Bow Tie Kreative Writing System
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Rules / voice

VOI-002 Context default layer: paragraph

Tone responds to reader state

IF reader emotion changes, THEN adjust directness, warmth, pace, and reassurance without changing facts ELSE maintain baseline tone.

Why the rule exists

Tone is the local adaptation of a stable voice to the reader’s situation.

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.

  • context.emotional_temperature in [anxious, angry, grieving, urgent]

Facts this rule reads

PathSource
context.emotional_temperature You supply it

Then

  1. adjust — target paragraph.tone

Else

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

LAKA

Smallest sufficient intervention
Yes
Primary axes

Sources

  • Google Developer Documentation Style Guide — Google link
    Clear, consistent, audience-directed technical documentation.
  • Microsoft Writing Style Guide — Microsoft link
    Warm, clear, concise, helpful technical communication.
  • Technical Communication — Mike Markel; Stuart A. Selber
    Audience, design, ethics, research, and technical genres.
The raw rule record

Verbatim from 12-voice-rhythm-rules.json. Also available at /v1/rules/VOI-002.

{
  "id": "VOI-002",
  "name": "Tone responds to reader state",
  "domain": "voice",
  "layer": "paragraph",
  "strength": "context_default",
  "human_logic": "IF reader emotion changes, THEN adjust directness, warmth, pace, and reassurance without changing facts ELSE maintain baseline tone.",
  "when": {
    "path": "context.emotional_temperature",
    "operator": "in",
    "value": [
      "anxious",
      "angry",
      "grieving",
      "urgent"
    ]
  },
  "then": [
    {
      "action": "adjust",
      "target": "paragraph.tone",
      "preserve": [
        "facts",
        "requirements"
      ],
      "dimensions": [
        "directness",
        "warmth",
        "pace",
        "reassurance"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "else": [
    {
      "action": "retain",
      "target": "current_text",
      "reason": "No triggering condition is present."
    }
  ],
  "unless": [],
  "because": "Tone is the local adaptation of a stable voice to the reader’s situation.",
  "diagnostics": [],
  "examples": {},
  "source_ids": [
    "WEB-003",
    "WEB-004",
    "BK-026"
  ],
  "laka": {
    "smallest_sufficient_intervention": true,
    "primary_axes": [
      "scope",
      "depth",
      "magnitude",
      "reversibility"
    ]
  }
}

Other voice rules

  1. VOI-001 Declare voice before polishing IF a document lacks a voice profile, THEN define relationship, formality, energy, warmth, confidence, and permitted vocabulary ELSE use the profile. Context default
  2. VOI-003 Address the reader directly in instructions IF the reader performs the action, THEN use an imperative or YOU; do not call the reader THE USER ELSE name the actual actor. Context default
  3. VOI-010 Metaphor must preserve the model IF a metaphor explains a mechanism, THEN map its relevant correspondences and state its boundary when overextension would mislead ELSE use it only decoratively. Hard constraint
  4. VOI-011 Calibrate confidence to evidence IF wording expresses certainty, THEN match modal strength to evidence and uncertainty ELSE retain. Hard constraint
  5. VOI-012 Avoid institutional self-centering IF WE/OUR language displaces the reader’s need or action, THEN rewrite around the reader or subject ELSE retain clear author responsibility. Heuristic