@rubytech/create-maxy-code 0.1.0

package/payload/premium-plugins/writer-craft/skills/review-manuscript/SKILL.md

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+---
+name: review-manuscript
+description: "Performs a comprehensive multi-level review of a manuscript, chapter, or long passage — covering story architecture, reader engagement, prose craft, and editorial quality. Use this skill whenever the user asks to review a manuscript, critique a chapter, give feedback on their writing, assess whether their story is working, provide a manuscript assessment, do a full editorial review, or says 'what's wrong with this'. Also use when a writer submits a substantial piece of text and asks for comprehensive feedback rather than feedback on a specific aspect."
+---
+
+# Review Manuscript
+
+This skill performs a comprehensive, multi-level manuscript review. It examines the text through four lenses — story architecture, reader engagement, prose craft, and editorial quality — producing both inline observations and a structured summary report.
+
+## Review Process
+
+### Step 1: Read the Full Text
+Read the entire submitted text before making any observations. First impressions are valuable — note where you are engaged, confused, bored, or delighted. These instinctive responses are data.
+
+### Step 2: Identify the Story's Core
+
+Before critiquing anything, establish what is there:
+- What is the story about (not the plot — the internal journey)?
+- Who is the protagonist and what do they want?
+- What is the misbelief or inner issue?
+- What is the story question the reader is tracking?
+
+If these cannot be identified, that itself is the primary finding.
+
+### Step 3: Apply the Four Lenses
+
+Work through each lens in order. The order matters — structural problems should be addressed before prose problems, because structural surgery changes the prose landscape.
+
+#### Lens 1: Story Architecture
+- Is the misbelief specific, earned, and active?
+- Is the desire in conflict with the misbelief?
+- Does every scene touch the third rail (internal struggle)?
+- Is there a clear cause-and-effect chain through the internal story?
+- Does the opening begin at the last possible moment?
+- For the portion reviewed: is the trajectory toward the Aha moment visible?
+
+For the full story architecture framework, read `references/review-manuscript-checklist.md`.
+
+#### Lens 2: Reader Engagement
+- Does the opening hook? Are protagonist, stakes, and situation present from the first page?
+- Is urgency sustained? Where does momentum flag?
+- Does the cause-and-effect chain hold scene to scene?
+- Are setups paid off? Are there inadvertent setups?
+- Does conflict escalate? Is the opposition specific and active?
+- Does the protagonist react emotionally to events?
+
+#### Lens 3: Prose Craft
+- Does the prose sound right when read with the mind's ear?
+- Is there sentence variety?
+- Are adjectives and adverbs earning their place, or fattening the prose?
+- Is repetition deliberate or accidental?
+- Is the POV consistent? Are there unintended shifts?
+- Is exposition integrated or lumped?
+- Is crowding and leaping balanced — enough density, enough white space?
+
+#### Lens 4: Editorial Quality
+- Are there structural issues (pacing, missing sections, unnecessary sections)?
+- Line-level clarity and flow?
+- Internal consistency (names, timeline, details)?
+- Are there passages where the reader would disengage?
+
+### Step 4: Produce the Report
+
+Structure the output in two parts:
+
+#### Part A: Inline Observations
+Walk through the text noting specific observations at the point where they occur. For each observation:
+- Quote or reference the specific passage
+- Name the issue precisely
+- Explain why it matters to the reader's experience
+- Where possible, suggest a direction for revision
+
+#### Part B: Summary Report
+
+Use this structure:
+
+```
+## Manuscript Review: [Title or Description]
+
+### What Works
+[Specific, genuine praise — what the writer is doing well and should keep doing]
+
+### Story Architecture
+[Findings from Lens 1 — the internal story, misbelief, desire, third rail]
+
+### Reader Engagement
+[Findings from Lens 2 — hooks, urgency, cause-and-effect, stakes]
+
+### Prose Craft
+[Findings from Lens 3 — sound, rhythm, POV, word economy]
+
+### Editorial Notes
+[Findings from Lens 4 — structure, pacing, consistency]
+
+### Priority Recommendations
+[The 3-5 most important things to address, in order of impact]
+```
+
+## Review Principles
+
+- **Start with what works.** Every manuscript has strengths. Name them specifically.
