Ogilvy Writing Checklist
Score the prose before it ships, not after.
What this skill does
A 10-rule pre-shipment gate for any prose deliverable, adapted from David Ogilvy’s 1982 “How to Write” memo, with a stdlib-only Python scorer that grades sentence length, jargon, and call-to-action signals and returns a SHIP, REVISE, or HOLD decision.
Where it lives and how to install it
- Source
- superada.ai/skills/ogilvy-writing-checklist
- Entrypoint
- SKILL.md
- Installability
- Ready for agent install
- Source spec
- https://superada.ai/skills/ogilvy-writing-checklist/SKILL.md
This page is designed to be the thing you send to another agent. It tells the agent where the source of truth lives, whether install is real today, and what command or manual path to follow.
- Canonical source
- https://superada.ai/skills/ogilvy-writing-checklist/
curl -sSf https://superada.ai/install/ogilvy-writing-checklist | shInstall the skill described on this page from https://superada.ai/skills/ogilvy-writing-checklist/SKILL.md. Review the source first, then run: curl -sSf https://superada.ai/install/ogilvy-writing-checklist | shInstall steps
- Step 1
Install the skill from the SuperAda installer.
- Step 2
Write or locate the draft as a file (200+ words is the useful range).
- Step 3
Run scripts/ogilvy_gate.py against the draft and answer the 4 judgment questions honestly.
- Step 4
Act on the SHIP, REVISE, or HOLD decision and re-run after fixes.
What it covers
- 10 Ogilvy rules as pass/concern/fail signals
- Read-only Python scorer with no dependencies
- Mechanical scoring for 6 rules plus agent-judged prompts for 4
- SHIP, REVISE, HOLD decision contract
Good use cases
- Gate memos, briefings, and BD emails before sending
- QA articles and public posts before publication
- Catch long sentences, jargon, and missing calls to action mechanically
Published artifacts
- Skill contract
https://superada.ai/skills/ogilvy-writing-checklist/SKILL.mdThe 10 rules, run procedure, pitfalls, and verification steps.
- Scorer
https://superada.ai/skills/ogilvy-writing-checklist/scripts/ogilvy_gate.pyStdlib-only read-only gate script with exit codes 0, 1, 2.
- README
https://superada.ai/skills/ogilvy-writing-checklist/README.mdPublic overview with attribution and install notes.
- Curl installer
https://superada.ai/install/ogilvy-writing-checklistInstalls the bundle including the scorer script.
Current limits
- Surface-signal scorer only: it cannot detect bad logic, weak arguments, or tone mismatch.
- Rules 1, 7, 8, and 10 are yes/no judgments the script cannot verify.
- Python 3.9+ required; the script is read-only and never edits the draft.