lyndonkl/claude/paragraph-rhythm-check

Paragraph Rhythm Check

Table of Contents

• Length buckets
• Rules
• Workflow
• Worked example
• Guardrails

Related skills: Called by Editor in structural pass. Writes to "Paragraph logic" subsection.

Length buckets

The writer's voice signature is long + short mix with one-sentence paragraphs at pivots. Monotone = voice violation.

Rules

1. Wall rule: No paragraph >120 words (wall threshold is slightly below 150 for flagging; >150 is a hard flag). Tier-2.
2. Monotone rule: >3 consecutive paragraphs in the same bucket = tier-2 flag.
3. Pivot rule: Essays >1500 words should have at least one one-sentence paragraph at a pivot. Absence = tier-2 flag.
4. Opening short rule: the opener paragraph is typically short (≤60 words) for punch. A 150-word opening block is a flag.

Workflow

Rhythm check draft D:
- [ ] Step 1: Compute word count per paragraph
- [ ] Step 2: Assign bucket
- [ ] Step 3: Detect monotone runs (≥4 consecutive same bucket)
- [ ] Step 4: Detect walls (>120 words)
- [ ] Step 5: Detect missing pivot in essays >1500 words
- [ ] Step 6: Flag + suggest (split wall / insert pivot / tighten opener)

Worked example

Draft paragraphs (word counts): [62, 58, 71, 63, 68, 72, 180, 45]

Detections:

• Monotone: [62, 58, 71, 63, 68, 72] = 6 consecutive medium. Tier-2 flag.
• Wall: paragraph 7 at 180 words. Tier-2 flag.
• Pivot: no single-sentence paragraph in the draft. If total >1500 words → tier-2 flag.

Suggestions:

• Insert a one-sentence paragraph at ~paragraph 3 or 4 to mark the pivot.
• Split the 180-word paragraph at the natural semantic break (likely a contrast or a named example).
• Optionally cut one of the middle paragraphs to a single declarative sentence.

Guardrails

1. Word counts exclude blank lines and code fences.
2. Bullet lists count as their own paragraph unit; don't flag list-adjacent rhythm separately.
3. Series-log posts are often shorter and tighter — relax the pivot rule below 1000 words.
4. If the draft uses * * * section breaks, count rhythm within each section separately.
5. Don't propose specific rewrites for rhythm issues — surface the issue; let the writer decide.
6. A 150-word paragraph is a wall only if it lacks internal variation (e.g., long-sentence-after-long-sentence); a 150-word paragraph with internal short sentences is less of a wall.

Quick reference

• Buckets: short (≤25), medium (26–80), long (81–150), wall (>150).
• Hard flags: wall >120, monotone ≥4 consecutive, missing pivot in essays >1500 words.
• Output: paragraph-logic subsection of structural pass.