Bow Tie Kreative Writing System
Run the engine

Rules / rhythm

VOI-006 Heuristic layer: document

Read prose aloud

IF prose is intended for humans, THEN read representative passages aloud or with text-to-speech and flag breath, ambiguity, repetition, and unnatural stress ELSE retain.

Why the rule exists

Sound reveals problems silent visual review can miss.

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.

  • document.audience neq "machine_only"

Facts this rule reads

PathSource
document.audience You supply it

Then

  1. test — target document

Else

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

LAKA

Smallest sufficient intervention
Yes
Primary axes

Sources

  • Dreyer's English — Benjamin Dreyer
    Practical modern editorial advice and stylistic judgment.
  • Steering the Craft — Ursula K. Le Guin
    Sound, rhythm, syntax, point of view, and exercises.
  • Microsoft Writing Style Guide — Microsoft link
    Warm, clear, concise, helpful technical communication.
The raw rule record

Verbatim from 12-voice-rhythm-rules.json. Also available at /v1/rules/VOI-006.

{
  "id": "VOI-006",
  "name": "Read prose aloud",
  "domain": "rhythm",
  "layer": "document",
  "strength": "heuristic",
  "human_logic": "IF prose is intended for humans, THEN read representative passages aloud or with text-to-speech and flag breath, ambiguity, repetition, and unnatural stress ELSE retain.",
  "when": {
    "path": "document.audience",
    "operator": "neq",
    "value": "machine_only"
  },
  "then": [
    {
      "action": "test",
      "target": "document",
      "method": "aloud_or_text_to_speech",
      "flags": [
        "breath_overload",
        "ambiguity",
        "accidental_repetition",
        "stress_mismatch"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "else": [
    {
      "action": "retain",
      "target": "current_text",
      "reason": "No triggering condition is present."
    }
  ],
  "unless": [],
  "because": "Sound reveals problems silent visual review can miss.",
  "diagnostics": [],
  "examples": {},
  "source_ids": [
    "BK-005",
    "BK-019",
    "WEB-004"
  ],
  "laka": {
    "smallest_sufficient_intervention": true,
    "primary_axes": [
      "scope",
      "depth",
      "magnitude",
      "reversibility"
    ]
  }
}

Other rhythm rules

  1. VOI-004 Vary sentence length for function IF sentence lengths are mechanically uniform, THEN vary them according to emphasis, explanation, transition, and pace ELSE retain. Heuristic
  2. VOI-005 Short sentence after complexity IF a dense explanation reaches its key consequence, THEN a short sentence may isolate the payoff ELSE continue normal cadence. Creative option
  3. VOI-007 Place emphasis at structural edges IF one idea deserves emphasis, THEN place it at the sentence opening or ending rather than burying it mid-clause ELSE retain. Heuristic
  4. VOI-008 Limit accidental alliteration and rhyme IF repeated sound distracts from serious meaning AND is unintended, THEN vary one word ELSE retain purposeful sound pattern. Heuristic
  5. VOI-009 Use repetition with a job IF a word or structure repeats, THEN retain it only for cohesion, emphasis, rhythm, motif, instruction consistency, or technical precision ELSE vary or delete it. Creative option