Bow Tie Kreative Writing System
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Rules / narrative

NAR-017 Heuristic layer: paragraph

Description follows viewpoint and pressure

IF description lists details the viewpoint character would not notice in the current goal or emotion, THEN select details shaped by attention ELSE retain omniscient design.

Why the rule exists

Description becomes story when attention reveals both world and perceiver.

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
    • paragraph.function eq "description"
    • document.viewpoint_mode neq "omniscient"
    • paragraph.detail_selection_matches_attention eq false

Facts this rule reads

PathSource
paragraph.function You supply it
document.viewpoint_mode You supply it
paragraph.detail_selection_matches_attention You supply it

Then

  1. filter — target paragraph.details

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.
  • Self-Editing for Fiction Writers — Renni Browne; Dave King
    Dialogue, viewpoint, exposition, scene, and revision.
  • Steering the Craft — Ursula K. Le Guin
    Sound, rhythm, syntax, point of view, and exercises.
The raw rule record

Verbatim from 13-narrative-rules.json. Also available at /v1/rules/NAR-017.

{
  "id": "NAR-017",
  "name": "Description follows viewpoint and pressure",
  "domain": "narrative",
  "layer": "paragraph",
  "strength": "heuristic",
  "human_logic": "IF description lists details the viewpoint character would not notice in the current goal or emotion, THEN select details shaped by attention ELSE retain omniscient design.",
  "when": {
    "all": [
      {
        "path": "paragraph.function",
        "operator": "eq",
        "value": "description"
      },
      {
        "path": "document.viewpoint_mode",
        "operator": "neq",
        "value": "omniscient"
      },
      {
        "path": "paragraph.detail_selection_matches_attention",
        "operator": "eq",
        "value": false
      }
    ]
  },
  "then": [
    {
      "action": "filter",
      "target": "paragraph.details",
      "by": [
        "viewpoint_goal",
        "emotion",
        "knowledge",
        "sensory_access"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "else": [
    {
      "action": "retain",
      "target": "current_text",
      "reason": "No triggering condition is present."
    }
  ],
  "unless": [],
  "because": "Description becomes story when attention reveals both world and perceiver.",
  "diagnostics": [],
  "examples": {},
  "source_ids": [
    "BK-011",
    "BK-017",
    "BK-019"
  ],
  "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