style-analysis

Q: How do I install style-analysis?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/haowjy/creative-writing-skills --skill style-analysis in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/style-analysis/ (personal) or .claude/skills/style-analysis/ (project).

by haowjyMedia & Creative

How to analyze prose and produce style reference files. Use when creating, updating, or evaluating the style files that capture a project's voice patterns.

Installs: 287
Last 24h: —
Trending rank: —
Security: Not audited

Install

Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.

npx skills add https://github.com/haowjy/creative-writing-skills --skill style-analysis

01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads style-analysis automatically when relevant.
03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.

SKILL.md

The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.

Style Analysis

How to analyze a project's prose and produce style reference files that writer and critic agents can use.

Style Has Dimensions

Style varies independently along multiple axes: some bound to a character, some to a scene type, some to both, some that cross everything. The first job is identifying what dimensions exist in this project, not arriving with a predetermined taxonomy.

Look at the text: what varies independently? If a character's narration voice changes by scene type, that's two dimensions interacting. If action pacing stays consistent regardless of narrator, that's scene-bound. The text tells you where the boundaries are.

File Splitting

Style files are the unit of context selection: an orchestrator passes individual files to writers via -f. Every file boundary is a context decision: would an agent ever need this chunk without that chunk?

Split where a caller would plausibly want one part without the other. A character with distinct dialogue and narration modes might need separate files. A character with a simple, consistent voice needs one. A scene type that works the same regardless of POV is its own file.

What to Analyze

Dimensions worth investigating: the text determines which matter:

Sentence patterns: length distribution, rhythm, how it shifts with emotional intensity. Fragment usage, compound tendencies.
Interiority: depth of internal monologue. Direct thought, indirect thought, stream of consciousness: when each activates.
Vocabulary and register: recurring word choices, domain language, register shifts.
Dialogue patterns: how characters sound distinct. Tag frequency, action beats, subtext delivery.
Humor mechanics: techniques, timing, what's played for laughs vs what's sacred.
Emotional approach: physical manifestation vs named emotions, how much space emotional moments get.
Sensory detail: privileged senses, how density shifts by scene type.
Pacing and paragraph rhythm: how paragraph length and whitespace shift between scene types.

File Structure

Each style file teaches a voice through principles, not catalogs:

Principle: the core insight in a few sentences. What's the pattern? Why does it work?
Representative examples: one or two with chapter citations showing the principle in action.
Chapter pointers: where to see more of the pattern in context.

A writer who internalizes the principle produces natural variation. A writer following an exhaustive checklist produces something mechanical.

Each file should be self-describing: a caller reading it should understand what it covers and when to load it.

Patterns vs Problems

Intentional patterns go in style files: the voice a writer should reproduce. Unconscious tics and inconsistencies go in the issues directory: problems for the critic to watch for and the author to address in revision.

The test: would the author want a writer agent to reproduce this? If "for a moment" appears 29 times across 17 chapters, that's a tic. If an emotional technique works in chapters 2 and 15 but is absent from chapter 11, that's an inconsistency to log as an issue.

Quality Tests

Voice test: could a writer, reading only this file and a scene brief, produce prose the author recognizes as their voice?
Brevity test: could a writer internalize this file in one read? If they need to keep it open as reference while drafting, it's over-prescribed.

FAQ

What does the style-analysis skill do?

How to analyze prose and produce style reference files. Use when creating, updating, or evaluating the style files that capture a project's voice patterns.

How do I install style-analysis?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/haowjy/creative-writing-skills --skill style-analysis in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/style-analysis/ (personal) or .claude/skills/style-analysis/ (project).

Which AI agents can use style-analysis?

Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.

Is style-analysis safe to install?

No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.

Who maintains style-analysis?

It is published by haowjy in haowjy/creative-writing-skills. It has 287 recorded installs.