+- **Address the biggest issues first.** If the story architecture is broken, don't spend pages on comma placement.
+- **Be specific.** "The pacing feels off in the middle" is useless. "Chapters 4-6 lose momentum because the protagonist has no active goal — she's reacting to events without pursuing anything" is actionable.
+- **Explain why.** Don't just flag problems — explain what they do to the reader's experience.
+- **Preserve the author's voice.** Never suggest changes that would make the writing sound like you instead of them.
+- **Frame as possibilities.** "What if..." and "Consider..." rather than "You must..."
+- **The book belongs to the author.** Your job is to help them write the best version of *their* book.
+
+## When to Read Reference Files
+
+- **For the full review checklist with detailed criteria** — read `references/review-manuscript-checklist.md`

package/payload/premium-plugins/writer-craft/skills/review-manuscript/references/review-manuscript-checklist.md

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+# Comprehensive Manuscript Review Checklist
+
+This checklist synthesises criteria from neuroscience-based story theory, professional editing practice, and prose craft technique into a single review framework.
+
+## Lens 1: Story Architecture
+
+### Protagonist's Internal World
+- [ ] Can you identify the protagonist's misbelief? Is it specific, earned, and active?
+- [ ] Can you identify the protagonist's desire? Is it in conflict with the misbelief?
+- [ ] Does the protagonist's worldview visibly filter their interpretation of events?
+- [ ] Is the origin of the misbelief traceable to a specific past experience?
+- [ ] Does every scene touch the third rail (the protagonist's internal struggle)?
+
+### Story Structure
+- [ ] Does the story begin at the last possible moment — when avoidance becomes impossible?
+- [ ] Does the inciting event directly threaten the protagonist's misbelief?
+- [ ] Is there a ticking clock creating urgency?
+- [ ] Is there a clear cause-and-effect chain through the internal story?
+- [ ] Does the ending (if present) represent a genuine internal transformation — the Aha moment?
+- [ ] Is the Aha moment earned, specific, and tied to the third rail?
+
+### What If Premise
+- [ ] Does the premise contain context, conflict, and a thematic point?
+- [ ] Does the premise imply the collision between the protagonist's inner world and external reality?
+
+## Lens 2: Reader Engagement
+
+### Opening / Hook
+- [ ] Is the protagonist present from page one?
+- [ ] Is something already happening that affects them?
+- [ ] Are stakes visible immediately?
+- [ ] Does the first page make the reader want to read the second?
+- [ ] Is there a "yardstick" — a framework for understanding what kind of story this will be?
+
+### Cause and Effect
+- [ ] Does every scene follow from the previous one (therefore/because, not and-then)?
+- [ ] Can you trace the internal pattern (action → reaction → decision → action) in every scene?
+- [ ] Does the "And so?" test pass for every major element?
+- [ ] Is every decision the protagonist makes traceable through the text?
+
+### Setup and Payoff
+- [ ] Is every setup paid off?
+- [ ] Is every payoff set up?
+- [ ] Are there inadvertent setups — details that promise significance but deliver nothing?
+- [ ] Is there enough distance between setups and payoffs to create anticipation?
+
+### Conflict and Escalation
+- [ ] Is there a clear "versus" — a specific rock and hard place?
+- [ ] Does conflict escalate with each complication?
+- [ ] Is the force of opposition specific, present, active, and credible?
+- [ ] Is the protagonist earning every gain and paying for every loss?
+- [ ] Have the protagonist's deepest flaws been exposed and tested?
+
+### Emotional Resonance
+- [ ] Does the protagonist react emotionally to events?
+- [ ] Are reactions specific and embodied, not generic?
+- [ ] Can the reader mirror the protagonist's emotions?
+- [ ] Is the story triggering all three engagement chemicals (dopamine, cortisol, oxytocin)?
+
+## Lens 3: Prose Craft
+
+### Sound and Rhythm
+- [ ] Does the prose sound right when read with the mind's ear?
+- [ ] Is there sentence length variety?
+- [ ] Does rhythm match emotional register?
