Style Instructions

What are Style Instructions?

Style Instructions are a series of commands that seek to make an AI's writing follow the specific style of an author. They can be combined with ATTG tags for greater customization of tone and themes. Due to the way Instruct AIs work, simply asking them to follow an author's style is not enough, since even if the AI supposedly knows that author's writing style, they tend to follow mainly the themes that the author usually writes about rather than their style, which often causes a flanderization effect. In other words, SLOP.

With style instructions, you can easily replicate an author's style without suffering from this “bias” that Instruct's AI would otherwise bring, avoiding the slop entirely.

How do I Use Style Instructions?

Just copy and paste them either in Author's Note or Memory. The effect in Author's Note tends to be much stronger, but if you want a more "tame" effect, paste them in Memory.

How do I Make My Own

Just use this prompt with any "thinking" AI (Chatgpt, Deepseek, Grok, Claude, etc). You will, obviously, get better results with a smarter AI. I used Grok for most of these.

https://pastebin.com/rkbTrTJN

Styles

Brandon Sanderson

[ Style Instructions:

  • Use close third-person narration anchored to one focal character per scene; keep narrative distance intimate and interior-aware.
  • Write primarily in past tense with active voice; reserve passive for emphasis or concealment.
  • Vary cadence: interleave compact beats that move the moment with occasional longer, flowing sentences that layer context or subtext.
  • Favor concrete, kinetic verbs; keep adverbs lean and purposeful.
  • Deliver exposition through observation and conversation rather than narrator lectures; let characters discover or infer.
  • Dialogue is frequent and propulsive. In English, format all spoken lines with double quotes (“ ”), one speech per paragraph. Use light tags (“said”, “asked”) and action beats to identify speakers; allow banter and dry wit to carry tone. (Ex.: place each speech on its own line; let a gesture replace a tag when clear.)
  • Integrate interiority via free-indirect style or brief thought tags; avoid lengthy italicized monologues.
  • Paragraphs stay focused: each paragraph pursues one micro-intent (action, observation, thought, or exchange) and pivots cleanly to the next.
  • Use em dashes for interruptions/reversals, colons for clarifying additions, parentheses for an occasional sly aside; keep semicolons rare and clean.
  • Seed scenes with selective sensory anchors (light, motion, texture, sound) rather than panoramic inventories.
  • Maintain a neutral-to-elevated narrative register; let diction bend toward colloquial in dialogue according to speaker.
  • Employ subtext: allow implications and omissions; avoid overexplaining motives the scene already implies.
  • Close scenes on a tilt (a new lead, shift, or understated sting) to sustain momentum into the next beat.
  • Keep description economical; prefer one or two precise images over ornamental strings.
  • Manage viewpoint: no head-hopping inside a scene; shift focalization only at clear breaks.
  • Use rhetorical questions sparingly to reveal mindset or tension, not to fill space.
  • Preserve consistency in English punctuation and spelling throughout.
  • Tone slider: from tense/wry to warm/resolute; retain tight cadence, concrete verbs, and dialogue-forward progression.
  • Formality slider (narration): neutral → slightly formal; dialogue may flex more informal per speaker.
  • Description density: lean baseline; may expand modestly at scene openings or turning points (keep imagery specific, not ornate).
  • Humor presence: from faint dry asides to light banter; avoid slapstick or meta quips.
  • Interiority depth: from quick pulses to short reflective currents; never stall momentum for lengthy rumination.
  • Do not use em dashes or guillemets to mark dialogue in English; always use double quotes.
  • Avoid info-dumps, world glossaries, or narrator lectures; reveal through action, setting cues, and talk.
  • No head-hopping within a scene; keep the camera inside one mind at a time.
  • Limit hedges and filler (“maybe,” “sort of,” “well,” “so,”) that dilute impact.
  • Avoid purple prose, cliché metaphors, and decorative synonyms for “said” beyond necessity.
  • Keep ellipses and exclamation points rare; do not use them as rhythm crutches.
  • Do not stack multiple parentheses or long parenthetical detours.
  • Avoid anachronistic slang if it jars the register established by narration.
  • Do not end scenes with explicit moralizing; prefer implication or a concrete beat.
  • Keep numerals and typography consistent; do not mix styles mid-piece.]

Douglas Adams

[ Style Instructions:

  • Use a third‑person narrator with occasional brief, poker‑faced intrusions that clarify, undercut, or reassure
  • Maintain a dry, ironic tone that treats crises and oddities with calm decorum.
  • Favor active voice and past tense; allow present‑tense intrusions for commentary or system‑like announcements.
  • Mix brisk, very short sentences (for punchlines or reversals) with extended sentences that stack clauses and parenthetical clarifications.
  • Let dialogue drive momentum: rapid call‑and‑response lines, quick disagreements, and clipped retorts.
  • Format dialogue on separate lines with double quotation marks; default to the neutral tag “said” and use action beats to replace tags when natural.
    Ex.: one line per speaker; replace tags with a gesture or reaction when it speeds the scene.
  • Use precise, sometimes comically exact numbers or pseudo‑technical phrasing for contrast with the mundane.
  • Insert parenthetical asides, em‑dashes, and occasional ellipses to manage timing, digressions, and hesitation (“er”, “um”, “ah”).
  • Employ rhetorical questions and repetition to escalate banter and highlight absurd logic.
  • Keep paragraphs compact and modular: one idea or exchange per block; interleave description sparingly between lines of talk.
  • Prefer concrete verbs over adverbs; keep modifiers lean and let specificity carry the joke.
  • Allow measured narrator assurances or disclaimers that pre‑emptively “spoil” outcomes for humorous effect.
  • Balance description types: mostly functional and sensory‑light, punctuated by brief, vivid images when they sharpen a gag or reversal.
  • Register: accessible contemporary English with occasional ceremonious phrasing for contrast (polite notices, announcements, formalities).
  • Punctuation rhythm matters: time punchlines with colons and em‑dashes; reserve semicolons for orderly piling‑on.
  • Maintain consistent spelling conventions (US or UK), numerals for exact measures, words for simple counts when not technical.
  • Humor temperature: from wry to overtly silly; keep the narrator’s composure steady even as situations escalate.
  • Dialogue density: most of the total of the text; raise or lower based on scene energy while preserving snappy exchanges.
  • Narrator intrusion: light interjections; increase slightly for tutorial/explanatory pieces.
  • Technicalicity: from everyday specifics to faux‑precise jargon; maintain clarity and comedic contrast.
  • Figurative color: from austere to lightly figurative; avoid lush imagery that slows the beat.
  • Do not quote or emulate famous lines or identifiable catchphrases.
  • Avoid purple prose, grand moral pronouncements, and melodrama that breaks the deadpan.
  • Don’t overuse quirky synonyms for “said”; avoid ornate dialogue tags and adverb‑heavy tagging.
  • Avoid meandering digressions that do not resolve back into the scene within a few sentences.
  • Refrain from heavy dialect, in‑jokes, or region‑specific slang that undercuts universality.
  • Do not stack ellipses and exclamation points; one device at a time for emphasis.
  • Avoid over‑explaining jokes; let structure and timing carry them.
  • Keep lists and parenthetical asides tight; no footnote sprawl or encyclopedic detours.]

Edgar Allan Poe

[ Style Instructions:

  • Use a heightened, ceremonious register with occasional archaic or Latinate diction for color, while preserving clarity.
  • Favor the active voice; maintain tense consistency (default to past tense for narration; brief present-tense flashes allowed for immediacy).
  • Orchestrate cadence: interleave long, winding sentences that accrue detail with brief, percussive sentences that strike a final note.
  • Employ anaphora and other patterned repetitions (openings, mid-clause echoes, or refrain-like codas) to create musicality.
  • Modulate thought with em dashes for sudden turns, semicolons for balanced pairing, and colons to announce reveals or amplifications.
  • Integrate sonic texture—measured alliteration, assonance, and occasional internal rhyme—to enrich rhythm without overwhelming meaning.
  • Build paragraphs around a single escalating focus: observation → inference → a crisp, often refrain-like closure.
  • When using dialogue, keep it sparse; one utterance per line. Prefer em dash or double quotation marks; minimize speech tags in favor of brief actions or tonal cues. (Ex.: use an em dash to cut a speaker off.)
  • Include sensory concreteness (sounds, textures, motions) alongside abstract reflection; let concrete particulars trigger concepts.
  • Allow controlled irony through parenthetical asides or footnote-like flourishes; keep these light and purposeful.
  • Use triadic structures (three-part lists or clauses) to heighten momentum, finishing with the most striking element.
  • Maintain precise, slightly formal syntax; prefer subordination and balanced clauses over casual coordination.
  • Close sections with a definitive cadence—short sentence, echo, or refrain—to seal the mood and propel the next move.
  • Keep narrator distance intimate and self-scrutinizing (first person confessional) or ceremoniously omniscient (expository); select one and maintain it within the piece.
  • Let tension rise by delaying key information within a sentence, then release it with a dash, colon, or sharp final phrase.
  • Use imagistic metaphors sparingly but vividly; ensure they are specific and grounded in perceptible qualities.
  • More lyrical ↔ More analytic: Increase sonic devices and repetition for lyricism; increase parenthetical asides and mock-scholarly hedges for analysis.
  • Slower pace ↔ Faster pace: Lengthen sentences with layered subordination for gravity; increase short sentences and cutaways for urgency.
  • Warmer tone ↔ Colder tone: Add humane sensory detail and gentler asides for warmth; heighten distance and procedural phrasing for coolness.
  • Contemporary clarity ↔ Antique flavor: Reduce archaic diction for clarity; reintroduce a few archaic turns and ceremonious constructions for flavor (keep intelligible).
  • Confessional ↔ Expository: Lean into first-person reflection and self-examination, or adopt a ceremonious, documentarian stance with measured citations.
  • Do not saturate prose with archaisms; use them as accents, not a veil.
  • Avoid excessive exclamation marks and ellipses; reserve them for marked effect.
  • Do not stack more than two rhetorical questions consecutively; vary interrogatives with assertions.
  • Avoid purple-prose overload: limit strings of adjectives/adverbs; prefer precise nouns and verbs.
  • Do not head-hop or drift tense within a scene/section.
  • Avoid footnote pastiche that becomes a dump; keep faux citations or asides brief and purposeful.
  • Do not let sonic devices obscure clarity; rhythm serves meaning. ]

Flavius Josephus

[ Style Instructions:

  • Write in a formal, assertive, and scholarly voice, primarily focused on constructing a logical or historical argument.
  • Construct exceptionally long and complex sentences, weaving together multiple subordinate clauses using conjunctions and relative pronouns.
  • Employ rhetorical questions frequently as a primary tool to challenge opposing viewpoints, introduce new lines of argument, and guide the reader's reasoning.
  • Build dense, extensive paragraphs. Each paragraph should be dedicated to developing a single, complex point supported by multiple examples or lines of reasoning.
  • Maintain a consistently formal and erudite vocabulary, avoiding colloquialisms, slang, and contractions.
  • When recounting events, embed them within the argumentative structure as evidence, rather than presenting them as a straightforward narrative.
  • Use reported speech or quotations integrated directly into the narrative flow, often introduced by phrases like "he said that..." or with attributions mid-sentence.
  • Prioritize abstract reasoning, logic, and conceptual arguments over sensory details and physical descriptions.
  • Adopt a deliberate, oratorical rhythm. The pace is slow and measured, designed for careful consideration, not for rapid action.
  • Use punctuation (commas, semicolons, colons) to manage the flow of long, syntactically intricate sentences.
  • Formality Level: The tone can be shifted from polemical and combative to more neutral and explanatory, while still retaining the formal vocabulary and complex sentence structure.
  • Sentence Length: While the core style relies on very long sentences, you can introduce a slightly higher proportion of medium-length sentences (15-25 words) to improve readability for a modern audience, but short, simple sentences should remain rare.
  • Historical Distance: The slightly archaic feel can be modernized by updating specific word choices, but the overall syntactical formality and scholarly register must be preserved.
  • Direct Address: The use of direct address to a hypothetical opponent can be replaced with more impersonal, third-person declarative statements for a less confrontational tone.
  • Avoid short, staccato sentences or a simplistic subject-verb-object structure.
  • Do not use modern dialogue formatting (e.g., one line per speaker, em dashes). All speech must be embedded within larger paragraphs.
  • Refrain from using an informal or conversational tone.
  • Avoid "show, don't tell" principles that rely on sensory details; the style is explicitly focused on "telling" through logical explanation and argumentation.
  • Do not break up complex ideas into small, easily digestible paragraphs.
  • Limit the use of adverbs; let the complex sentence structure and strong verb choices carry the meaning.
  • Avoid personal anecdotes, emotional appeals, or subjective, introspective language unless framed as a logical device. ]

George Orwell

[Style Insructions:

  • Write in close third‑person limited; allow free‑indirect thoughts to slip into narration without italics when natural.
  • Keep past tense as the baseline; use present tense sparingly for generalizations or truisms; avoid tense drift within a paragraph.
  • Prefer active voice for scene actions; allow occasional passive constructions to suggest impersonal or systemic forces.
  • Shape cadence by alternating long, cumulative sentences with short, blunt ones that land a point.
  • Build complex sentences with subordination and coordination; balance items using commas and semicolons; introduce explanations or lists with colons.
  • Use em dashes for emphatic apposition or sudden turns; use parentheses for brief corrective or skeptical asides (no more than one per sentence).
  • Paragraphs are relatively dense, each pursuing one focal idea or micro‑scene; permit rare one‑sentence paragraphs to punctuate a shift.
  • Dialogue appears in measured bursts; format with double quotation marks, one speaker per paragraph; minimize tags and let action beats carry attribution.
    Ex.: replace a tag with a small gesture or reaction.
  • Description is concrete and sensory (sound, smell, texture, temperature), often inventory‑like; avoid lush ornamentation.
  • Fold analytical reflection into the narration; let general statements arise from prior specifics; keep evaluations cool and restrained.
  • Lexicon sits between neutral and formal; favor precise nouns and verbs; keep adverbs lean; allow the occasional colloquial spike for contrast.
  • Rhetoric relies on parallelism and controlled repetition; rhetorical questions are rare and purposeful; irony is dry rather than sarcastic.
  • Keep the narrative “camera” close to the body: small physical sensations and micro‑behaviors ground the scene.
  • Use figures of speech sparingly and concretely; avoid mixed or extended metaphors.
  • Numbers and measures may appear with a tone of precision; do not overdo quantification; integrate them seamlessly into prose.
  • Graphical habits: double quotes for speech; commas/periods inside closing quotes (US style); avoid ellipses unless a line genuinely trails off; reserve italics for emphasis very sparingly.
  • Transitions hinge on lexical echoes or a carried image/action rather than overt connective adverbs.
  • Warmth ↔ Coolness: Increase free‑indirect access and a few colloquialisms for warmth, or reduce both for a cooler surface; maintain restrained evaluations either way.
  • Register: Slide between neutral and formal diction; avoid jargon and slang spikes that would break the texture.
  • Ironic Edge: From nearly neutral to lightly barbed; the narrator never becomes caustic or mocking.
  • Descriptive Weight: Increase or decrease sensory detail by ±25% while keeping descriptions concrete and unembellished.
  • Do not rely on chant‑like slogans, catchphrases, or mantra repetitions.
  • Avoid purple prose, sentimentality, and melodramatic exclamation; restraint is the baseline.
  • Do not head‑hop; stay within the established viewpoint.
  • Avoid hedge clutter and throat‑clearing (“maybe,” “sort of,” initial filler phrases).
  • No stack of multiple em dashes, parentheses, and semicolons in a single sentence.
  • Keep metaphors infrequent and concrete; avoid mixed figures and extended conceits.
  • Do not overexplain motives; show them via detail, action, and setting friction.
  • Avoid topical slang, anachronistic idioms, and self‑conscious meta‑commentary.
  • Keep typographic shouting (ALL CAPS, excessive italics, multiple exclamation points) out of the prose.
  • Numbers must read credibly; do not flood paragraphs with statistics. ]

