Every rule, and how hard it binds

228 rules match. Showing 101–125.

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-002 Tone responds to reader state IF reader emotion changes, THEN adjust directness, warmth, pace, and reassurance without changing facts ELSE maintain baseline tone. Context default
3. 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
4. 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
5. 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
6. VOI-006 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. Heuristic
7. 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
8. 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
9. 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
10. 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
11. VOI-011 Calibrate confidence to evidence IF wording expresses certainty, THEN match modal strength to evidence and uncertainty ELSE retain. Hard constraint
12. 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
13. 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
14. 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
15. 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
16. 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
17. 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
18. 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
19. 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
20. 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
21. NAR-009 Use scene when the moment changes the state IF an event contains consequential choice, conflict, discovery, or relationship change, THEN dramatize enough of it as scene ELSE summary may carry it. Heuristic
22. NAR-010 Use summary for compression and linkage IF time passes without a necessary beat-by-beat change, THEN summarize it and move to the next consequential moment ELSE remain in scene. Heuristic
23. NAR-011 Dialogue changes the interaction IF a line of dialogue neither pursues a goal, resists, reveals, conceals, changes status, or creates rhythm, THEN cut or rewrite it ELSE retain. Heuristic
24. NAR-012 Subtext differs from literal text IF characters have conflicting public and private goals, THEN let word choice, omission, action, or rhythm carry subtext ELSE direct speech is acceptable. Creative option
25. NAR-013 Exposition arrives through present need IF background information interrupts current desire or conflict, THEN delay, distribute, or attach it to a present decision ELSE retain. Heuristic