Edit Style

Apply style improvements directly to a manuscript file.

Usage

/edit-style manuscript/front-matter/01-introduction.md

What It Does

Unlike /review-chapter which reports issues, this command makes edits:

1. Read the file
2. Identify style issues:
   • Passive voice constructions
   • Weak hedging words ("perhaps", "might", "it seems")
   • Unnecessary adverbs
   • Vague quantifiers ("many", "significant", "various")
3. Apply fixes using Edit tool
4. Report changes made

Style Rules Applied

Passive → Active

• "was calculated by" → "[subject] calculated"
• "has been shown to" → "shows"

Remove Hedging

• "It should be noted that X" → "X"
• "It is worth considering that" → [delete]
• "perhaps" → [delete or strengthen]

Remove Weak Adverbs

• "very important" → "important" or [stronger word]
• "really significant" → [quantify instead]
• "quite impressive" → [what specifically?]

Quantify

• "significant increase" → "[X%] increase"
• "many people" → "[N] people"
• Flag if number not available: [TODO: quantify]

Output

## Style Edits Applied: [filename]

### Changes Made
1. Line X: "was estimated by CBO" → "CBO estimated"
2. Line Y: "It should be noted that..." → [removed]
3. Line Z: "significantly reduced" → "reduced by [TODO: quantify]"

### Summary
- X passive→active conversions
- Y hedging phrases removed
- Z adverbs removed
- W items flagged for quantification

### Manual Review Needed
- Line A: Complex sentence, multiple possible rewrites
- Line B: "significant" - author should provide number

Arguments

$ARGUMENTS - Path to file to edit (required)

Caution

This makes direct edits. The file should be committed before running so changes can be reviewed/reverted via git.