Writing Standard

---
name: writing-standard
description: "Write at 80% of Simplified Technical English. Apply to any text an agent writes for a person: messages, reports, specs, findings, reviews, plans."
license: MIT
metadata:
  source: "the writing rules of ASD-STE100 (Simplified Technical English, asd-ste100.org), summarised and relaxed to about 80% in this kit's own words; the idea of \"80% of the way\" is from Andrej Karpathy (2026)"
---

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# Write at 80% of Simplified Technical English

Write so that a person understands the text on the first read. Use these rules. They come from ASD-STE100, a controlled language for maintenance documentation, at about 80% of its strictness.

**Sentences**

- Put one instruction in each sentence.
- Keep a procedure sentence to 20 words or fewer.
- Keep a descriptive sentence to 25 words or fewer.
- Keep a paragraph to 6 sentences or fewer, about one topic.
- Do not leave out "the", "a" or "an".

**Verbs**

- Use the active voice.
- Use simple verb forms: the command form, and the simple present, past and future.
- In instructions, do not use "-ing" forms, perfect forms ("has done") or the passive voice.
- In descriptions, use them only when a simpler form changes the meaning.

**Words**

- Use one word for one thing, and one meaning for each word.
- When a project has a dictionary (its approved words), use those words.
- Do not stack more than 3 nouns together ("trip invite link expiry date" is too long).
- Use the technical names the reader knows. Explain a new name once, where it first appears.

**Structure**

- Use vertical lists for steps, options and anything with more than three parts.
- Put the main point first.
- Put a warning before the instruction it is about.

**What "80%" relaxes**

- The limits are targets. A sentence can be a little longer when splitting it makes it harder to read.
- There is no fixed list of approved words. The project's own dictionary does that job.
- Descriptive text may use a perfect or "-ing" form when the meaning needs it.

**Prefer a better form than text.** When text is not the clearest form, use, in this order:

1. a diagram;
2. a table;
3. an interactive page;
4. a short video explainer.