Bow Tie Kreative Writing System
Run the engine

The model

Writing from First Principles

The zero rule

A text succeeds only when the intended reader can recover the intended meaning and use it for the intended purpose in the actual context.

Core equation

writing_quality = decoded_intent_accuracy × reader_usability × contextual_fitness × trust

The eleven levels

LevelUnitFormulaJobFailure
0 signal form + contrast Create a perceivable difference. The reader cannot detect a meaningful distinction.
1 grapheme mark + writing-system value Represent a letter, digit, symbol, or punctuation mark. The mark is missing, confusable, or malformed.
2 morpheme form + minimal meaning_or_function Carry the smallest grammatical or lexical contribution. Inflection or word formation expresses the wrong relationship.
3 word one_or_more_morphemes + lexical_role Name, relate, modify, quantify, or operate. The selected word is inaccurate, ambiguous, inaccessible, or inconsistent.
4 phrase head + optional_dependents Build a unit around a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, or preposition. The head-dependent relationship is unclear or misplaced.
5 clause predicate + participants + optional_circumstances Represent an event, state, relation, or proposition. The actor, action, object, time, condition, or logical status is missing or confused.
6 sentence one_or_more_clauses + relation + closure Deliver one manageable assertion, question, command, or exclamation. The sentence is incomplete, fused, overloaded, or logically misjoined.
7 paragraph controlling_move + development + coherence Advance one main rhetorical move. The point is buried, unsupported, mixed with another point, or disconnected.
8 section reader_question + organized_answer + navigation Resolve one meaningful reader need or document function. The section has no clear question, sequence, or usable label.
9 document purpose + audience + ordered_sections + evidence + action_path Change what a reader knows, feels, decides, or does. The document is correct locally but fails its audience or purpose globally.
10 content system documents + taxonomy + reuse + governance + feedback Produce consistent, maintainable communication across contexts. Rules conflict, drift accumulates, content duplicates, or feedback never changes the system.

Conservation rules

What must survive any edit.

  1. FP-01

    Changing form without checking meaning risks semantic drift.

  2. FP-02

    Every added unit must contribute meaning, relation, navigation, rhythm, credibility, or deliberate effect.

  3. FP-03

    Omission is safe only when the reader can infer the missing element accurately.

  4. FP-04

    A local improvement is rejected when it damages document-level accuracy, voice, cohesion, accessibility, or intent.

  5. FP-05

    Correctness constrains style; context selects among the remaining correct forms.

  6. FP-06

    Rules have domains. A rule for instructions is not automatically a rule for dialogue, poetry, contracts, or advertising.

  7. FP-07

    Reader effort is a limited resource. Spend it on the idea, not preventable decoding work.

  8. FP-08

    Specific claims create evidence debt; stronger claims create larger evidence debt.

  9. FP-09

    Revision should apply the smallest sufficient intervention that fixes the diagnosed failure.

  10. FP-10

    A deliberate deviation names its purpose, audience benefit, scope, and recovery path.

Universal operations

select

Which signal best expresses the intended meaning?

combine

Which units belong together?

order

What must the reader encounter first, next, and last?

connect

What relationship joins these units?

delimit

Where does one unit end and another begin?

specify

What detail reduces ambiguity or increases usefulness?

compress

What can be removed without losing necessary meaning?

expand

What must be explained, evidenced, illustrated, or qualified?

emphasize

What deserves attention, stress, position, or repetition?

vary

What controlled change improves rhythm, engagement, or fit?

verify

How will accuracy, comprehension, and outcome be tested?

route

What should the reader do or read next?

Composition formulas

What each kind of piece is made of, at the level above the sentence.

KindFormula
narrative agent + desire + obstacle + consequential_choice + change + meaning
argument claim + grounds + warrant + qualification + counterposition + response
explanation question + known_base + model + example + boundary + check
instruction goal + prerequisites + ordered_actions + expected_results + recovery + verification
reference entity + definition + properties + constraints + examples + links
persuasive copy audience_desire + problem_or_opportunity + offer + mechanism + proof + objection_resolution + action_minus_friction
paragraph controlling_move + support + relationship_signals + transition_or_closure
document rhetorical_situation + information_architecture + usable_units + evidence + next_action