+- [ ] Are long sentences clearly constructed?
+
+### Word Economy
+- [ ] Are adjectives and adverbs earning their place?
+- [ ] Are there qualifier ticks (just, very, kind of)?
+- [ ] Can weak verb + adverb combinations be replaced with strong verbs?
+- [ ] Is the prose crowded enough (vivid, dense) and leaped enough (no listing, no over-explanation)?
+
+### POV and Voice
+- [ ] Is the POV consistent? Are there accidental slips?
+- [ ] Is the tense consistent? Are shifts deliberate?
+- [ ] Does the narrative voice maintain a consistent register?
+- [ ] If character POV, does the language reflect how that character thinks?
+
+### Repetition
+- [ ] Is repetition deliberate and effective, or accidental?
+- [ ] Has natural repetition been replaced with awkward synonyms?
+
+### Exposition
+- [ ] Is exposition integrated or dumped in blocks?
+- [ ] Are there "As you know, Bob" moments?
+- [ ] Does necessary information arrive when the reader needs it?
+
+## Lens 4: Editorial Quality
+
+### Developmental
+- [ ] Is the structure serving the material?
+- [ ] Are there pacing problems — sections that drag or rush?
+- [ ] In fiction: are subplots connected to the main story?
+- [ ] In nonfiction: is the argument clear and building?
+- [ ] Is anything missing? Is anything unnecessary?
+
+### Line Level
+- [ ] Are there clichés, throat-clearing, or hedging?
+- [ ] Is tonal consistency maintained?
+- [ ] Are there logical gaps where the reader needs a bridge?
+- [ ] Does each paragraph lead naturally to the next?
+
+### Consistency
+- [ ] Character names consistent throughout?
+- [ ] Physical descriptions consistent?
+- [ ] Timeline consistent?
+- [ ] Geography and setting details consistent?
+
+## Report Priority Framework
+
+After completing the review, prioritise findings by impact:
+
+1. **Story architecture problems** — if the internal story is broken, everything built on it is compromised
+2. **Engagement problems** — if readers disengage, nothing else matters
+3. **Structural and pacing problems** — these change the prose landscape
+4. **POV and voice problems** — these affect every page
+5. **Prose craft problems** — important but addressable once larger issues are resolved
+6. **Consistency and mechanical errors** — last in priority, first in visibility

package/payload/premium-plugins/writer-craft/skills/review-prose/SKILL.md

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+---
+name: review-prose
+description: "Performs a prose-level review of a passage, analyzing sound, rhythm, sentence variety, POV consistency, word economy, repetition, and the balance of crowding and leaping. Use this skill whenever the user asks to check their writing style, review prose quality, assess how a passage reads, give style feedback, asks 'how does this sound', 'is this well written', 'check my prose', or submits a passage specifically for craft-level feedback rather than story-level feedback. Also use when a writer wants to improve the music and economy of their sentences."
+---
+
+# Review Prose
+
+Prose review examines writing at the level of sound, sentence, and word — the physical material of the text. This is distinct from story review (which examines internal architecture) and scene review (which examines a scene's structural function). Prose review asks: does this *sound* right? Is every word earning its place?
+
+## Review Process
+
+### Step 1: Read with the Mind's Ear
+Read the passage as if hearing it aloud. Note rhythm, flow, stumbles, beauty, and dullness. Do not analyze yet — just listen. Mark passages that sound wrong, passages that sound right, and passages where you lose the thread.
+
+### Step 2: Analyze Sound and Rhythm
+
+**Sentence variety:**
+- Map the sentence lengths. Is there variety, or monotonous uniformity?
+- Are short sentences deployed for emphasis in the right places?
+- Are long sentences clearly constructed — does the reader glide through, or get lost?
+- Is there conjunctivitis (strings of short sentences joined by "and" / "but")?
+
+**Rhythm:**
+- Does the rhythm match the emotional register of the content? (Fast rhythm for action, slower rhythm for reflection, etc.)
+- Are there accidental rhythmic patterns that create unintended effects?
+- Does the prose have moments of beauty — places where language takes pleasure in itself?
