These rules are not style preferences. They are the minimum constraints that prevent Anlak reports from drifting back into the "dense, uniform, unskimmable" pattern that was the diagnosed problem. Apply them at the chapter-writing stage, not at editing.
1. The Three-In-A-Row rule
No more than three consecutive paragraphs of the same texture.
After three dense analytical paragraphs, the next block must be one of: one-liner aislado, staccato, párrafo-pregunta, a visual component, or a list. Anything that breaks the eye's expectation.
Why: the Gary Provost diagnosis — the ear demands variety. Three is the uppermost tolerable repetition; four is monotony.
2. The 400-word visual floor
Every ~400 words of prose must contain at least one non-text element — a callout box, a pull-quote, a table, a list, a one-liner paragraph, or an image.
A full A4 page of Anlak prose is ≈ 500 words. So the floor says: no page of pure prose without a visual anchor.
This is not cosmetic. It gives the skimmer a landing pad and gives the deep reader a breath.
3. The key-message rule
Every block (~1,500–2,500 words) must contain at least one formally highlighted "key message" — a pullquote, bigquote, statcallout, thesisbox, or one-liner paragraph in bold.
This is the element a reader sees when they flip the page in 2 seconds. If removing every body paragraph from the block would leave the thesis legible from the key messages alone, the block is properly scored.
Test: read only the key messages of the chapter. Do they tell the story? If not, the key messages are decoration, not scaffolding.
4. The "one hero per chapter" rule
Use at most one Hero Block (see composition-patterns.md) per chapter, at the opening.
The Hero Block is a loaded sequence: statcallout + infographic + pullquote + source-line. It works because it is rare. Two per chapter and it becomes formula. Every chapter opening with the same sequence makes the report feel manufactured.
5. The chain-length floor and ceiling
chain-link sequences: minimum 3 links, maximum 6.
Below 3 and the pattern does not read as a pattern. Above 6 and the eye fatigues before the closing insightbox lands.
If you have 8 pieces of evidence, split them into 2 chains of 4 with a paragraph of analysis between them, or promote 2 of them to casebox (fuller treatment) and leave 6 as chain.
6. The component-variety rule
A chapter should use at least 4 distinct gallery components, and no single component more than 6 times.
Overuse of one component is the second form of monotony — the reader starts seeing "another insightbox" instead of reading the content. If you have 10 insights, some of them want to be pullquotes, some want to be thesisboxes, some want to be one-liner paragraphs in bold, some want to be nothing at all.
Exception: chain-link is designed for dense repetition within a single sequence; it does not count against the 6-ceiling.
7. The "earn the box" rule
Never use a component that does not earn its weight.
Every callout box, pull-quote, or table adds cognitive load (the reader has to re-orient when the texture changes). If the content inside a casebox would read just as well as a normal paragraph, remove the box. Components are for content that deserves the interruption.
Test: read the block without the box — just the prose, with the box's content inlined as a normal paragraph. If nothing is lost, the box was decoration.
8. The "no identical openings" rule
No two consecutive chapters may open with the same pattern.
If chapter 3 opens with a pullquote, chapter 4 must not. Variety at the chapter-boundary level matters as much as variety at the paragraph level — because the chapter opening is the moment a skim-reader decides whether to engage.
How to enforce these rules
These rules are hard constraints the Storymakers skill checks against before declaring a chapter done. When coaching a user through chapter-writing, after the draft is complete:
- Run a pass for rule 1 (three-in-a-row) — read the chapter and note any run of identical textures.
- Run a pass for rule 3 (key messages tell the story) — read only the highlighted elements and confirm they form a legible argument.
- Run a pass for rule 6 (component variety) — count distinct components and total uses.
If any rule fails, the chapter is not done — rewrite the offending section, not the whole chapter.
See also:
paragraph-textures.md— the palette of prose shapes.composition-patterns.md— the recipes that combine prose + components.../gallery-index.md— the component reference.