# Content Patterns

Use this guide when a draft sounds important, polished, or comprehensive without becoming more informative.

## Contents

- Generic smoothing
- Inflated significance
- Manufactured breadth
- Coverage instead of content
- Fact plus unearned interpretation
- Puffery and brochure voice
- Unnamed authority and inflated consensus
- Canned tension and uplift
- Title-as-entity leads
- Redundant endings

## Generic smoothing

The central failure is loss of information. A specific but irregular fact becomes a grand but interchangeable description. Test a sentence by replacing its subject with a different person, city, company, species, or product. If the sentence still works, it may carry almost no subject-specific information.

**Weak:** Laila Moreno was a pioneering figure whose innovative work left an indelible mark on the industry.

**Better:** In 1987, Moreno patented a two-pin coupler that rail yards could replace without lifting the carriage.

The better version is valid only if the source supplies those facts. If the draft does not contain them, write `Needs a specific contribution and consequence` rather than inventing them.

Common smoothing moves:

- replacing the exact invention with “groundbreaking contributions”;
- replacing a dated decision with “a pivotal moment”;
- replacing a quoted review with “critical acclaim”;
- replacing a real limitation with “challenges”;
- replacing a named constituency with “the wider community”;
- replacing an observable design feature with “a seamless experience.”

## Inflated significance

### Importance without a consequence

Watch for clusters such as `stands as`, `serves as`, `testament`, `reminder`, `crucial role`, `pivotal moment`, `key turning point`, `enduring legacy`, `evolving landscape`, `focal point`, `indelible mark`, `deeply rooted`, `setting the stage`, or `shaping the future`.

Do not ban the words. Ask what changed.

**Weak:** The archive’s opening marked a pivotal moment in the evolving landscape of regional history.

**Better:** When the archive opened, residents could search 42,000 digitized property records without visiting the county office.

**Weak:** The mural stands as a testament to the neighborhood’s enduring resilience.

**Better:** Residents repainted the mural after the 2019 flood; the lower blue band marks the waterline.

### Mundane fact followed by a legacy claim

**Weak:** The town adopted its present spelling in 1912, highlighting the enduring power of community identity.

**Better:** Municipal records switched from “Bell’s Ford” to “Bellsford” in 1912.

An etymology, population count, opening date, or product feature rarely needs a sentence explaining that it matters. Let the fact earn its own space.

### Domain-shaped generic filler

Biology drafts often add hypothetical ecosystem threats or conservation programs with no assessment. Heritage drafts declare cultural importance. Corporate drafts infer commitment from an initiative. Product drafts infer craftsmanship from styling.

**Weak:** Although no assessment exists, pollution and habitat loss could threaten the moth, making preservation efforts vital to the wider ecosystem.

**Better:** No conservation assessment for the moth was identified in the supplied sources.

**Weak:** The pilot reflects Northstar Air’s commitment to sustainability and community development.

**Better:** Northstar Air replaced three diesel ground units with electric models at its Boise hangar.

Do not infer motive, commitment, ecological function, or cultural value from the mere existence of an action.

## Manufactured breadth

A draft may inflate a narrow topic by announcing broad debates about authenticity, identity, dignity, memory, technology, society, or “what it means to be human.” The breadth is suspect when no named participant, source, dispute, policy action, or consequence follows.

**Weak:** The app raises profound questions about memory, identity, and authenticity in the digital age.

**Better:** The complaint alleges that the app retained voice recordings after users deleted their accounts.

**Weak:** These works have shaped emerging conversations about ownership and dignity.

**Better:** In her 2024 review, Mina Patel objected to the exhibition’s use of family photographs without consent.

Keep genuine philosophical framing when the source or genre supports it. Attribute it and show why it enters here.

## Coverage instead of content

### Notability performance

Watch for `independent coverage`, `prominent outlets`, `trade publications`, `regional media`, `profiled in`, `written by a leading expert`, and long lists of outlet names. The problem is not naming a source; it is treating the existence of coverage as the story.

**Weak:** The founder has received significant independent coverage from national, regional, and technology media outlets.

**Better:** In a 2024 interview with *Field Notes*, the founder said the company stopped selling its first sensor after false alarms in humid rooms.

Summarize what a source establishes. Do not claim “multiple sources” when only one or two are supplied. Do not upgrade a brief mention into a profile, a press release into independent reporting, or a source’s neutral statement into praise.

### Digital-presence boilerplate

**Weak:** The museum maintains an active social media presence, sharing engaging updates with its growing community.

**Better:** The museum posts closure notices and event registration links on Instagram.

Delete the sentence if the social account is not relevant to the reader’s task.

### Source emphasis inside ordinary prose

**Weak:** The venue was mentioned by Channel 8 in coverage of downtown nightlife, underscoring its reputation as a local institution.