+
+### Step 3: Analyze Word Economy
+
+**Adjectives and adverbs:**
+- Can any adjective be absorbed into a stronger noun?
+- Can any adverb be absorbed into a stronger verb?
+- Are there qualifier ticks? (just, very, kind of, sort of, rather, a little, somewhat)
+- Are there empty intensifiers? (great, suddenly, somehow, really, absolutely)
+
+**Verbs:**
+- Are verbs active and specific? Or weak and generic?
+- Is the passive voice being used where active would be stronger? (And is it being used well where it belongs?)
+- Are there unnecessary "to be" constructions?
+
+**Crowding and leaping:**
+- Is the passage vivid, exact, concrete, dense, rich? (Crowded enough?)
+- Is there white space — things left unsaid, leaps the reader can make? (Leaped enough?)
+- Are there passages that list rather than describe?
+- Is every sensory detail earning its place — serving story, character, or theme?
+
+### Step 4: Analyze POV and Voice
+
+- Is the POV consistent throughout the passage?
+- Are there accidental slips into another character's thoughts?
+- Is the narrative voice consistent in register and tone?
+- If there's a strong character POV, does the language reflect how that character would think and perceive?
+- Is exposition delivered through the character's filter, or does the author step in?
+
+### Step 5: Check for Repetition
+
+- Is there accidental repetition — unintentional echoes that create clumsiness?
+- Is there deliberate repetition — purposeful echoes creating emphasis or rhythm?
+- Has the writer reached for the thesaurus to avoid natural repetition, producing awkward synonyms?
+
+### Step 6: Check Punctuation and Grammar
+
+- Is punctuation clarifying the prose or cluttering it?
+- Are there grammar errors that will break the reader's trust?
+- Are unconventional choices (fragments, run-ons, comma splices) deliberate and effective?
+
+## Prose Review Report Structure
+
+```
+## Prose Review: [Passage Description]
+
+### Overall Impression
+[How the passage reads as a whole — the mind's ear verdict]
+
+### Strengths
+[What the writer is doing well at the prose level]
+
+### Sound and Rhythm
+[Sentence variety, rhythmic patterns, flow]
+
+### Word Economy
+[Adjectives/adverbs, verb strength, qualifiers, crowding/leaping]
+
+### POV and Voice
+[Consistency, register, character filter]
+
+### Repetition
+[Accidental vs. deliberate; awkward synonym hunting]
+
+### Specific Line Notes
+[Passage-by-passage observations with specific suggestions]
+
+### Priority Recommendations
+[The 3-5 most impactful prose improvements to make]
+```
+
+## When to Read Reference Files
+
+- **For the complete prose review criteria** — read `references/prose-review-checklist.md`

package/payload/premium-plugins/writer-craft/skills/review-prose/references/prose-review-checklist.md

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+# Prose Review Checklist
+
+## Sound and Rhythm
+
+### The Mind's Ear Test
+Read the passage as if hearing it aloud. Note where it flows, where it stumbles, where it sings. If it sounds wrong, it is wrong — even before you can name the problem.
+
+### Sentence Variety
+- [ ] Map sentence lengths across the passage. Is there variety?
+- [ ] Are short sentences deployed for emphasis at the right moments?
+- [ ] Are long sentences clearly constructed — does the reader glide through?
+- [ ] Is there conjunctivitis (strings of short sentences joined by "and" / "but")?
+- [ ] Is there a monotonous rhythm (all sentences the same length)?
+
+### Rhythm and Register
+- [ ] Does the rhythm match the emotional content?
+- [ ] Fast, staccato for action/urgency?
+- [ ] Slower, rolling for reflection/grief/beauty?
+- [ ] Does a sudden short sentence after long ones create intended emphasis?
+- [ ] Are there accidental rhythmic patterns creating unintended effects?
+
+## Word Economy
+
+### Adjectives and Adverbs
+- [ ] Can any adjective be absorbed into a stronger noun?
+- [ ] Can any adverb be absorbed into a stronger verb?
+- [ ] Are adjectives and adverbs adding precision, or padding?