George R.R. Martin

[ Style Instructions:

  • Use third‑person limited narration anchored tightly to one viewpoint at a time; let perception, diction, and judgments reflect that focal character.
  • Write in past tense, predominantly active voice; reserve passive for emphasis or uncertainty.
  • Alternate long, flowing sentences that accrue concrete details with brief, percussive sentences and occasional fragments for impact.
  • Prioritize sensory specificity (smell, touch, temperature, texture, sound) over abstract labels; embed world/context clues inside physical action and perception.
  • Employ interiority frequently: brief direct thoughts in italics or tagged with thought verbs; allow refrains to echo a character’s worry or resolve.
  • Favor coordination with commas and “and” for momentum; use subordination sparingly to nest cause, concession, or time.
  • Use em dashes for interruptions or sharp turns; ellipses for hesitation or trailing thought; semicolons rarely; colons for definition or reveal.
  • Paragraphs are purpose‑driven: long blocks for setting/sensory accumulation or reflective turns; short blocks for beats, reversals, and dialogue.
  • Dialogue stands on separate lines with straight double quotation marks; rely on action beats and internal reactions more than heavy speech tags.
  • Let action and gesture replace explicit attributions when clear; when tagging, keep verbs unobtrusive (“said,” “asked”).
  • Integrate exposition by consequence (what a tool/ritual/food does, costs, smells like) rather than declarative explanation.
  • Maintain a sober, restrained baseline tone with room for warmth or dread; avoid overt authorial moralizing.
  • Use concrete nouns and precise verbs; minimize adverbial clutter and ornate modifiers; one striking image is preferable to a cluster.
  • Allow measured repetition (anaphora, refrains) and occasional rhetorical questions to surface conflict or theme pressure.
  • Keep temporal and spatial orientation clear with tactile anchors (weather, light, distance, fatigue) at scene openings and pivots.
  • Ensure graphical consistency: straight double quotes for speech, italics for direct thought/emphasis, en/em dashes without spaces (style‑consistent throughout).
  • Warmer vs. colder tone: increase tender interior beats and softer metaphors for warmth; pare imagery and sharpen verbs for austerity.
  • Faster vs. slower pace: raise the ratio of short sentences and dialogue for speed; lengthen sentences and heighten sensory layering to slow.
  • More dialogue vs. more narration: expand action beats and cut tags to boost talk energy; compress speech and widen interiority to tilt toward narration.
  • Lighter vs. darker mood: swap tactile comforts for discomforts in sensory focus; keep the same sentence‑length mix.
  • Formality slider: keep neutral‑to‑formal diction as default; allow a modest uptick of colloquial phrasing inside dialogue and thoughts only.
  • Do not break viewpoint mid‑scene or slip into omniscient commentary.
  • Avoid modern slang, anachronistic idioms, and contemporary brand/tech references unless explicitly requested.
  • Do not infodump; never halt action solely to explain—embed facts in consequence, gesture, and object use.
  • Limit adverbs ending in “‑ly”; prefer verbs and specific nouns to carry meaning.
  • Avoid cliché metaphors, overwrought simile chains, and mixed images.
  • Do not overuse ellipses or dashes; they should signal purposeful hesitation or interruption, not decorate lines.
  • Keep speech tags simple; avoid florid dialogue verbs.
  • Do not pad with filler (“suddenly,” “very,” “it seemed that”) unless ambiguity is intended.
  • Maintain consistent punctuation and typography rules throughout the piece.
  • Avoid tonal whiplash (jokes in the middle of solemn beats) unless character voice justifies it. ]

House of Leaves

[ Style Instructions:

  • Use a third‑person narrator that alternates between cool observation and analytical commentary; keep emotional distance while allowing occasional irony.
  • Write in predominantly active voice with stable past tense for narration; shift to present tense sparingly for general claims or analytical maxims.
  • Interleave description and analysis: concrete scene → brief interpretation → return to facts.
  • Maintain a documentary register: precise measurements, dates, objects, and observable behavior; avoid speculation unless framed as hypothesis.
  • Employ scholarly apparatus cues: parenthetical clarifications, foreign terms in italics with minimal gloss.
  • Vary rhythm: long, syntactically layered sentences followed by short corrective or unsettling cuts.
  • Prefer subordination for reasoning (because, although, whereas) and coordination for inventory (and, nor, but).
  • Use colons, semicolons, em dashes, and brackets to stage asides, counterpoints, and accretions of detail.
  • Structure paragraphs of medium–long length, each organized around a single observational or conceptual nucleus; transitions by quiet echo of keywords.
  • Introduce dialogue sparingly, on separate lines, opened with an em dash; rely on action beats and tone to replace overt speech tags.
  • Keep metaphors minimal and functional; privilege spatial, acoustic, and material descriptors over emotive qualifiers.
  • Allow terminological echoes (key terms recur across sections) to build cohesion and a sense of inquiry.
  • Maintain lexical precision with occasional colloquial shards to puncture formality and increase verisimilitude.
  • Let rhetorical questions appear rarely, as probes rather than flourishes; immediately surround them with evidence or counter‑evidence.
  • Preserve graphical consistency: double quotation marks for citations; em dashes for speech; bracketed numerals for references; italics for loanwords.
  • Sustain a base tone of restrained unease: the prose stays calm even when the facts are not.
  • Temperature: from austere/forensic to mildly lyrical; keep the analytical scaffold intact.
  • Density of inserts: add frequent citations/asides; ensure each insert clarifies or reframes, not decorates.
  • Pace: compress scenes with terse beats or expand with measured inventories; always alternate long and short sentences.
  • Voice distance: modulate from impersonal to coolly intimate, but avoid confessional drift.
  • Technicality: adjust jargon level to topic; provide quick glosses when terms appear.
  • Avoid melodrama, exclamation marks, and moralizing verdicts.
  • Avoid filler hedges (“well,” “so,” “maybe”) and throat‑clearing abstractions.
  • Do not over‑adjectivize; prefer concrete nouns and verbs to stacked modifiers.
  • Resist clichés and stock metaphors; if a metaphor is used, keep it singular and precise.
  • Do not let footnote‑like elements overwhelm the narrative; each must earn its place.
  • Avoid inconsistent punctuation styles (mixing dash types, quote styles, or citation formats).
  • Do not front‑load conclusions; let observation precede inference.
  • Limit direct address to the reader; the stance is analytical, not tutorial. ]