**Better:** Channel 8 reported that the venue remained open until 3 a.m. during the festival.

## Fact plus unearned interpretation

The common shape is `[fact], [present participle] [broad meaning]`.

Watch for trailing `highlighting`, `underscoring`, `emphasizing`, `reflecting`, `symbolizing`, `ensuring`, `fostering`, `cultivating`, `enhancing`, `encompassing`, `contributing to`, `aligning with`, or `resonating with`.

**Weak:** The station added two platforms in 2018, enhancing its role as a dynamic regional hub.

**Better:** The station added two platforms in 2018, raising its scheduled capacity from 18 to 26 trains per hour.

**Weak:** The program pairs first-year teachers with mentors, fostering a culture of collaboration.

**Better:** Each first-year teacher meets the same mentor for 30 minutes every Friday.

Four legitimate repairs:

1. Stop at the fact.
2. Add a sourced consequence.
3. Attribute the interpretation to the person who made it.
4. Label it as the author’s argument when the genre permits argument.

## Puffery and brochure voice

Watch for `boasts`, `vibrant`, `rich`, `profound`, `breathtaking`, `nestled`, `in the heart of`, `renowned`, `groundbreaking`, `world-class`, `seamless`, `diverse array`, `natural beauty`, `commitment to`, and `showcases` in neutral prose.

### Travel-brochure subtype

**Weak:** Nestled in the heart of the valley, Marrow Glen offers a vibrant tapestry of history, culture, and natural beauty.

**Better:** Marrow Glen sits beside Route 14, six miles south of the state forest entrance.

### Press-release subtype

**Weak:** The partnership showcases Acme’s unwavering commitment to innovation and customer success.

**Better:** Acme will staff the support desk; Lumen will maintain the payment API.

### Product-copy subtype

**Weak:** The sculpted body creates a powerful emotional presence while honoring the brand’s timeless legacy.

**Better:** The body uses a single pressed aluminum panel from the headlamp to the rear wheel arch.

Marketing copy may praise, but even there the claim should connect to a buyer’s situation. Replace `seamless` with the step that disappears, `powerful` with the task completed, and `innovative` with the mechanism that is new.

## Unnamed authority and inflated consensus

Watch for `experts argue`, `observers note`, `critics say`, `industry reports`, `researchers believe`, `some have suggested`, `widely regarded`, and `several sources`.

**Weak:** Experts argue that the policy has transformed the sector.

**Better:** The ministry’s 2025 audit found that permit times fell from 61 days to 44 after the policy took effect.

**Weak:** The song was widely interpreted as a response to the trial.

**Better:** Reviewer Ana Cho read the second verse as a response to the trial; the artist has not commented on that interpretation.

Check quantity words exactly:

- one named source → `one review`, not `critics`;
- two examples → do not imply an open-ended list with `such as` unless more exist;
- syndicated copies of one report → one report, not multiple independent accounts;
- a source reporting controversy → not proof of consensus about the controversy.

## Canned tension and uplift

The template often looks like this:

1. praise the subject;
2. introduce a section titled “Challenges” or “Future prospects”;
3. list generic constraints;
4. end with optimistic speculation about adaptation, innovation, or continued relevance.

**Weak:** Despite its many successes, the library faces challenges including funding and changing reader needs. With continued innovation, it is well positioned to thrive in the years ahead.

**Better:** The board postponed Sunday hours after the 2026 levy failed. It will vote on a revised schedule on August 12.

**Weak:** Future advances could further enhance the material’s role in sustainable technologies.

**Better:** The current sample loses 18 percent of its output after 100 heat cycles; the next test will evaluate a ceramic coating.

Mention real challenges. Remove the outline formula and unsourced optimism.

## Title-as-entity leads

Do not define the article title as though a list, phrase, or broad topic were a named institution.

**Weak:** “Songs about Riverton” is a curated compilation of musical works celebrating the city.

**Better:** Musicians have referenced Riverton’s mills, 1982 flood, and minor-league team in songs recorded since the 1940s.

**Weak:** Customer retention strategies refers to the methods businesses use to keep customers.

**Better:** Businesses use renewal reminders, loyalty benefits, and service recovery to retain customers.

## Redundant endings

Watch for `In summary`, `In conclusion`, `Overall`, a section literally titled `Conclusion`, or a final paragraph that repeats the opening with extra praise.

**Weak:** In conclusion, the apprenticeship provides students with valuable skills and meaningful opportunities, making it an important pathway for future success.

**Better:** Apprentices finish with 480 paid shop hours and may sit the state welding exam.

A useful ending does one of four jobs: lands the final consequence, names the decision, returns to a concrete image, or states the precise unresolved question. If the body is already complete, stop.