+
+### Qualifier Ticks
+Check for and flag these bloodsuckers:
+- just
+- very
+- rather
+- a little
+- kind of / sort of
+- somewhat
+- quite
+- really
+
+### Empty Intensifiers
+Check for words that have lost meaning through overuse:
+- great / amazing / incredible
+- suddenly
+- somehow
+- absolutely / totally / literally (as emphasis)
+
+### Verb Strength
+- [ ] Are verbs active and specific?
+- [ ] Are there weak verb + adverb combinations? (ran quickly → raced)
+- [ ] Is passive voice being used where active would be stronger?
+- [ ] Are there unnecessary "to be" constructions?
+
+## Crowding and Leaping
+
+### Crowding (Density)
+- [ ] Is the passage vivid — can the reader see, hear, feel what's happening?
+- [ ] Are details exact and concrete, not vague and abstract?
+- [ ] Is every detail doing work — revealing character, advancing story, or illuminating theme?
+- [ ] Is the passage rich enough — enough substance to engage?
+
+### Leaping (Economy)
+- [ ] Is there white space — things left unsaid that the reader can infer?
+- [ ] Are there passages that list rather than describe?
+- [ ] Is there over-explanation — the reader told what they could figure out?
+- [ ] Are transitions belaboured — steps spelled out that could be leaped over?
+- [ ] Does every sensory detail serve the story, or is some of it travelogue?
+
+## POV and Voice
+
+### POV Consistency
+- [ ] Is the POV type identifiable and consistent?
+- [ ] Are there accidental one-sentence slips into another character's thoughts?
+- [ ] Is the protagonist's subjective filter colouring the narration?
+- [ ] Does the language reflect the viewpoint character's vocabulary and sensibility?
+
+### Tense Consistency
+- [ ] Is the tense consistent throughout?
+- [ ] Are any shifts between past and present deliberate and signalled?
+- [ ] Is there accidental "two-timing" (drifting between tenses)?
+
+### Voice and Register
+- [ ] Is the narrative voice consistent in tone and register?
+- [ ] Are there tonal lurches — shifts between formal/casual, serious/flip?
+- [ ] Does the voice serve the story, or does it draw attention to itself?
+
+## Repetition
+
+### Accidental Repetition
+- [ ] Are there unintentional word echoes within paragraphs or across adjacent paragraphs?
+- [ ] Are there repeated sentence structures creating monotony?
+
+### Deliberate Repetition
+- [ ] Is intentional repetition accumulating meaning with each occurrence?
+- [ ] Is it creating rhythm, emphasis, or structural echoes?
+
+### Thesaurus Syndrome
+- [ ] Has natural repetition been replaced with awkward synonyms?
+- [ ] Are there words that stick out because they were chosen to avoid repeating a simpler word?
+
+## Punctuation and Grammar
+
+- [ ] Is punctuation clarifying the prose, not cluttering it?
+- [ ] Are there grammar errors that will break the reader's trust?
+- [ ] Are unconventional choices (fragments, comma splices, run-ons) deliberate and effective?
+- [ ] Are semicolons used correctly and purposefully?
+
+## Exposition
+
+- [ ] Is necessary information integrated into the scene, or dumped in blocks?
+- [ ] Are there "As you know, Bob" moments in dialogue?
+- [ ] Does exposition arrive when the reader needs it, not before?
+- [ ] Is backstory delivered through the character's emotional filter, not as neutral information?

package/payload/premium-plugins/writer-craft/skills/review-scene/SKILL.md

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+---
+name: review-scene
+description: "Performs a deep analysis of a single scene against scene card criteria, engagement principles, and prose craft standards. Use this skill whenever the user asks to analyze a scene, check if a scene works, give scene-level feedback, review a scene, assess a scene's effectiveness, or says 'does this scene work'. Also use when a writer submits a discrete scene and wants to understand whether it earns its place in the story."
+---
+
+# Review Scene
+
+A scene is the fundamental unit of story. Every scene must justify its existence by advancing the protagonist's internal struggle while moving the external plot forward. This skill provides a deep analysis of a single scene against the criteria that determine whether it earns its place.