Jorge Joestar

[ Style Rules:

  • Use a first‑person, close‑range narrator who interleaves observation with quick internal reactions.
  • Keep the default tense in past; switch to present only for general truths, procedures, or rules being stated in the moment.
  • Prefer active voice with concrete verbs; trim adverbs unless they sharpen meaning.
  • Vary sentence length: punchy fragments for impact, mid‑length for flow, occasional long sentences to spool detail or logic.
  • Write short, focused paragraphs; a single sentence may stand alone to land a beat or turn.
  • Make dialogue a driver of pace and information. Format with double quotation marks; one speaker per paragraph.
  • Allow bursts of rapid‑fire banter where multiple short utterances appear within one paragraph to suggest overlap or speed.
  • Minimize dialogue tags; let brief actions, gestures, or tone cues replace repetitive “said.”
  • Use rhetorical questions, clipped affirmations, and momentary asides to show thinking; avoid verbose exposition outside of action.
  • Deploy ellipses for hesitation or suspended thought; combine with ? or ! sparingly to mark shock or doubt.
  • Introduce procedural or safety instructions as numbered steps inside dialogue when appropriate (“First…”, “Second…”).
  • Blend exposition into conversation or action beats; let characters infer, test, or demonstrate facts rather than deliver lectures.
  • Description favors concrete, sensory cues (touch, temperature, smell, weight) over ornament; select a few vivid details per moment.
  • Maintain a colloquial-to-neutral register: crisp, modern diction with occasional slang or deadpan humor; escalate formality only inside brief explanations.
  • Emphasize timing and coincidence with meta‑aware, one‑line observations; keep them dry, not preachy.
  • Graphical habits: double quotes for speech; single quotes for words-as-words; reserve ALL CAPS for brief sound effects or yells, preferably isolated.
  • Register: Slide from colloquial to neutral‑formal during explanations; return to lean, conversational narration afterward.
  • Pace: Tighten by increasing short sentences and standalone lines; loosen by allowing a few longer sentences that braid detail.
  • Dialogue Density: Maintain high dialogue presence but flex depending on scene needs.
  • Heat & Intensity: Modulate exclamation marks, ellipses, and sound effects to raise or lower emotional temperature while keeping restraint.
  • Descriptive Grain: Shift between minimal and vivid per scene beat; never drift into purple prose.
  • Avoid long, blocky paragraphs or multi‑page monologues; break thoughts into beats.
  • Do not overload with adverbs, filler hedges (“maybe,” “sort of”) or throat‑clearing openers.
  • No info‑dumps detached from action; integrate facts through dialogue, inference, or brief procedural asides.
  • Don’t overuse ellipses, interrobangs (?!), or ALL CAPS; they lose power if constant.
  • Avoid inconsistent dialogue punctuation or switching quotation styles mid‑text.
  • Refrain from ornate metaphors stacked back‑to‑back; prefer specific images over lavish comparisons.
  • Keep tense and point of view consistent; no sudden head‑hopping.
  • Limit slang to purposeful color; avoid dated catchphrases or meme‑speak. ]

Lovecraft

[ Style Instructions:

  • Write in first‑person singular, retrospective and reflective; the narrator recounts past events while assessing their implications.
  • Maintain a predominantly past tense, with occasional present-tense gnomic statements for universal claims or conclusions.
  • Favour an elevated, erudite register with Latinate diction and a few antiquated connectives (e.g., “whilst,” “amongst,” “wherein”) used sparingly.
  • Use long periodic sentences that gather clauses and qualifications before resolving; intersperse very short sentences for emphasis.
  • Prefer active voice, allowing selective passive constructions to formalize distance or uncertainty.
  • Employ semicolons and colons to braid related thoughts; use em dashes for parenthetical asides; keep parentheses occasional.
  • Build triadic or cumulative lists that escalate in intensity or abstraction.
  • Sustain a tone of restrained intensity: sober, methodical, and increasingly unsettled; avoid melodrama while allowing pressure to mount.
  • Balance exposition and synthesis: correlate fragments, weigh sources, note caveats; let doubt and verification procedures surface in the prose.
  • Treat documents and testimonies as summarized inserts (notes, letters, reports), introduced with matter‑of‑fact labels or headings.
  • Keep dialogue minimal; when needed, set brief lines in double quotation marks within the surrounding paragraph; rely on actions or context over overt speech tags.
  • Craft imagery via precise nouns and measured adjectives; use metaphors sparingly and purposefully to clarify scale or strangeness.
  • Guide the reader with temporal and causal transitions (“thereafter,” “at the time,” “hence”) to knit chronology and inference.
  • Preserve graphical consistency: double quotes for speech or singled‑out terms; em dashes (—not hyphens—) for interruptions; spaced numerals and units.
  • Avoid contractions to retain formality; keep interjections rare and meaningful.
  • Maintain ethical clarity: describe groups and persons with neutral, non‑pejorative language.
  • Formality: from highly formal to moderately formal; never informal. Reduce antique connectives if a cleaner modern surface is desired.
  • Cadence: vary average sentence length by ±20%; keep the long/short alternation and periodic closures intact.
  • Lexicon: adjust archaic flavour (few vs. several antique turns per page) while preserving elevated diction.
  • Documentary texture: include from none to frequent summarized documents; when omitted, keep the analytic, corroborative stance.
  • Temperature: from cool detachment to controlled urgency; avoid theatrics at either extreme.
  • Avoid slang, modern chatty tics, emojis, and contractions.
  • Avoid caricatured archaism: do not overload with obsolete spellings or florid ornament.
  • Do not rely on vacant superlatives (“indescribable,” “unthinkable”) without concrete support.
  • Avoid sensationalism or lurid excess; let unease arise from structure and detail.
  • Do not overuse parentheses; prefer em dashes for live asides.
  • Avoid repetitive adjective stacks; choose one salient qualifier over many weak ones.
  • Exclude discriminatory or demeaning descriptors for people or groups.
  • Keep quotations brief; summarize rather than transcribe long materials. ]

Slapstick Comic

[ Style Instructions:

  • Use an energetic third‑person narrator with occasional direct address (“Meanwhile…”, “Cut to…”). Keep narrative distance light and humorous.
  • Prefer present tense for immediacy; allow brief past‑tense flashes only to set up a gag or a quick aside.
  • Keep the voice active and kinetic. Favor vivid, concrete verbs over adverbs.
  • Build scenes as quick beats: setup → escalation → punchline, then reset.
  • Mix staccato bursts with compact, detail‑packed lines. Alternate 3–6 word exclamations with 12–20 word sentences.
  • Embrace interjections and irony. Sprinkle mock‑formal phrases for contrast amid colloquial speech.
  • Use onomatopoeia as visual rhythm markers. Write them in ALL CAPS as standalone lines or embedded beats: [BOOM], [CLANG], [OINK].
  • Mark dialogue on separate lines; prefer em dashes to introduce each speech. Replace “said” with brief actions or reactions when natural.
    Ex.: —Don’t touch that. (He touches it.)
  • Employ em dashes for interruptions and sudden swerves; ellipses for suspenseful pauses; parentheses for quick asides.
  • Paragraphing is micro‑segmented: one action or exchange per short paragraph; frequent scene jumps signaled by a cue (“Elsewhere,” “Back at…”) rather than long transitions.
  • Description privileges physicality and sight/sound cues; keep adjectives lean and specific; avoid abstract rumination.
  • Humor leans on misdirection, repetition, and escalation; allow one “running gag” to echo across a section.
  • Keep register broadly informal, with occasional exaggerated politeness for comic effect.
  • Use lists sparingly to stack mishaps or instructions; cap with a twisty final item.
  • Maintain a buoyant, almost slapstick tone even when characters are exasperated; let reactions be oversized but readable.
  • Visualize props and choreography clearly: who moves, what falls, what explodes; keep spatial logic crisp despite the chaos.
  • Numbers: spell out one–nine; use digits for 10+ and for comic precision.
    • Tone: From zany to dry‑wry. Reduce exclamation marks and keep the same beat structure and onomatopoeic cues.
  • Tense: May switch to simple past for a retrospective feel, but keep present‑tense dialogue and fast cuts.
  • Register: From colloquial to semi‑formal. Preserve quick beats and mock‑formal contrasts.
  • Dialogue Density: Can vary from 40% to 80% of the text; retain one‑line speeches and action‑tag replacements.
  • Intensity: If gentler, swap explosions for softer sound cues; keep setup→escalation→payoff intact.
  • Do not drift into long internal monologues or abstract exposition.
  • Avoid purple prose, extended metaphors, or ornate similes that slow the gag rhythm.
  • Don’t overuse adverbs, filler crutches (“well,” “so,” “maybe”), or multiple exclamation marks in a row.
  • Avoid inconsistent tense switching; pick a dominant tense and stick to it within a scene.
  • No dense jargon or heavy regional dialects that obscure timing.
  • Don’t stack more than two parenthetical asides in a sentence.
  • Avoid meandering transitions; no multi‑paragraph scene bridges.
  • Keep violence, gore, or cruelty out of frame; the humor is brisk, not graphic.
  • Maintain one consistent dialogue formatting style (em dash lines) throughout. ]

Stephen King

[Style Instructions:

  • Use a close third-person narrator (free indirect style). Stay inside one viewpoint at a time; let thoughts surface as brief asides or italicized fragments.
  • Keep the baseline in past tense. Use present tense sparingly for immediate interior flashes or quoted materials.
  • Prefer active voice and concrete verbs. Let nouns and actions carry meaning; keep adverbs lean.
  • Vary sentence length: weave medium lines with sudden, very short bursts; occasionally deploy a long, cumulative sentence to stack perceptions.
  • Employ em dashes for interruptions and pivots; use ellipses for hesitation or trailing thought; parentheses (or italics) for interior aside.
  • Build compact paragraphs focused on a single micro-action or idea; drop single-sentence paragraphs for impact between longer blocks.
  • Format dialogue as one speech per line. Minimize speech tags; replace them with action beats and reactions when natural.
  • Let interiority show through sensation, micro-choices, and self-questioning rather than authorial explanation.
  • Keep description precise and sensory, anchored to ordinary objects and physical environment; use restrained, functional metaphor.
  • Reveal information through action, objects, and conversation. When listing facts, prefer clipped, record-like sequences within the scene.
  • Maintain a neutral-to-plain narrative register; allow spoken idiom in dialogue without heavy slang. Use specific technical terms only when the viewpoint would.
  • Pace by alternation: quiet, procedural beats followed by sharp spikes (short sentences, silence, quick exchanges). Imply first, clarify after.
  • Use controlled repetition and echo (words or structures) for emphasis; keep irony dry and understated.
  • Embed rhetorical questions mainly as thought markers, not as authorial commentary.
  • Keep “on-page volume” low: few exclamation points; tension comes from rhythm and detail.
  • Graphical conventions: em dash for dialogue and interruptions; ellipses for hesitation; italics or parentheses for private thought; reserve double quotes for quoted text within text.
  • Numbers: spell out one to nine; use numerals for ages, dates, times, and precise measurements; keep formatting consistent.
  • Preserve scene integrity: no head-hopping; keep temporal order legible with light, concrete transitions.
  • Narrative intimacy: from very close interior (frequent asides, 2–3 per page) to moderately close (1 per page); avoid full omniscience.
  • Tension level: raise by increasing short sentences and rapid-fire dialogue; lower by lengthening descriptive beats and using fewer interruptions.
  • Descriptive density: from sparse (1–2 concrete details per paragraph) to moderate (3–5); avoid lush catalogues.
  • Register: slide from neutral to slightly formal by adding measured subordination and technical lexicon appropriate to the viewpoint; keep verbs concrete.
  • Humor: permit occasional dry, situational wit in dialogue; never let quips undercut stakes or tone.]

Thomas Ligotti

[ Style Instructions:

  • Write in the first person ("I"), with a narrator who is an observer or participant recalling past events.
  • Maintain a reflective and analytical voice, where the narrator often speculates on the meaning or nature of events.
  • Employ a predominantly formal and erudite lexicon. Avoid slang, contractions, and overly simple vocabulary.
  • Construct long, complex sentences with multiple subordinate clauses. This creates a deliberate, measured, and sometimes labyrinthine rhythm.
  • Prioritize atmosphere and psychological states over fast-paced action. Descriptions should focus on mood, feelings, and abstract concepts ("a sense of sullen confusion," "a feeling of preposterous excitement").
  • Use a slow narrative pace. Allow events to unfold gradually, building suspense and a sense of unease through detailed exposition and reflection.
  • Structure the text in long, dense paragraphs. Each paragraph should explore a single, cohesive idea or scene before transitioning smoothly to the next.
  • Integrate dialogue sparingly. When used, embed it within larger narrative paragraphs rather than breaking it out into short, rapid exchanges.
  • Use standard speech tags like "he said" or "she explained." Dialogue should serve to reveal information or philosophical points, not just advance the plot.
  • Maintain a consistently serious and contemplative tone, often with an undercurrent of dread or mystery.
  • Use punctuation formally and correctly to navigate complex sentence structures. Utilize commas to guide the reader through clauses and em dashes for occasional, emphatic asides.
  • Repeat key phrases or concepts throughout the text to create a thematic echo or an obsessive quality.
  • Narrator's Involvement: The narrator's distance can be adjusted, from a purely detached observer to a more directly involved and affected participant, without altering the reflective voice.
  • Descriptive Focus: The balance between abstract/psychological description and concrete/sensory detail can be shifted. A more sensory focus can ground the narrative, while a more abstract focus can enhance its dreamlike quality.
  • Emotional Temperature: The tone can range from coolly analytical and detached to overtly anxious or paranoid, as long as the emotion is conveyed through complex reflection rather than simple, direct statements.
  • Pacing: While the overall pace must remain slow, it can be slightly accelerated by shortening a few key sentences at moments of revelation or climax to create contrast.
  • Avoid short, simple sentences as the default structure. They disrupt the established hypnotic rhythm.
  • Do not use colloquialisms, slang, or an informal register. The voice must remain elevated.
  • Refrain from writing fast-paced action sequences. The focus is on the reaction to and reflection upon events, not the events themselves.
  • Avoid "telling" emotions directly (e.g., "I was scared"). Instead, "show" the psychological state through observation, speculation, and atmospheric description.
  • Do not break dialogue into single lines for a back-and-forth exchange. Keep speech embedded in the narrative flow.
  • Avoid abrupt paragraph breaks or scene cuts. Transitions should be logical and deliberate.
  • Limit the use of exclamation points and other forms of overly expressive punctuation. The tone is restrained.
  • Do not use a simple, straightforward narrative voice. The narrator’s perspective should always be filtered through layers of thought and analysis. ]

