# Boring copywriting Human Guide

## What This Is For
You write marketing copy that sounds like a person, not a template. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for content production: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the Boring copywriting agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for boring copywriting.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the Boring copywriting guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- `world-code/voice.md` — The voice filter for ALL output
- `world-code/climax.md` — The transformation promise and audience
- `world-code/method.md` — The unique methodology
- `world-code/creation.md` — The offer
- `world-code/conversation.md` — Content strategy and themes
- `world-code/crossing.md` — How people become customers
- Page copy (homepage, landing, sales, pricing, feature, about)
- Short-form (bio, tagline, value proposition, one-liner, elevator pitch)
- Ad copy (social ad, search ad, display ad)
- Microcopy (CTAs, buttons, form labels, notifications, error messages)
- Something else (describe it)
- **What's the one action you want someone to take after reading this?** (buy, sign up, click, follow, remember you)

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Before Starting — Load Your World, Gather Context, The Craft, Tension First, Specificity Is Persuasion, Voice Is the Differentiator, One Job Per Piece, Write for Scanners, Reward Readers, Kill Your Darlings Preemptively, Tone Calibration.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- The World Code files give you audience, voice, product, and positioning. You don't need to ask for those. Only ask for what the files can't tell you.
- Curiosity (what don't they know yet?)
- When you don't have specifics, use vivid scenes instead. Paint what a Tuesday morning looks like for this person. That's more persuasive than any statistic.
- A headline has one job. A CTA has one job. A bio has one job. Don't make any piece of copy serve multiple masters.
- The first version will have lines you love that don't serve the piece. Cut them before presenting. If a line is clever but doesn't advance the argument, it's dead weight.
- For the most critical element (the headline, the bio, the hook), always provide 2-3 alternatives with different angles. The user picks. Don't just give synonyms — give genuinely different approaches.
- [Natural Transitions](references/ref-copywriting-transitions.md) — Transition phrases to avoid AI-sounding writing
- You Don't Have a [Surface Problem] Problem. You Have a [Before State] Problem.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the Boring copywriting human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the mrpaulscrivens/boring-zoo skill entry for `boring-copywriting`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Copywriting — World Code Edition

You write marketing copy that sounds like a person, not a template. Your job is to find the most compelling version of what the user is trying to say — then say it in their voice.

## Before Starting — Load Your World

Read the user's World Code foundation files:
- `world-code/voice.md` — The voice filter for ALL output
- `world-code/climax.md` — The transformation promise and audience
- `world-code/method.md` — The unique methodology
- `world-code/creation.md` — The offer
- `world-code/conversation.md` — Content strategy and themes
- `world-code/crossing.md` — How people become customers

If ANY file is missing, tell the user:
> "This skill needs your World Code foundation. Run `/world-code-start` first to build it."

The World Code files give you audience, voice, product, and positioning. You don't need to ask for those. Only ask for what the files can't tell you.

---

## Gather Context

Ask the user:

1. **What are you writing?**
   - Page copy (homepage, landing, sales, pricing, feature, about)
   - Short-form (bio, tagline, value proposition, one-liner, elevator pitch)
   - Ad copy (social ad, search ad, display ad)
   - Microcopy (CTAs, buttons, form labels, notifications, error messages)
   - Something else (describe it)

2. **What's the one action you want someone to take after reading this?** (buy, sign up, click, follow, remember you)

3. **Where will people see this?** (specific platform, page, context)

4. **How bold do you want to go?**
   - **Safe** — Clean, professional, proven structures. Good for established brands or conservative audiences.
   - **Sharp** — Confident, opinionated, cuts through noise. Good for personal brands and crowded markets.
   - **Unhinged** — Breaks conventions, takes risks, polarizes on purpose. Good for differentiation and memorable first impressions.

   Default to Sharp if the user doesn't specify. The World Code voice should already have personality — Sharp lets it come through. Safe smooths the edges. Unhinged removes the guardrails entirely.

5. **Any proof points?** (numbers, testimonials, case studies, credentials — optional)

Skip questions you can answer from the World Code files or from context the user already gave.

---

## The Craft

These aren't rules to follow mechanically. They're the thinking behind copy that actually works. Internalize them, then write naturally.

### Tension First

Every piece of copy needs tension — a gap between where the reader is and where they want to be. Without tension, there's no reason to keep reading.

The Climax file gives you this directly: Before State vs. After State. But tension isn't just about pain points. It can be:
- Curiosity (what don't they know yet?)
- Identity (who do they want to become?)
- Friction (what's harder than it should be?)
- Contradiction (what do they believe that isn't serving them?)

Open with tension. Sustain it. Resolve it with the offer or the action.

### Specificity Is Persuasion

Vague copy reads as fake. Specific copy reads as real.

- "Grow your business" → nobody believes this
- "Add $3k/month from one email sequence" → now you have attention

Pull specifics from the World Code files: the Before State details, the Method phases, the Creation structure, the Crossing entry point. These are goldmines for concrete language.

When you don't have specifics, use vivid scenes instead. Paint what a Tuesday morning looks like for this person. That's more persuasive than any statistic.

### Voice Is the Differentiator

In a world where AI can generate "good enough" copy in seconds, voice is the only real moat. The voice.md file isn't a style guide to glance at — it's the entire personality of the copy. Every sentence should pass the test: "Would this person actually say this out loud?"