Bow Tie Kreative Writing System
Run the engine

Rules / syntax

SYN-007 Heuristic layer: sentence

Limit nested clauses for general audiences

IF clause nesting exceeds two levels AND the audience is not expert-only, THEN split or promote a buried clause ELSE retain necessary complexity.

Why the rule exists

Deep nesting overloads working memory and hides logical status.

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
    • sentence.clause_nesting_depth gt 2
    • context.audience_role neq "expert"

Facts this rule reads

PathSource
sentence.clause_nesting_depth Derived from text
context.audience_role You supply it

Then

  1. split — target sentence
  2. promote — target sentence.buried_main_point

Else

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

LAKA

Smallest sufficient intervention
Yes
Primary axes

Sources

  • Making Content Usable for People with Cognitive and Learning Disabilities — W3C link
    Clear words, simple voice and tense, explicit instructions, and supportive structure.
  • The Sense of Style — Steven Pinker
    Reader-centered clarity informed by linguistics and cognition.
  • On Writing Well — William Zinsser
    Clarity, simplicity, voice, and nonfiction craft.
The raw rule record

Verbatim from 09-syntax-and-sentence-rules.json. Also available at /v1/rules/SYN-007.

{
  "id": "SYN-007",
  "name": "Limit nested clauses for general audiences",
  "domain": "syntax",
  "layer": "sentence",
  "strength": "heuristic",
  "human_logic": "IF clause nesting exceeds two levels AND the audience is not expert-only, THEN split or promote a buried clause ELSE retain necessary complexity.",
  "when": {
    "all": [
      {
        "path": "sentence.clause_nesting_depth",
        "operator": "gt",
        "value": 2
      },
      {
        "path": "context.audience_role",
        "operator": "neq",
        "value": "expert"
      }
    ]
  },
  "then": [
    {
      "action": "split",
      "target": "sentence",
      "preserve": "logical_connectors"
    },
    {
      "action": "promote",
      "target": "sentence.buried_main_point"
    }
  ],
  "else": [
    {
      "action": "retain",
      "target": "current_text",
      "reason": "No triggering condition is present."
    }
  ],
  "unless": [],
  "because": "Deep nesting overloads working memory and hides logical status.",
  "diagnostics": [],
  "examples": {},
  "source_ids": [
    "WEB-006",
    "BK-008",
    "BK-013"
  ],
  "laka": {
    "smallest_sufficient_intervention": true,
    "primary_axes": [
      "scope",
      "depth",
      "magnitude",
      "reversibility"
    ]
  }
}

Other syntax rules

  1. SYN-001 Complete clause for formal prose IF a unit is presented as a formal prose sentence AND lacks an independent clause, THEN attach it, complete it, or label it as a fragment ELSE retain. Hard constraint
  2. SYN-002 Separate fused independent clauses IF adjacent independent clauses have no valid boundary, THEN add a coordinator and punctuation, a semicolon, or a period ELSE retain. Hard constraint
  3. SYN-003 Prefer visible actor–action order IF the reader must act or identify responsibility AND no stronger reason favors passive voice, THEN place the actor before the action ELSE retain. Context default
  4. SYN-004 Use passive voice for a reason IF a clause is passive, THEN retain it only when the receiver is the topic, the actor is unknown or irrelevant, blame should be softened, or domain convention requires it ELSE convert to active. Context default
  5. SYN-005 Put conditions before instructions IF an instruction applies only under a condition, THEN state the condition before the imperative ELSE give the action directly. Context default
  6. SYN-006 One principal action per procedural step IF a step contains multiple independently verifiable actions, THEN split them into ordered steps ELSE retain a tightly coupled action. Context default
  7. SYN-008 Given information before new information IF a sentence introduces new information before the anchor it depends on, THEN reorder from shared context to new contribution ELSE retain a deliberate surprise. Heuristic
  8. SYN-009 End-weight complex material IF a long complex phrase separates subject from verb OR delays the core relation, THEN move that weight later when meaning permits ELSE retain. Heuristic