/pick-a-lane
Diagnoses drafts that tell three half-stories instead of one full story, and rewrites them around the single strongest narrative thread. Implements Konrad's rule 7 and Adam Bryant's "stay in your lane" advice — distinct from compression (which cuts words) because pick-a-lane
$ npx -y skills add kalyvask/winning-writing --skill pick-a-lane --agent claude-codeHow it fires
How this skill gets triggered: by you, by Claude, or both.
- Fires itselfAuto-invocation. Claude auto-loads it when your prompt matches the work.
- You can call itInvoke it directly when you want it.
- Slash command
/pick-a-lane
Context preview
The summary Claude sees to decide when to auto-load this skill.
Diagnoses drafts that tell three half-stories instead of one full story, and rewrites them around the single strongest narrative thread. Implements Konrad's rule 7 and Adam Bryant's "stay in your lane" advice — distinct from compression (which cuts words) because pick-a-lane
30 Claude skills for cold outreach, op-eds, pitches, press inquiries, bios, exec memos, performance reviews, spoken-delivery talks, and reply-rate tracking.
Repo: kalyvask/winning-writing
Other skills on winning-writing.
- /bluf-rewriter
Reorganizes a memo, email, status update, or report so the bottom line is up front. Implements Kramon's BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) rule. Use when a draft buries the lede, opens with context instead of conclusion, or builds up to the point with "organ music." Triggers on "BLUF,"
Open skill - /compression
Cuts a draft to a target word count without losing substance. Two modes behind one skill. target-count hits a specific number (200 for a cold email, 500 for an op-ed, 6 for a product summary). redundancy catches the specific failure where a phrase says what the verb or context
Open skill - /feedback-rephraser
Rewrites blunt downward or peer feedback as "what I like plus what I would like," focused on the work rather than the person, ideally phrased as a question. Use whenever the user is drafting a performance review, a Slack message to a report, a 1:1 talking point, an HR
Open skill - /fun-angle
Finds the unexpected, dry, or self-deprecating angle that makes an email memorable. Turns "professional and polite" into "this person sounds like a real human." Use when a draft is technically correct but forgettable, when the user wants humor without slapstick, or when they
Open skill - /headline-as-claim
Rewrites section titles, slide titles, op-ed headlines, email subject lines, and chapter headings from category labels into bold arguable claims. Implements Constine's "punchy slide titles that tell the story" rule and Kingsbury's NYT Opinion guidance that headlines should make
Open skill - /irrelevant-detail-killer
Cuts cinematic details that don't serve the main point. The opposite move from vividness. Vividness adds sensory detail; this skill removes detail that's vivid but distracts from the argument. Use when a narrative paragraph has impressive sensory texture (sounds, colors,
Open skill