line-editing

Files (6)

• SKILL.md
• copyedit-checklist.md · references/
• edit-note-format.md · references/
• language-conventions.md · references/
• line-edit-checklist.md · references/
• read-aloud-guide.md · references/

SKILL.md (first lines)

# Line Editing

## Overview

Own the prose-quality passes that come after structure is settled: the
line edit (sentence clarity, rhythm, precision, voice), character-voice
differentiation, the copyedit against `style-sheet.md`, a read-aloud pass,
and a proof pass on a built copy. Every change is proposed with a
before/after and a one-line rationale so the author can accept or reject
it. The author's voice is the standard, not the agent's taste. The
`better-writing` skill, when installed, is an optional complement for
anti-generic checks; this skill does not depend on it.

## Prerequisites

A story project with `story.md` and drafted chapters (status `draft` or
later). Read `style-sheet.md` if present; if it is missing or thin, build
it first with the `voice-style` skill, because the copyedit checks against
it.

## Language

Read `language` in `story.md` (a BCP 47 tag such as `en-GB`, `fr`, or
`ja`; a missing field means `en`). Edit in that language and to its
grammar and conventions, and write edit notes in the language the user
works in with you, quoting the prose exactly as written. The checklists'
word-level advice (filter words, -ly adverbs, *said*, dialogue
punctuation) is English: for another language, apply its aim, not its
word lists, and take dialogue and punctuation from the style sheet and
`references/language-conventions.md`. When `story prose` or
`story voices` reports a check skipped for the book's language, or a
check plainly does not fit it, do that pass by reading.

## When to Use

- A chapter's structure is settled and the prose needs polish
- Dialogue sounds the same from every speaker
- Preparing a manuscript for beta readers, an editor, or submission
- The `line`, `copyedit`, or `proof` revision pass is next in `story passes`
- NOT for structural, plot, or continuity revision (use `revision-continuity`; line-edit only after those passes, or the polish is wasted)
- NOT for setting house style, the voice description, or each character's recorded voice (use `voice-style`; this skill applies them)
- NOT for scene-level craft such as deep POV, subtext, or exposition strategy (use `scene-craft`)
- NOT for acting on external reader notes (use `feedback-triage`)
- NOT for writing or scanning verse (use `verse-craft`); this skill only
  flags rhymes that slipped into prose by accident

## Workflow

### 1. Scope and permission

1. Ask which chapters and which pass: line edit, voice differentiation,
   copyedit, read-aloud, or proof. Default order is the one below.
2. Ask how heavy the edit should be: **light** (errors and clear
   improvements only), **medium** (tighten and clarify), or **heavy**
   (restructure sentences and paragraphs). Default to light.
3. Never rewrite a passage wholesale without explicit permission. Propose
   edits; apply only what the author accepts, or apply all on explicit
   instruction.
4. Snapshot before a multi-chapter pass (see Draft Snapshots in the
   `revision-continuity` skill), and mark the pass in progress. If
   `story.md` has no `revision-passes` yet, `story passes . --init` writes
   the default ladder first; `story passes .` shows where the book is.

```shell
story passes . --start line
```

### 2. Line edit

1. Read `story.md` (POV, tense, Tone & Style), the style sheet's Voice
   section, and the chapter. Run `story prose .` for the chapter's counts.
   If the style sheet has no `samples`, suggest the author list an
   earlier book or chapter files they are happy with (see the `voice-style`
   skill), so the counts are measured against their own voice. A
   `prose-baseline-*` warning shows where a chapter drifts from it: use
   it to find passages to reread, and keep any drift the author meant.
2. Work paragraph by paragraph with `references/line-edit-checklist.md`:
   clarity, precision, economy, rhythm, POV distance, and voice.
3. Present edits in the format in `references/edit-note-format.md`:
   location, before, after, and one line of rationale. Group by
   paragraph; lead with the highest-impact changes; cap a batch at about
   20 so the author can review them.
4. Leave passages that are unusual but deliberate. When unsure whether a
   quirk is voice or error, ask.
5. To check a rewritten passage before putting it in the chapter, pipe it
   in: `story prose - < rewrite.md` lints it against the style sheet, and
   `story voices - < rewrite.md` checks its dialogue against the
   characters' `voice-avoid` lists.

### 3. Differentiate character voices

```shell
story voices .
```

The report fingerprints each character's attributed dialogue (sentence
length, contractions, questions, exclamations, signature words) and warns
when two voices are near-identical, when a character says a
`voice-avoid` word, and when a `voice-words` entry never appears.

1. For near-identical pairs, read both characters' Voice & Speech
   Patterns sections and propose line-level changes that follow them:
   vocabulary, sentence length, what each avoids saying, how each deflects.
   See the voice section of `references/line-edit-checklist.md`.
2. If a character file has no voice notes, propose `voice-words` and
   `voice-avoid` lists drawn from their best existing lines, and ask
   before adding them to the character file.
3. A line counts only when the narration names its speaker by a speech
   verb, or names one character in the paragraph. Pronoun tags
   (`she said`) and untagged lines are invisible to the report, so the
   POV character in close third is often under-counted; read those lines
   by hand, or name the tags in a sample chapter and rerun.
   `story voices --help` describes the command and, when
   `story-maintenance` is installed, the voices section of
   [`../story-maintenance/references/continuity-checks.md`](../story-maintenance/references/continuity-checks.md#voices)
   gives the full attribution rules and thresholds.

### 4. Copyedit

From danjdewhurst/story-skills, MIT.

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