+
+## Scene Analysis Framework
+
+### Step 1: Read and React
+Read the scene completely. Note first impressions: where are you engaged, confused, bored, moved? These instinctive responses are the most honest data available.
+
+### Step 2: Fill the Scene Card
+
+For the scene being analyzed, determine:
+
+| Element | Assessment |
+|---------|-----------|
+| **External event** | What happens? State it in one sentence. |
+| **Internal meaning** | How does this force the protagonist's internal struggle forward? |
+| **Urgency hook** | What question does this scene raise that pulls the reader into the next scene? |
+| **Cause** | What prior event made this scene necessary? |
+| **Effect** | What must happen next because of this scene? |
+
+**Critical test**: If the "internal meaning" row is empty — if the scene has no connection to the protagonist's internal struggle — the scene has no business being in the story, regardless of how dramatic or well-written it is.
+
+### Step 3: Check Engagement Mechanics
+
+**Opening of the scene:**
+- Does the scene enter late? (Not the preamble — the thing itself)
+- Is there an immediate sense of what's at stake?
+
+**Cause and effect within the scene:**
+- Does every beat follow the action → reaction → decision → action pattern?
+- Is the protagonist making decisions whose reasoning is visible to the reader?
+- Does each beat escalate — raising stakes or deepening the dilemma?
+
+**Conflict:**
+- Is there a specific "versus" — a rock and hard place?
+- Does the conflict arise from character (the protagonist's own fears and misbeliefs creating the trap) rather than being arbitrarily imposed?
+- Is the opposition specific and active?
+
+**Emotional resonance:**
+- Does the protagonist react emotionally to events?
+- Is the reaction specific and embodied (physical, cognitive, behavioural), not generic?
+- Can the reader mirror this emotion through their own empathic response?
+
+**Closing of the scene:**
+- Does the scene end with an unanswered question or unresolved tension that propels the reader forward?
+- Does it leave out at the right moment (leaping), not linger past its usefulness?
+
+### Step 4: Check Prose Craft
+
+- Read the scene with the mind's ear. Does it sound right?
+- Is there sentence variety suited to the scene's emotional register?
+- Is the POV consistent throughout? Any accidental slips?
+- Is exposition integrated into the scene's action, or dumped as a separate layer?
+- Are sensory details earning their place — each one revealing character, advancing story, or illuminating theme?
+- Is the scene crowded enough to be vivid but leaped enough to move?
+
+### Step 5: Check Continuity
+
+- Does the scene connect causally to what precedes it?
+- Does it set up what follows?
+- Are there setups planted in this scene? Are they clear enough to register subconsciously but not so heavy-handed that the reader sees the machinery?
+- Is information from earlier scenes used correctly (character names, physical details, timeline)?
+
+## Scene Report Structure
+
+```
+## Scene Analysis: [Scene Description]
+
+### Scene Card
+[The filled-in scene card from Step 2]
+
+### What Works
+[Specific strengths — what the writer should keep]
+
+### Internal Story Connection
+[How well the scene connects to the protagonist's internal struggle]
+
+### Engagement
+[Hooks, cause-and-effect, conflict, emotional resonance]
+
+### Prose Craft
+[Sound, rhythm, POV, word economy, sensory detail]
+
+### Continuity
+[Causal connections to surrounding scenes, setups, consistency]
+
+### Recommendations
+[Specific, prioritized suggestions for revision]
+```
+
+## When to Read Reference Files
+
+- **For the complete scene analysis framework with detailed criteria** — read `references/scene-analysis-framework.md`

package/payload/premium-plugins/writer-craft/skills/review-scene/references/scene-analysis-framework.md

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+# Scene Analysis Framework
+
+## The Scene Card
+
+Every scene must justify its existence. The Scene Card is the diagnostic tool:
+
+| Element | Question | Why It Matters |
+|---------|----------|---------------|
+| **External event** | What happens? State it in one sentence. | The visible plot action |
+| **Internal meaning** | How does this force the protagonist's internal struggle forward? | THE critical test — if this is empty, the scene is dead weight |
+| **Urgency hook** | What question does this raise that pulls the reader into the next scene? | Creates forward momentum via dopamine |
+| **Cause** | What prior event made this scene necessary? | Ensures causal chain integrity |
+| **Effect** | What must happen next because of this scene? | Ensures forward momentum |
+
+## Scene Entry and Exit
+
+### Enter Late
+The scene should begin as close to its core event as possible. Not the approach to the restaurant — the conversation at the table. Not waking up and getting dressed — the moment the day goes wrong.
