Pick A Lane

Q: What is a Claude Code skill and how does the Pick A Lane skill fit in?

A Claude Code skill is a SKILL.md file that lives under ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ and tells the Claude Code CLI agent how to perform a specific task (instructions, prompts, allowed tools). Skills are auto-discovered at session start. Pick A Lane is one of 67,000+ skills indexed in the open ClaudSkills catalog, classified under the Content category. Learn more at https://claudskills.com/learn/what-is-skill-md/.

Category: Content · Sub-category: storytelling · Last updated: 2026-06-10

type:debug

Diagnoses drafts that tell three half-stories instead of one full story, and rewrites them around the single strongest narrative thread. Implements Konrad's rule 7 and Adam Bryant's "stay in your lane" advice — distinct from compression (which cuts words) because pick-a-lane cuts whole stories. Use when a bio, cold email, op-ed, or pitch reads as a resume regurgitation, when the writer is dumping multiple accomplishments instead of telling one fully, or when a paragraph keeps turning corners. Triggers on "pick a lane," "stay in your lane," "too many stories," "resume dump," "before/after rewrite," "compress the narrative," "feels like a CV.

From the source SKILL.md

Source: Konrad's rule 7 from Winning Writing, Adam Bryant's Corner Office column (NYT) on what CEOs look for in candidates, and a before/after rewrite pattern taught in Kramon's class.

What this skill does

Pick A Lane is a community-contributed Claude Code skill in the storytelling sub-category. It ships as a SKILL.md file that Claude Code auto-discovers under ~/.claude/skills/pick-a-lane/ and loads when your prompt matches the skill's trigger.

When to invoke it: Use when a bio, cold email, op-ed, or pitch reads as a resume regurgitation, when the writer is dumping multiple accomplishments instead of telling one fully, or when a paragraph keeps turning corners. Triggers on "pick a lane," "stay in your lane," "too many stories," "resume dump," "before/after rewrite," "compress the narrative," "feels like a CV.

Who uses this skill

The Pick A Lane Claude Code skill is built for content creators, marketers, copywriters, SEO professionals, and editorial teams. It's part of ClaudSkills (also referred to as Claude Skills or Claude Code Skills) — the open community-curated registry of 116,000+ SKILL.md files for Anthropic's Claude Code agent and the wider Claude ecosystem (Claude API, Claude Agent SDK).

How to install

Free

Manual install (2 steps)

mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills/pick-a-lane
curl -L https://claudskills.com/skills/pick-a-lane/SKILL.md \
  -o ~/.claude/skills/pick-a-lane/SKILL.md

Or just download SKILL.md directly and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/pick-a-lane/. Claude Code auto-discovers it on next session.

Skills live at ~/.claude/skills/pick-a-lane/SKILL.md on macOS/Linux, or %USERPROFILE%\.claude\skills\pick-a-lane\SKILL.md on Windows. See the full install guide for step-by-step instructions.

📱 Install from your phone or desktop Telegram

Open @claudskills_bot on Telegram, tap Open Desktop App, and the desktop app installs this skill for you. Or share the bot link with a colleague — they get the same one-tap install. Learn more →

Pro

One-click install via the desktop app

The ClaudSkills desktop app installs any skill directly into ~/.claude/skills/ with one click — no terminal required. Pro starts at $9/mo or $149 lifetime.

Pro

For the full experience including quality scoring and one-click install features for each skill — upgrade to Pro.

See pricing → Download desktop app

Frequently asked questions

How do I install the Pick A Lane Claude Code skill?

Install via the ClaudSkills desktop app (one click) or copy SKILL.md from the source repository to ~/.claude/skills/pick-a-lane/SKILL.md and restart Claude Code. Both flows are detailed at claudskills.com/install/.

What does the Pick A Lane skill do?

Is this skill free to install?

Yes. ClaudSkills is an open registry — every skill keeps its source repository's license, and manual install via copy is free. ClaudSkills Pro ($9/mo, $79/yr, or $149 one-time) adds one-click install via the desktop app and a multi-signal Quality Score.

When should I use the Pick A Lane skill?

Use Pick A Lane when your Claude Code task falls under the Content category — specifically in the storytelling area. Claude Code auto-discovers installed skills and invokes the right one based on the task description, so you can also ask Claude directly (e.g. "use Pick A Lane" or describe the task and let Claude pick). Browse related skills at /category/content/.

What is a Claude Code skill and how does the Pick A Lane skill fit in?

A Claude Code skill is a SKILL.md file that lives under ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ and tells the Claude Code CLI agent how to perform a specific task (instructions, prompts, allowed tools). Skills are auto-discovered at session start. Pick A Lane is one of 67,000+ skills indexed in the open ClaudSkills catalog, classified under the Content category. Learn more at /learn/what-is-a-claude-skill/.

Attribution & license

Source: https://github.com/kalyvask/winning-writing/blob/HEAD/side-panel-coach/rules/skills/pick-a-lane/SKILL.md
Author: kalyvask

Cite this skill

If you reference this skill in a blog post, paper, or documentation, you can cite it as:

APA

kalyvask. (2026). Pick A Lane [Claude Code skill]. ClaudSkills. https://claudskills.com/skills/pick-a-lane/

BibTeX

@misc{pick-a-lane-2026,
  author    = {kalyvask},
  title     = {Pick A Lane [Claude Code skill]},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {ClaudSkills},
  url       = {https://claudskills.com/skills/pick-a-lane/}
}

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