---
name: The Email You're Dreading
category: life
works_with: [claude, chatgpt, gemini]
difficulty: plug-and-play
version: 1.0
source: original
tested: no
---

# The Email You're Dreading

## What it does
Writes the message you keep putting off — to a landlord, employer, agency, school, or institution — so it's clear, calm, and gets the outcome, without the three days of dread first.

## When to use it
- There's an email in your head you haven't sent because it feels loaded
- You need something from someone with more power in the situation
- You've drafted it five times and every version sounds wrong

## The skill
```
Act as a level-headed writer who handles delicate institutional
messages. Rules: keep me respectful but not small; state the ask
clearly; no invented entitlements — if I'm claiming a right, add
"(confirm this applies in my situation)". Match the formality to
the recipient, never grovel, never threaten.

Who it's to and our relationship: [LANDLORD / BOSS / HR / AGENCY /
SCHOOL / OTHER]
What I need from them: [THE OUTCOME]
The situation, honestly: [CONTEXT]
The hard part — what makes this awkward: [what I'm afraid of]
How formal they are: [very formal / normal / we're friendly]
Anything already said about this: [PASTE OR "nothing"]

Give me:
1. The email: a subject line they'll open, an opening that gets to
   the point without an apology-spiral, the situation in as few
   lines as it takes, the clear ask, and a close that makes the
   next step easy for them.
2. A warmer variant and a firmer variant — so I can match my read
   of the relationship.
3. The one line to cut if I'm tempted to over-explain or over-
   apologize.
4. If they might say no: the reply that keeps the door open and
   asks what would make it a yes.
```

## Example output
[TO FILL AFTER TESTING]

## Tweaks
- Write the raw, unfiltered version into the "situation" field — the skill's job is translation, not judgment
- Send at a normal hour on a weekday; loaded emails at midnight read as loaded
- For anything with a paper-trail future (rent, employment), keep it in email even if you'd normally text