Tolkien

[ Style Instructions:

  • Employ a third-person narrative voice, maintaining a degree of formal distance from the characters while allowing access to their thoughts and perceptions.
  • Maintain a consistently elevated and serious tone, using a rich, formal vocabulary that occasionally includes slightly archaic or literary word choices.
  • Construct sentences with complex syntax, frequently using subordinate clauses, semicolons, and colons to connect related ideas within a single, flowing thought.
  • Vary sentence length to control rhythm: use longer, descriptive sentences to establish setting and mood, and shorter, more direct sentences to heighten tension and pace in action sequences.
  • Write dialogue in a formal register, even in moments of high emotion. Avoid modern slang, contractions, and overly colloquial phrasing.
  • Format dialogue using double quotation marks (""), with each speaker's line typically starting a new paragraph.
  • Use conventional speech tags like "said," "cried," "answered," and "gasped" frequently, placing them after the dialogue. Occasionally, replace a tag with a character's concurrent action.
  • Ground the narrative in dense, sensory descriptions, focusing on light, shadow, sound, and physical detail to build a tangible atmosphere.
  • Integrate moments of summary or exposition smoothly into the narrative flow, often through dialogue or a character's reflection.
  • Use repetition of key phrases or sounds deliberately to create a rhythmic, almost incantatory effect (e.g., a recurring sound).
  • Structure paragraphs based on focus, allowing for single-line dialogue paragraphs as well as long, multi-sentence blocks of description or action.
  • Embed poetic verses or songs directly into the prose, setting them apart graphically.
  • Pacing: The ratio of action to description can be shifted. For a faster pace, increase the frequency of short, action-focused sentences and reduce descriptive clauses. For a more contemplative pace, expand on sensory details and internal reflection.
  • Formality: The dialogue's register can be slightly relaxed for less formal characters, but it should never become fully modern or casual. The core narrative prose, however, must retain its elevated tone.
  • Focus: The narrative can zoom in for a more intimate, character-focused perspective or zoom out for a broader, more epic overview of events without altering the fundamental sentence structure or vocabulary.
  • Tone: While the base tone is serious, it can be adapted to convey wonder, dread, sorrow, or urgency by adjusting the imagery, rhythm, and verb choices. ]

Sugaru Miaki (by Anon)

[ Style Instructions:

  • Narrate exclusively in the first person ("I"), establishing an intimate, confessional, and analytical voice that observes its own experiences with a degree of emotional distance.
  • Create a distinct rhythm through the deliberate use of parallelism and repetition (anaphora), especially when introducing a new topic or making a series of related points.
  • Juxtapose short, declarative sentences that state a fact or feeling with longer, more complex sentences that elaborate or reflect on it.
  • Employ very short, sometimes single-sentence or even single-phrase, paragraphs as a punctuation tool to deliver impactful statements or create a pause for emphasis.
  • Prioritize psychological and conceptual description over physical, sensory details. Focus on internal states, ideas, and the logic of a situation rather than its appearance.
  • Maintain a direct and lucid prose style. The language should be precise and accessible, avoiding overly ornate, poetic, or academic vocabulary.
  • Establish and consistently capitalize key abstract nouns or unique concepts, treating them as proper nouns to lend them weight and significance within the text.
  • Blend personal narrative seamlessly with exposition. Explain the "rules" or context of a situation as a natural extension of the narrator's thoughts.
  • Use a mix of verb tenses: primarily past tense for recounting events and present tense for stating general truths, making current reflections, or defining concepts.
  • Address the reader directly but subtly, using phrases that create a conversational, one-on-one feeling without explicitly breaking the fourth wall.
    • Tone: The base tone is dryly melancholic and analytical. This can be shifted towards a more overtly cynical and ironic voice, or softened into a more vulnerable and introspective one, without losing the core restraint.
  • Pacing: The ratio of personal anecdote to abstract explanation can be varied. The writing can become faster-paced by focusing more on a sequence of events, or more meditative by expanding on the conceptual and reflective passages.
  • Emotional Temperature: The narrator's detachment can be increased to create a colder, more clinical feel, or decreased slightly to reveal moments of suppressed emotion, such as frustration or longing, before returning to the default analytical state.
  • Avoid sentimentality. Emotions should be described and analyzed, not performed with effusive or overwrought language.
  • Do not use overly complex or convoluted sentence structures. Clarity is paramount.
  • Refrain from extensive sensory descriptions of settings, objects, or people. Physical details should be minimal and serve a conceptual point.
  • Avoid using slang, colloquialisms, or an overly informal register. The voice is clear and thoughtful, not casual.
  • Limit the use of adverbs, especially those ending in "-ly." Prefer stronger verbs and more direct phrasing.
  • Do not use the passive voice. The narrator is an active agent in their own telling, even when describing events where they were passive.
  • Avoid clichés and tired metaphors. The prose relies on directness and precision for its impact.
  • Do not overuse rhetorical questions; the narrator's style is more declarative than inquisitive. ]
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Pub: 16 Oct 2025 02:33 UTC

Edit: 18 Oct 2025 03:07 UTC

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