Bow Tie Kreative Writing System
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Rules / narrative

NAR-013 Heuristic layer: section

Exposition arrives through present need

IF background information interrupts current desire or conflict, THEN delay, distribute, or attach it to a present decision ELSE retain.

Why the rule exists

Readers absorb background best when they understand why it matters now.

Condition

The rule fires when this evaluates true. Paths marked below must be present in the fact base; the engine reports the rest rather than guessing them.

  • ALL
    • section.exposition.exists eq true
    • section.exposition.interrupts_current_motion eq true

Facts this rule reads

PathSource
section.exposition.exists You supply it
section.exposition.interrupts_current_motion You supply it

Then

  1. restructure — target section.exposition

Else

  1. retain — target current_text, No triggering condition is present.

LAKA

Smallest sufficient intervention
Yes
Primary axes

Sources

  • On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft — Stephen King
    Writing habits, revision, description, and storytelling craft.
  • Story — Robert McKee
    Scene design, causality, conflict, and narrative structure.
The raw rule record

Verbatim from 13-narrative-rules.json. Also available at /v1/rules/NAR-013.

{
  "id": "NAR-013",
  "name": "Exposition arrives through present need",
  "domain": "narrative",
  "layer": "section",
  "strength": "heuristic",
  "human_logic": "IF background information interrupts current desire or conflict, THEN delay, distribute, or attach it to a present decision ELSE retain.",
  "when": {
    "all": [
      {
        "path": "section.exposition.exists",
        "operator": "eq",
        "value": true
      },
      {
        "path": "section.exposition.interrupts_current_motion",
        "operator": "eq",
        "value": true
      }
    ]
  },
  "then": [
    {
      "action": "restructure",
      "target": "section.exposition",
      "options": [
        "delay",
        "distribute",
        "attach_to_present_decision"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "else": [
    {
      "action": "retain",
      "target": "current_text",
      "reason": "No triggering condition is present."
    }
  ],
  "unless": [],
  "because": "Readers absorb background best when they understand why it matters now.",
  "diagnostics": [],
  "examples": {},
  "source_ids": [
    "BK-011",
    "BK-016"
  ],
  "laka": {
    "smallest_sufficient_intervention": true,
    "primary_axes": [
      "scope",
      "depth",
      "magnitude",
      "reversibility"
    ]
  }
}

Other narrative rules

  1. NAR-001 Give the focal agent a desire IF a narrative section expects forward motion AND the focal agent has no legible desire or need, THEN reveal one ELSE retain deliberate mystery with another source of propulsion. Context default
  2. NAR-002 Obstacle opposes the desire IF the focal agent has a desire but no meaningful resistance, THEN introduce an external, interpersonal, internal, or systemic obstacle ELSE retain. Context default
  3. NAR-003 Make stakes change choice IF failure or success would not alter the agent’s choices, relationships, identity, resources, safety, or future, THEN strengthen or clarify stakes ELSE retain a low-stakes form by design. Context default
  4. NAR-004 Events cause later events IF a major event has no causal, motivational, or thematic relation to what precedes it, THEN connect, foreshadow, move, or remove it ELSE retain. Hard constraint
  5. NAR-005 Scene contains a turn IF a scene begins and ends with the same relevant value, knowledge, power, relationship, or plan, THEN add a turn or compress the scene ELSE retain an intentional atmosphere scene. Heuristic
  6. NAR-006 Choice reveals character IF the story asserts a trait without a consequential choice that demonstrates it, THEN create or cite such a choice ELSE retain. Heuristic
  7. NAR-007 Control point of view IF perception, knowledge, or interior access exceeds the established viewpoint without a marked shift, THEN remove, recast, or mark the shift ELSE retain. Hard constraint
  8. NAR-008 Keep narrative tense stable IF narrative tense changes without a time-frame or mode shift, THEN restore the established tense ELSE retain. Context default