority: Replaced "best practices recommend" with specific tradeoff analysisPhase 2 Output:
STYLISTIC FIXES:
- Rhythm: Added 5-word punch after long explanation
- Commitment: Removed "somewhat" and "fairly" (cowardly hedges)
- Voice: Added one moment of personality without overdoing itSuccess Metrics
Objective:
- Coherence score improvement when logic is fixed
- Authority score reflects genuine expertise presence
- No false positives on genre-appropriate conventions
- Dimension gaps correctly diagnose quality issues
Subjective:
- Text reads as effective for its purpose
- Domain experts recognize authentic expertise
- Genre conventions respected, not penalized
- User understands WHY changes improve quality
Notes
- This skill evaluates effectiveness, not truth
- Genre detection happens BEFORE scoring
- Two-phase remediation: structure first, style second
- Hedge classification: epistemic honesty is not weakness
- Avoid overcorrection: "more voice" can become cringe
- Radical simplicity sometimes wins over complexity