cringe-checklisted

# Cringe Check Audit copy for the positioning moves that make a smart, qualified author look cocky or try-hard. This is a *tone and stance* check — it looks at how the author positions themselves relative to other people, the reader, and the truth. It does not touch sentence mechanics (that is the `ai-written-check` skill). The frame to hold: the strongest copy reads as a **generous collaborator who is genuinely good**, not a solo hero or a sage on a mountain. Most cringe comes from the author accidentally instrumentalizing other people or claiming more than they own. ## How to run it Walk the six dimensions below. For each hit, output: the **dimension name**, the **offending line quoted**, and a **collaborator-voice rewrite**. Be specific — a real rewrite, not "soften this." ## The six dimensions **1. Solo-hero check.** Does every story use "I" as the only agent? Are partners — PMs, engineers, designers, leadership, participants — instrumentalized or invisible? Fix: name collaborators with their own agency. **2. Positioning-against check.** Does the copy set up unnamed others (engineers, leadership, "most designers," "stock tools") as deficient so the author looks smart by contrast? Fix: let contrasts come from honest difference, not implicit putdown. **3. Curiosity check.** Does the copy show *any* open question, uncertainty, or genuine interest in the reader's specific work — or is it all answers and claims? All-answers reads as closed and cocky. **4. Generosity c