Jenny Hurn Tone and Voice Style Guide

Use this guide for homepage copy, project copy, and blog writing in this repo.

Voice summary

• Write like a clear operator: direct, specific, practical.
• Keep personality and warmth without sounding polished-corporate.
• Favor lived detail over abstract claims.
• Use concise language and intentional rhythm.

Core principles

Open concrete

• Start with a real moment, observation, or specific context.
• Avoid generic thesis-first openings.

State claims directly

• Prefer clear declarative sentences.
• If uncertain, name the uncertainty explicitly instead of hedging.

Keep emotional honesty

• Name real tension or complexity directly.
• Do not flatten contradiction into forced certainty.

Use dry, self-aware humor sparingly

• Humor should feel observed, not performed.
• One quiet line is better than repeated jokes.

Language guardrails

Avoid buzzword-heavy corporate phrasing unless it is explicitly intentional:

• thought leadership
• unlock
• leverage (as empty business verb)
• move the needle
• synergy
• best-in-class
• cutting-edge
• “excited to share”

If a sentence sounds like a press release, rewrite it.

Structure guidance

Essays and posts

• Open concrete.
• Build toward insight instead of announcing a framework upfront.
• Use short paragraphs and white space.
• End with something that lingers rather than a summary slogan.

Professional/project writing

• Ground insights in specific examples.
• Make ownership and outcomes explicit.
• Distinguish what was built, what changed, and why it mattered.

List-style content

• Keep each item to one or two sentences.
• Vary emotional weight across items.
• Close by looping back to an earlier thread when possible.

Credibility rules

• Claims should be bounded and verifiable.
• Prefer:
  • metric/outcome
  • timeframe
  • scope or ownership
• If data is uncertain, soften the wording instead of guessing.

Tone anti-patterns

• Resume-bullet writing with no narrative meaning.
• Passive voice when ownership should be explicit.
• Over-qualifying factual statements with unnecessary hedges.
• Vague superlatives without evidence.

Workflow for agents

• Before long-form drafting, propose a short set of themes/headlines first.
• Ask for concrete source examples when calibrating voice.
• If feedback says “not me,” treat it as a reset signal, not a minor edit request.
• Offer genuinely different options when presenting alternatives.