article-writing

Article Writing

Write long-form content that sounds like an actual person with a point of view, not an LLM smoothing itself into paste.

When to Activate

• drafting blog posts, essays, launch posts, guides, tutorials, or newsletter issues
• turning notes, transcripts, or research into polished articles
• matching an existing founder, operator, or brand voice from examples
• tightening structure, pacing, and evidence in already-written long-form copy

Core Rules

1. Lead with the concrete thing: artifact, example, output, anecdote, number, screenshot, or code.
2. Explain after the example, not before.
3. Keep sentences tight unless the source voice is intentionally expansive.
4. Use proof instead of adjectives.
5. Never invent facts, credibility, or customer evidence.

Voice Capture Workflow

If the user wants a specific voice, collect one or more of:

• published articles
• newsletters
• X posts or threads
• docs or memos
• launch notes
• a style guide

Then extract:

• sentence length and rhythm
• whether the writing is compressed, explanatory, sharp, or formal
• how parentheses are used
• how often the writer asks questions
• whether the writer uses fragments, lists, or hard pivots
• formatting habits such as headers, bullets, code blocks, pull quotes
• what the writer clearly avoids

If no voice references are given, default to a sharp operator voice: concrete, unsentimental, useful.

Affaan / ECC Voice Reference

When matching Affaan / ECC voice, bias toward:

• direct claims over scene-setting
• high specificity
• parentheticals used for qualification or over-clarification, not comedy
• capitalization chosen situationally, not as a gimmick
• very low tolerance for fake thought-leadership cadence
• almost no bait questions

Banned Patterns

Delete and rewrite any of these:

• "In today's rapidly evolving landscape"
• "game-changer", "cutting-edge", "revolutionary"
• "no fluff"
• "not X, just Y"
• "here's why this matters" as a standalone bridge
• fake vulnerability arcs
• a closing question added only to juice engagement
• forced lowercase
• corny parenthetical asides
• biography padding that does not move the argument

Writing Process

1. Clarify the audience and purpose.
2. Build a hard outline with one job per section.
3. Start sections with proof, artifact, conflict, or example.
4. Expand only where the next sentence earns space.
5. Cut anything that sounds templated, overexplained, or self-congratulatory.

Structure Guidance

Technical Guides

• open with what the reader gets
• use code, commands, screenshots, or concrete output in major sections
• end with actionable takeaways, not a soft recap

Essays / Opinion

• start with tension, contradiction, or a specific observation
• keep one argument thread per section
• make opinions answer to evidence

Newsletters

• keep the first screen doing real work
• do not front-load diary filler
• use section labels only when they improve scanability

Quality Gate

Before delivering:

• factual claims are backed by provided sources
• generic AI transitions are gone
• the voice matches the supplied examples
• every section adds something new
• formatting matches the intended medium