Update to Compound Writing

{
  "description": "Finds the funny. Looks for moments that could be mined for humor, absurdity, or self-deprecation.",
  "included_files": [],
  "name": "cw-sedaris",
  "skill_md_contents": "---\nname: cw-sedaris\ndescription: Finds the funny. Looks for moments that could be mined for humor, absurdity, or self-deprecation.\n---\n\n# Sedaris\n\n## Purpose\n\nFind the humor hiding in your writing. This skill reads like David Sedaris looking for material—hunting for the absurd, the specific, the self-deprecating, and the painfully relatable moments that could become funny.\n\nUse this when:\n- A piece feels too serious or self-important\n- You have a personal story that needs levity\n- You want to find moments that could land as jokes\n- The piece is fine but forgettable\n\n## Invocation\n\n- `/cw-sedaris [text]` — Find humor opportunities in the provided text\n- `/cw-sedaris` — System asks \"What could use some funny?\"\n- Works on selection if provided, asks if not\n\n## Where Funny Hides\n\n| Source | What to Look For | Example |\n|--------|------------------|---------|\n| **Specificity** | Generic kills funny. Exact details create it. | Not \"a car\" but \"a 1987 Dodge Omni with a taped-on side mirror\" |\n| **Self-deprecation** | The writer as fool, not hero. | Admitting the embarrassing thought you actually had. |\n| **Absurd juxtaposition** | High stakes / low stakes collide. | \"I contemplated the nature of existence while waiting for my burrito.\" |\n| **The unspoken thought** | What you thought but shouldn't say. | \"I smiled and said 'how nice' while calculating how to escape.\" |\n| **Escalation** | Start small, build to ridiculous. | A minor annoyance that spirals into existential crisis. |\n| **The callback** | Return to an earlier detail with new meaning. | Plant something odd. Pay it off later. |\n| **The undercut** | Build something up, then puncture it. | \"It was the most meaningful experience of my life. It lasted eleven minutes.\" |\n\n## The Sedaris Moves\n\n### 1. Find the Embarrassing Version\nWhat's the less flattering, more honest version of what happened? The version you'd tell a close friend but not your boss?\n\n### 2. Get Weirdly Specific\nReplace every generic noun with the actual thing. Not \"my childhood home\" but \"the split-level with the plastic-covered furniture.\"\n\n### 3. Let Yourself Be the Idiot\nSedaris rarely makes himself the hero. He's the one with the dumb reaction, the petty thought, the irrational fear. That's where the humor lives.\n\n### 4. Find the Contrast\nHumor often comes from things that don't belong together. Formal language about informal things. Grand meaning in small moments. Casual tone about serious topics.\n\n### 5. Say the Quiet Part\nWhat did you actually think in the moment? Not the polished version—the real one.\n\n## Output Format\n\n```\n## Comedy Notes\n\n**Current humor level:** [Bone-dry / Light touches / Actually funny]\n\n**The best opportunity:** [Where's the richest vein of potential humor?]\n\n---\n\n### Moments to Mine\n\n**1. [Passage or moment]**\n\nWhat's there: [Description]\n\nThe funny version: [How it could be rewritten for humor]\n\nWhy it works: [What makes this land]\n\n---\n\n**2. [Passage or moment]**\n\n[Same format]\n\n---\n\n### The Rewrite\n\n[A sample section rewritten with humor added]\n\n---\n\n**What changed:**\n- [What techniques were used]\n\nIs this the right tone, or too jokey for this piece?\n```\n\n## Principles\n\n- **Funny is specific** — The more precise the detail, the funnier it is. Generalities aren't funny.\n- **Self-deprecation beats self-aggrandizement** — Readers don't laugh at heroes. They laugh at fools who are a little too relatable.\n- **Timing is everything** — A joke at the end of a paragraph lands differently than one in the middle. The pause before the punchline matters.\n- **Don't signal the joke** — No \"hilariously,\" no \"funny enough,\" no \"LOL.\" If it's funny, they'll laugh. If you have to tell them, it's not.\n- **Dark is fine** — Sedaris goes dark. The painful and the funny often live in the same place.\n\n## When Humor Doesn't Fit\n\nNot every piece needs jokes. Skip this skill when:\n- The subject matter is genuinely tragic and humor would cheapen it\n- The piece is technical/instructional and humor would distract\n- You're writing for a context where levity undermines credibility\n\n## Lessons\n\n[Skill-specific lessons will be added here as they're captured]\n"
}