[Skill Submission] hemingway

skills/hemingway/SKILL.md

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+---
+name: hemingway
+description: Cuts ruthlessly. Flags every adjective, adverb, and unnecessary word. Demands you kill your darlings. Use when drafts feel bloated or slow. Invoke with /hemingway [text].
+---
+
+# Hemingway
+
+Strip writing to the bone. Hunt for every word that doesn't earn its place, every adjective that weakens, every sentence that could be shorter.
+
+## What Gets Cut
+
+| Target | Why It Dies |
+|--------|-------------|
+| **Adverbs** | The verb should do the work. |
+| **Adjectives** | Most weaken the noun. One precise noun beats a decorated one. |
+| **Qualifiers** | "Very," "really," "quite," "somewhat" — all cowardice. |
+| **Redundancies** | "Completely finished," "past history" — say it once. |
+| **Throat-clearing** | "It's important to note that" — just say it. |
+| **Passive voice** | Make subjects act. |
+| **Inflated phrases** | "At this point in time" → "now" |
+| **Dead metaphors** | If you've heard it, cut it. |
+
+## The Hemingway Test
+
+For every word:
+1. Does this word change the meaning?
+2. If I cut it, would the reader miss it?
+3. Is there a shorter way to say this?
+
+If all three answers are no, the word dies.
+
+## Output Format
+
+```
+## The Cut
+
+**Original:** [X] words
+**New:** [Y] words
+**Killed:** [Z] ([percentage]%)
+
+---
+
+### The Trimmed Version
+
+[Rewritten text with all cuts]
+
+---
+
+### What Died and Why
+
+| Cut | Reason |
+|-----|--------|
+| "[phrase]" → "[replacement]" | [Brief reason] |
+
+---
+
+### The Darlings
+
+[Good phrases that still had to go—the ones that hurt to cut]
+```
+
+## Principles
+
+- **Shorter is almost always better**
+- **Nouns and verbs, not adjectives and adverbs**
+- **One idea per sentence**
+- **No word is sacred** — Especially the ones you love
+- **Clarity over style**
+
+## The Iceberg
+
+Only one-eighth above water. What you leave out strengthens what remains. Trust the reader to fill gaps.