+
+### Exit Early
+The scene should end the moment its work is done. Not the drive home — the decision made. Not the aftermath — the turning point. Leave the reader with unresolved tension that pulls them into the next scene.
+
+## Internal Pattern Within the Scene
+
+Every scene should contain the four-beat internal pattern:
+
+1. **Action** — Something happens (external event)
+2. **Reaction** — The protagonist responds emotionally (internal response)
+3. **Decision** — The protagonist decides what to do next (choice)
+4. **New Action** — The protagonist acts on the decision (external consequence)
+
+This pattern may repeat multiple times within a single scene, at different scales. The reader tracks this rhythm unconsciously. When it breaks — when a character acts without reacting, or reacts without deciding — the reader disconnects.
+
+## Conflict Within the Scene
+
+### The Scene-Level "Versus"
+Every scene needs its own source of tension — a specific rock and hard place for the protagonist in this moment. This may be:
+- A direct confrontation with the antagonist
+- An internal dilemma (desire vs. misbelief)
+- A practical obstacle that tests the protagonist's resources
+- Social pressure that threatens to expose the protagonist's secret or flaw
+
+### Conflict Must Come From Character
+The best scene-level conflict arises from who the protagonist is — their misbelief creates the trap they're in. External obstacles imposed without connection to the protagonist's inner world feel arbitrary.
+
+### Escalation Within the Scene
+Even within a single scene, the stakes should shift — ideally upward. Each exchange, each beat, each revelation should raise the pressure. A scene that stays at the same level of tension throughout feels flat.
+
+## Emotional Presence
+
+### The Protagonist Must Be Emotionally Present
+Every event must register in the protagonist. If they witness something and have no response, the reader's mirror neurons have nothing to latch onto. Meaning collapses.
+
+### Show, Don't Label
+Not "she was afraid" but the specific physical, cognitive, and behavioural response that shows fear in this character in this moment. Different people express the same emotion differently — the response must be specific to this protagonist.
+
+### Body Language as Subtext
+Physical responses communicate what the character might never say. A character who says "I'm fine" while gripping the armrest hard enough to whiten their knuckles is telling two stories. The reader trusts the body over the words.
+
+## Prose Craft in the Scene
+
+### Rhythm Should Match Register
+Fast, staccato sentences for action and shock. Slower, flowing sentences for reflection and grief. The scene's emotional content should be embodied in its prose rhythm.
+
+### Sensory Detail Must Earn Its Place
+Every sensory detail should do at least one of:
+- Reveal character (what the protagonist notices tells us who they are)
+- Advance story (the detail has consequences later)
+- Illuminate theme (the detail carries symbolic weight)
+
+Details that are only atmospheric — that create setting without meaning — are clutter.
+
+### POV Consistency
+Check for one-sentence slips into another character's thoughts. In limited third person, the protagonist cannot know what another character is thinking or feeling — only what they observe.
+
+## Scene-Level Diagnostic
+
+### Does This Scene Earn Its Place?
+- [ ] Can you fill in all five Scene Card elements?
+- [ ] If you removed this scene, would the causal chain break?
+- [ ] Does this scene change something — advance the protagonist's internal struggle?
+
+### Is the Scene Engaging?
+- [ ] Does it enter late and exit early?
+- [ ] Is the internal pattern (action → reaction → decision → action) running?
+- [ ] Is there scene-level conflict specific to this moment?
+- [ ] Do stakes shift within the scene?
+- [ ] Does the scene end with an unresolved question?
+
+### Is the Prose Serving the Scene?
+- [ ] Does rhythm match emotional register?
+- [ ] Is the protagonist emotionally present throughout?
+- [ ] Are sensory details earning their place?
+- [ ] Is POV consistent — no accidental slips?
+- [ ] Is exposition integrated, not dumped?