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How to create a Claude Skill that writes in your voice

Published October 22, 2026 · By Your Voice, Installed

Claude Skills are a tidy way to give Claude standing knowledge without pasting it into every chat. A Skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file inside. The file contains a short description of when to use it, followed by instructions. When your request matches the description, Claude loads the Skill and follows it.

That makes Skills a natural fit for your writing voice. Write your style down once, package it as a Skill, and Claude can use it whenever you ask for a post, email or page "in my voice." This guide shows you how to build one yourself, for free.

What you need

  • A Claude account. Anthropic's help center lists Skills on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans. Features can change, so check your own account.
  • Code execution and file creation turned on, because Skills run in Claude's code environment. On individual plans this is under Settings → Capabilities. On Team and Enterprise plans, an owner controls it in organization settings.
  • A plain text editor (TextEdit in plain-text mode, Notepad, or any code editor).
  • 3 to 5 samples of your own writing.

Source: Claude Help Center, Use skills in Claude.

Step 1: Write your voice rules

The Skill is only as good as the rules inside it. Gather 3 to 5 pieces that sound like you, ask Claude to analyze them, and then correct the result by hand. Here's a prompt you can use:

Analyze my writing voice from the samples below. For each of these,
quote 1-2 short examples from my samples: sentence and paragraph
length, openers, closers, word choice, personality, formatting, and
what I avoid. Then write 10-14 specific Do/Don't rules a writer could
follow to sound like me. Don't invent traits the samples don't show.

Edit the rules until each one is true and specific. Add a "never" list of words and phrases you don't want, and a rule to leave [placeholders] instead of inventing facts. Our voice guide template walks through this in more detail.

Step 2: Create the SKILL.md file

Make a folder named after your skill, using lowercase letters and hyphens, for example jordan-lee-voice. Inside it, create a file named exactly SKILL.md.

The file starts with a short header (called frontmatter) between two lines of three dashes. It holds a name that matches the folder and a description that tells Claude when to use the Skill. Your rules go underneath.

Here's an illustrative example for a made-up person. Replace everything with your own details:

---
name: jordan-lee-voice
description: Writes in the voice of Jordan Lee, a freelance
  bookkeeper for small businesses. Use whenever drafting or editing
  social posts, emails, newsletters or website copy for Jordan, or
  when asked to "write like me" or "use my voice".
---

# Jordan Lee voice

## Who's reading
Owners of small service businesses who find bookkeeping stressful.

## Voice in one line
Calm, plain-spoken, reassuring. Explains the "why" in one sentence.

## Rhythm
- Most sentences under 15 words. Paragraphs of 1-3 sentences.
- Open with the reader's problem. Close with one simple next step.

## Words
- Plain words over jargon. "Money in, money out" over "cash flow
  management".
- Contractions always.

## Never
- Scare tactics about taxes or audits.
- These words: leverage, synergy, game-changer, "in today's world".
- Invented numbers, deadlines or results. Use [placeholders].

## Example
Instead of: "Unlock financial freedom with our game-changing services!"
Write: "If your receipts live in a shoebox, that's fine. Let's start
there."

## Before returning a draft
Would Jordan say this to a client on the phone? If not, simplify.

A few tips for the description: name the kinds of writing it covers and include phrases you'll actually type, like "in my voice." A vague description such as "my writing style" makes it less likely Claude will pick the Skill at the right moment.

Step 3: Zip it correctly

Claude takes the Skill as a ZIP file containing your skill folder, with SKILL.md inside that folder.

  • Mac: right-click the folder (not the file) and choose Compress.
  • Windows: right-click the folder and choose Send to → Compressed (zipped) folder (or Compress to ZIP file on newer versions).

Zip the folder itself, not a folder containing another folder. If the upload fails, this is the most common cause.

Step 4: Upload it to Claude

Per Anthropic's help center, the steps are:

  1. Make sure Code execution and file creation is on (Settings → Capabilities on individual plans).
  2. Go to Customize → Skills.
  3. Click the + button, then Create skill.
  4. Select Upload a skill and choose your ZIP file.
  5. Your Skill appears in your skills list. Make sure it's toggled on.

Custom Skills you upload are private to you unless you share them. On Team and Enterprise plans, an admin can turn off user-created skills. If you can't see the upload option, that may be why.

Step 5: Use it

Start a new chat and ask for something your description covers: "Write a short Instagram caption about [topic] in my voice." Claude loads a Skill when your task matches its description. Anthropic's docs also note you can pick a skill yourself by typing / in the message box and selecting it.

Give Claude the facts it needs (dates, prices, names), and ask for one piece at a time.

Step 6: Improve it over time

When a draft misses, figure out which rule would have prevented it, then edit SKILL.md, re-zip the folder and upload the new version. Small, specific fixes ("never start with a question") work better than broad ones ("be less salesy").

Keep it safe, too. Don't put passwords, API keys or client data in a Skill, and only upload Skills from sources you trust. Anthropic recommends reading a Skill's files before turning it on.

Bonus: the same file works in Gemini

Google's Gemini app now supports skills too. Its help center says you can upload a SKILL.md, or a ZIP with SKILL.md in its main folder, under Customize → Skills → Create → Upload. One voice file, two tools. See our Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot guide for details.

Want it built for you?

If you'd like help with the voice rules first, the free Voice Primer gives you a ready-made prompt and checklist.

Or skip the setup entirely. Your Voice, Installed builds a ready-to-upload Claude Skill from 3 to 5 pieces you've already written, along with ChatGPT instructions, a portable voice guide, and setups for Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot, plus 3 sample pieces in your voice. Done for you, $39 one time, one revision included.

Menu names and plan availability in AI tools change often. Steps here follow each company's help pages as of October 2026; check the linked sources if something looks different. Examples are illustrative.