VOI-004 Heuristic layer: paragraph

Vary sentence length for function

IF sentence lengths are mechanically uniform, THEN vary them according to emphasis, explanation, transition, and pace ELSE retain.

Why the rule exists

Controlled variation creates rhythm and maps length to cognitive function.

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.

paragraph.sentence_length_variance eq "near_zero"

Facts this rule reads

Fact paths read by VOI-004 and whether the analyser derives them
Path	Source
`paragraph.sentence_length_variance`	You supply it

Then

vary — target paragraph.sentence_lengths

Else

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.
On Writing Well — William Zinsser
Clarity, simplicity, voice, and nonfiction craft.
Steering the Craft — Ursula K. Le Guin
Sound, rhythm, syntax, point of view, and exercises.

The raw rule record

Verbatim from 12-voice-rhythm-rules.json. Also available at /v1/rules/VOI-004.

{
  "id": "VOI-004",
  "name": "Vary sentence length for function",
  "domain": "rhythm",
  "layer": "paragraph",
  "strength": "heuristic",
  "human_logic": "IF sentence lengths are mechanically uniform, THEN vary them according to emphasis, explanation, transition, and pace ELSE retain.",
  "when": {
    "path": "paragraph.sentence_length_variance",
    "operator": "eq",
    "value": "near_zero"
  },
  "then": [
    {
      "action": "vary",
      "target": "paragraph.sentence_lengths",
      "by_function": {
        "short": "emphasis_or_transition",
        "medium": "core_explanation",
        "long": "qualified_relationship"
      }
    }
  ],
  "else": [
    {
      "action": "retain",
      "target": "current_text",
      "reason": "No triggering condition is present."
    }
  ],
  "unless": [],
  "because": "Controlled variation creates rhythm and maps length to cognitive function.",
  "diagnostics": [],
  "examples": {},
  "source_ids": [
    "BK-011",
    "BK-013",
    "BK-019"
  ],
  "laka": {
    "smallest_sufficient_intervention": true,
    "primary_axes": [
      "scope",
      "depth",
      "magnitude",
      "reversibility"
    ]
  }
}