/rhythm-killer

name: rhythm-killer
description: Fixes two sentence-rhythm tells that mark prose as AI-generated. Two targets behind one skill, picked via the --target arg. fragment-chain (three or more short sentences back-to-back) and uniform-length (two or more consecutive sentences within ~2 words of each other, especially with parallel structure). Use when the user says "reads like AI," "too choppy," "same length sentences back to back," "staccato," "fragments piled up," "rhythm is off," "uniform pacing." Pass --target fragment-chain|uniform-length|all (default all).

Rhythm killer

Source: `points/ai-writing-rules.md` (the "Choppy short-sentence stacks" entry) and live critiques on cold-email and personal-essay drafts where the model's rhythm gave it away even after surface tells were scrubbed.

What this skill does

Two passes behind one skill. Each pass fixes a different sentence-rhythm tell:

| Target | What it flags | When to run alone | |---|---|---| | **fragment-chain** | three or more short sentences/fragments back-to-back (each under ~6 words) | When the draft has a visible staccato run ("Same apartment. Finally. Tax law travels.") | | **uniform-length** | two or more consecutive sentences within ~2 words of each other in length, especially with parallel syntactic structure ("You X. You Y. You Z.") | When sentences are different in content but march at the same tempo |

Default `--target all` runs both passes in order: fragment-chain first (more obvious), then uniform-length (subtler, often surfaces after the chain is fixed).

How to invoke

/rhythm-killer "draft text"
/rhythm-killer --target fragment-chain "draft text"
/rhythm-killer --target uniform-length "draft text"
/rhythm-killer --target all "draft text"

Without `--target`, default to `all`.

---

Target 1 — fragment-chain

Three or more short sentences (under ~6 words each) in a row read as AI rhythm. The model defaults to staccato when it doesn't know how to develop a thought, so it chops the thought into fragments that look "punchy" but pattern-match to LLM output.

**The trigger pattern (verbatim from a live draft):**

> Next year I want you here. California. Same apartment, finally. Tax law works from anywhere.

Four short sentences. Each lands. The chain doesn't — it reads as a list of beats, not a thought.

How to fix

| Pattern | Rewrite move | |---|---| | 3+ shorts in a row | Keep one short (the strongest, usually first or last). Absorb the others into a longer surrounding sentence. | | Opening with a fragment + immediate restatement | Cut the restatement; the fragment carries. | | Closing with three short summary beats | Combine into one sentence with the final beat punching. |

**Before / after on the trigger pattern:**

| Before | After | |---|---| | Next year I want you here. California. Same apartment, finally. Tax law works from anywhere. | California, finally. Next year I want you here with me, in the same apartment for the first time in over a year. Tax law works from anywhere. |

The "California, finally." opener stays as a fragment for punch. The next two beats fold into a longer sentence that carries the substance. The rhythm is now short-long-medium instead of short-short-short-short.

When NOT to flag

• Dialogue. Real people speak in clipped fragments. ("Wait. What? You're kidding.")
• Lists rendered as sentences for emphasis. ("Vendors. Families. Dietary requirements. Dress fittings.") — if it's clearly an enumeration, the chain is doing list work, not rhythm work.
• Poetry, song lyrics, deliberate rhythm-driven prose.
• A chain of exactly 2 shorts (a setup-payoff pair) — that's the `uniform-length` target's job, only if they're also similar length.

---

Target 2 — uniform-length

Two or more consecutive sentences within ~2 words of each other in length, *especially* when their syntactic structure is parallel. The model defaults to uniform sentence length even when each individual sentence is fine — the cumulative effect reads as machine pacing.

**The trigger patterns (verbatim from live drafts):**

> Thank you for being the steady one. You married me when I was unemployable on paper. You book the next flight before I have to ask. > *(7 / 9 / 10 words, three sentences with parallel "You X" structure — a triplet)*

> Through the long job search, you never once said "maybe come back early." Every late call when I was anxious about another rejection, you said: keep going. > *(13 / 14 words, both with parallel "you ... said ..." structure)*

> One thing for next year. Tell me earlier. You sat on the photographer cancellation for three days. I know you didn't want me panicking from California. I'd rather panic with you. Call me when it's still small. > *(6 sentences, all between 3 and 10 words — the whole paragraph marches at one tempo)*

How to fix

| Pattern | Rewrite move | |---|---| | Parallel triplet ("You X. You Y. You Z.") | Combine the last two into one sentence with a conjunction. ("You X. You Y, and you Z.") | | Two similar-length sentences with parallel verbs | Fold the second into the first as a subordinate clause. | | Whole-paragraph march at one tempo | Pick the strongest beat to stay short; absorb the surrounding sentences into longer ones. Aim for at least one VL (>20 words) and one S (<8 words) per paragraph. |

**Before / after on the trigger patterns:**

| Before | After | |---|---| | Thank you for being the steady one. You married me when I was unemployable on paper. You book the next flight before I have to ask. | Thank you for being the steady one. You married me when I was unemployable on paper, and you book the next flight before I have to ask. | | Through the long job search, you never once said "maybe come back early." Every late call when I was anxious about another rejection, you said: keep going. | Through the long job search, on every late call when I was anxious about another rejection, you never once said "maybe come back early." You said