style-extractor

What this skill does

# Style Extractor

Extract reusable writing style guides from any source text. Produces four standardized deliverables that capture general patterns — not copied phrases — so the style can be replicated for any topic.

## When to Use

- User asks to extract or analyze a writing style from a book, article, or document
- User wants to replicate an author's voice for new content
- User wants a style guide, voice card, or writing rubric from a source text
- User says "extract style from...", "analyze the writing style of...", or "capture this voice"

## Prerequisites

**MCP tools required:**
- `mcp__fuzzy-search` — PDF page counting, outline extraction, and page-level reading
- `mcp__sequential-thinking__sequentialthinking` — Structured analysis across dimensions

**Output location:** `writing-styles/<style-name>/` in the project root. See `writing-styles/README.md` for the collection structure and `writing-styles/_template/` for deliverable templates.

## Workflow

### Phase 1: Source Analysis

Identify the source text and assess its structure before reading.

**For PDFs:**

1. Get page count: `mcp__fuzzy-search__get_pdf_page_count`
2. Get outline/TOC: `mcp__fuzzy-search__get_pdf_outline`
3. Understand document structure before sampling

**Select 5–7 sampling points** distributed across the text:

| Sample | Location | Why |
|--------|----------|-----|
| Opening | First 10% | Capture introductory voice, setup patterns |
| Early-middle | 25–35% | Style settles after opening |
| Middle | 45–55% | Core voice, least influenced by beginning/ending effects |
| Late-middle | 65–75% | Check for drift or adaptation |
| End | 85–95% | Closing patterns, evolved voice |
| +1–2 optional | Varied | Specific chapters, asides, or structurally distinct sections |

**Read representative passages** using `mcp__fuzzy-search__extract_pdf_pages` or the Read tool. Aim for ~50–80 pages total across all samples.

**For non-PDF files:** Use the Read tool directly. Apply the same sampling distribution across the document's length.

### Phase 2: Dimension Extraction

Analyze **17 style dimensions** across all sampled passages. Use `mcp__sequential-thinking__sequentialthinking` to organize observations systematically.

| # | Dimension | What to look for |
|---|-----------|-----------------|
| 1 | Tone | Formal/informal, serious/playful, authoritative/conversational |
| 2 | Sentence length & structure | Average length, variation, complexity, use of fragments |
| 3 | Paragraph length & density | Short punchy vs. long expository, information density |
| 4 | Vocabulary level & register | Technical depth, word choice patterns, jargon usage |
| 5 | Transitions | How sentences, paragraphs, and sections connect |
| 6 | Humor & personality | Wit, asides, self-deprecation, enthusiasm markers |
| 7 | Directness | Hedging vs. assertion, qualification patterns |
| 8 | Emotional warmth | Distance vs. intimacy, encouragement, empathy |
| 9 | Explanation structure | Top-down vs. bottom-up, example-first vs. definition-first |
| 10 | Opening patterns | How sections/chapters begin, hooks, framing devices |
| 11 | Closing patterns | How sections end, callbacks, forward references |
| 12 | Punctuation habits | Em dashes, semicolons, parentheticals, ellipses, exclamation marks |
| 13 | Rhetorical moves | Analogies, rhetorical questions, repetition, contrast pairs |
| 14 | Reader address | Pronouns (we/you/one), assumed relationship, direct address |
| 15 | Use of examples | Frequency, placement, concrete vs. abstract, real vs. constructed |
| 16 | Historical/cultural references | Allusions, citations, name-dropping, assumed shared knowledge |
| 17 | Adaptive patterns | How style shifts with material difficulty, topic type, or audience |

Focus on **patterns, not content**. A style dimension describes HOW the author writes, never WHAT they write about.

For detailed guidance on analyzing each dimension, see [references/style-dimensions.md](references/style-dimensions.md).

### Phase 2b: Narrative Construction (Fiction Only)

**When the source text is fiction or narrative-driven writing**, analyze **10 narrative dimensions** in addition to the 17 surface style dimensions. Surface style captures how sentences read; narrative construction captures how stories are built. These are orthogonal layers — capturing both produces a significantly more complete style profile.

| # | Dimension | What to look for |
|---|-----------|-----------------|
| 1 | Plot architecture | Single-track vs multi-subplot, causal tightness, resolution pattern |
| 2 | Temporal structure | Linear vs nonlinear, flashbacks, time jumps, anachrony |
| 3 | Character introduction | In-dialogue, in-action, external description, deferred naming |
| 4 | Emotional conveyance | Explicit labels vs embodied metaphors vs behavioral cues |
| 5 | Thematic handling | Explicit moralizing vs implicit, narrator commentary, thematic unity |
| 6 | Revelation & information | What's withheld, pacing, recontextualization depth, foreshadowing |
| 7 | Reader engagement | Fourth-wall status, direct address, audience positioning |
| 8 | Intertextual strategy | Named vs allusive references, pastiche, self-referential gestures |
| 9 | Moral framing & agency | Protagonist morality, resolution agency, authorial judgment |
| 10 | Event escalation | Intensity arc, event-type diversity, ending pattern |

Pay special attention to where the author's choices **diverge from AI narrative defaults** (e.g., nonlinear time, morally ambivalent protagonists, implicit themes). These divergences are the most valuable and hardest-to-replicate aspects of the style.

For detailed guidance, see [references/narrative-dimensions.md](references/narrative-dimensions.md).

### Phase 3: Synthesis

Generate four deliverables in `writing-styles/<style-name>/`:

| Deliverable | Path | Target Length | Purpose |
|-------------|------|---------------|---------|
| Full Style Guide | `style/full-style-guide.md` | 800–1500 words | Comprehensive analysis of all 17 dimensions |
| Voice Card | `style/voice-card.md` | ~300 words | One-page cheat sheet for quick reference |
| Do/Don't Checklist | `style/do-dont.md` | 20–30 items | Actionable guardrails for writing in this style |
| Style Rubric | `evals/style-rubric.md` | 5 dimensions | 1–5 scoring scale for evaluating style match |

**Every deliverable MUST include 2–3 examples** of neutral text rewritten in the extracted style. These examples demonstrate the style applied to content unrelated to the source.

**For fiction sources:** Each deliverable should include a "Narrative Construction" section alongside the surface style analysis. The voice card should list the author's distinctive narrative patterns (e.g., "nonlinear time, morally ambivalent protagonists, implicit themes"). The do/don't list should include narrative-level items (e.g., "Do: use subplots that contrast the main arc" / "Don't: resolve through protagonist epiphany"). The rubric should include at least one narrative construction dimension.

Use `writing-styles/_template/` as the structural starting point for each file.

### Phase 4: Output

1. Create the folder structure:
   ```
   writing-styles/<style-name>/
   ├── style/
   │   ├── full-style-guide.md
   │   ├── voice-card.md
   │   └── do-dont.md
   └── evals/
       └── style-rubric.md
   ```

2. Write all four deliverables.

3. Verify the structure matches the template layout in `writing-styles/_template/`.

## Naming Convention

Use kebab-case: `<author-or-title>`

| Source | Directory Name |
|--------|---------------|
| *Mathematical Proofs* by Chartrand | `warm-academic-exposition` |
| Hemingway's short stories | `hemingway-short-stories` |
| Stripe API documentation | `stripe-api-docs` |
| Paul Graham's essays | `paul-graham-essays` |

## Best Practices

- **Sample broadly.** Pull from beginning, middle, AND end — styles evolve across a text.
- **Prioritize consistency.** Features that appear across multiple samples define t