Human Writing Style Guide

When writing prose content, follow these guidelines to produce natural, human-like writing.

Model-Specific Patterns

Different Claude models have different writing quirks:

Pattern	Opus 4.5	Sonnet 4	Sonnet 3.7	Haiku 3
Em dash overuse	16.8x	0.9x	0.8x	0.0x
"robust"	3.1x	7.7x	6.5x	43.2x
"comprehensive"	24.4x	37.9x	30.1x	39.5x
"nuanced"	17.0x	56.1x	high	0x
"paradigm"	15.1x	37.4x	24.0x	7.5x

Values show ratio vs human baseline. Bold = worst offender.

Key takeaway: Em dash overuse is primarily an Opus 4.5 issue. Other models have different word preferences to watch.

Punctuation

Avoid overusing these punctuation marks:

Avoid	Use Instead	Notes
Em dash (—)	Commas, periods, or parentheses	Mainly Opus 4.5 issue (16.8x human)
Semicolons	Two separate sentences	Opus 4.5 uses 3x human rate
Colons for lists	Integrate into prose	All models use 2-5x human rate

Words to Avoid

Replace these AI-favored words with simpler alternatives:

Avoid	Use Instead
comprehensive	complete, full, thorough
utilize	use
leverage	use, apply
facilitate	help, enable
robust	strong, solid
nuanced	subtle, detailed
paradigm	model, approach
multifaceted	complex, varied
iterative	repeated, step-by-step
delve	explore, examine, look at
tapestry	mix, combination
myriad	many, numerous
plethora	many, lots of
fostering	building, encouraging
underscores	shows, highlights
realm	area, field
landscape	field, situation
crucial	important, key
pivotal	important, central
noteworthy	notable, worth mentioning
intricate	complex, detailed

Phrases to Avoid

These phrases strongly signal AI writing:

Avoid	Use Instead
in essence	basically, or delete entirely
fundamentally	basically, or delete entirely
essentially	basically, or delete entirely
it's important to note	delete entirely
it's worth noting	delete entirely
it should be noted	delete entirely
in order to	to
due to the fact that	because
at the end of the day	ultimately, or delete
that being said	but, however
in today's world	now, today
in the realm of	in
when it comes to	for, regarding
serves as a	is a
plays a crucial role	matters, is important

Sentence Starters to Avoid

Don't begin sentences with these formulaic patterns (from analysis):

Avoid	Ratio vs Human
"This document/guide/article..."	623x
"Comprehensive..."	680x
"Introduction..."	58x
"Let's..."	high
"In this..."	high

Also avoid:

• "It's worth noting that..."
• "In today's [anything]..."
• "When it comes to..."
• "At its core..."

Hedging Language

AI overuses these qualifying words. Use sparingly:

Word	AI Overuse Ratio
typically	9.6x
often	4.9x
sometimes	4.2x
potentially	3.4x
usually	3.4x
rather	3.3x

Be more direct. Instead of "This typically works well," write "This works well."

Transition Words (Counterintuitive)

AI uses FEWER transition words than humans, not more:

• AI: 0.3 formal transitions per 100 sentences
• Human: 0.9 formal transitions per 100 sentences

Only "conversely" (50x) and "nevertheless" (8x) are AI-overused. "However" is actually more common in human writing (0.52 vs 0.08 per 100 sentences).

Don't avoid all transitions - just the overused ones like "Furthermore," "Moreover," "Additionally."

Structure Guidelines

Paragraph Length (Critical)

AI fragments text into many short paragraphs (avg 16 words). Human writing uses longer, developed paragraphs.

• Combine related ideas into single paragraphs
• Develop thoughts fully before moving on
• Avoid one-sentence paragraphs unless for emphasis
• Aim for 3-5 sentences per paragraph in most cases

Sentence Length Distribution

AI alternates between very short and very long sentences. Human writing clusters around medium length.

• Favor medium-length sentences (11-25 words)
• Don't alternate between fragments and run-ons
• Maintain consistent rhythm within paragraphs

Lists and Bullets

AI overuses bullet points (9.5 items/doc vs near zero for humans).

• Convert lists to prose when possible
• Reserve bullets for truly parallel items
• Don't use bullets as a crutch for organizing thoughts

Passive Voice (Counterintuitive)

AI uses LESS passive voice (4.7%) than humans (14.9%). Don't over-correct.

• Passive voice is fine when the action matters more than the actor
• "The experiment was conducted" is acceptable
• Don't contort sentences just to avoid passive

Other Structure Tips

1. Start sentences differently - Don't begin multiple paragraphs the same way
2. Use contractions - Write "don't" not "do not" in casual contexts
3. Be direct - State things plainly without excessive hedging
4. Cut filler - Remove words that add no meaning
5. Avoid formulaic transitions - Don't use "Furthermore," "Moreover," "Additionally" repeatedly

Tone

• Be conversational where appropriate
• Don't over-explain obvious points
• Trust the reader's intelligence
• Express opinions directly when asked
• Avoid excessive qualifiers and hedges

What Good Human Writing Looks Like

Human writing tends to:

• Get to the point faster
• Use simpler words for the same meaning
• Have more variation in rhythm
• Include occasional sentence fragments
• Use "I" and "you" naturally
• Have personality and voice

When Writing

Before each paragraph, ask yourself:

1. Could I say this more simply?
2. Am I using any AI-favorite words?
3. Does this sound like something a person would actually write?
4. Have I used an em dash? (If yes, try a comma or period instead)
5. Is this paragraph too short? Should it be combined with the next one?
6. Am I using bullets when prose would work better?