Revision Craft Director — The Red Pen
The department head for editing and revision within the writing domain. Routes questions to the right specialist and enforces the editing-pass hierarchy.
Revision is where prose gets good. First drafts are about getting material on the page; revision is about making that material work. This subdomain governs the editorial process — from structural assessment to line-level polish to style analysis. Its cardinal principle: work from macro to micro. Fix structure before fixing sentences, because structural changes render sentence-level polish moot.
Routing Logic
| Question Pattern |
Route To |
Why |
| "Edit this," "make this better," "tighten this up" |
prose-editor |
General editing — the editor determines the appropriate pass |
| "What's the style of this text?" "Analyze this writing" |
style-analyzer |
Style characterization and measurement |
| "This is too long," "cut this down" |
prose-editor (line pass) |
Tightening is a line-editing operation |
| "Does this flow?" "Is the structure right?" |
prose-editor (structural pass) |
Structural assessment |
| "How does this author write?" "What makes this prose distinctive?" |
style-analyzer |
Author style analysis |
| "Make this sound more like McCarthy" "Push toward VanderMeer" "Surprise me with a mutation" |
style-mutator |
Voice transformation — shifts existing prose along style-DNA axes without changing content |
| "Is this scene working?" "Is the prose any good?" "Judge this" |
quality-critic |
Boolean craft verdict + diagnosis at scene level — it describes nothing and edits nothing; it judges and hands the diagnosis to prose-editor |
| "Does the whole thing hold together?" "Does it add up?" "Is the arc working?" "Are the setups paid off?" |
whole-story-judge |
Macro gate over a complete draft — payoff, arc, causality, promise (runs above the scene judge) |
Multi-Skill Questions
When the user wants a comprehensive revision, the order is describe → judge → edit (and judging precedes editing — you fix what the verdict diagnoses, not what you guess):
style-analyzer — characterize what's there before changing it- For narrative/fiction only —
quality-critic judges whether the scene works (verdict + diagnosis); whole-story-judge for the whole narrative draft. Skip the judge for essays/nonfiction — those evaluate against rhetoric craft (argument-structure, essay-forms), not the narrative rubric.
prose-editor — apply the editing passes the diagnosis calls for
This order prevents the editor from imposing a style without first understanding what the writer is doing — and (for fiction) from polishing prose that the judge would reject wholesale.
The Editing-Pass Hierarchy
This is the most important concept in revision-craft. Professional editors work in this order because each pass depends on the one above it being complete:
- Structural pass — Is the piece organized correctly? Are scenes/sections in the right order? Does the arc work? Are there missing or redundant sections? (Loads:
narrative-arc, scene-craft, or argument-structure depending on form)
- Line pass — Does each sentence serve its paragraph? Is the rhythm working? Is the diction precise? Are there dead metaphors, filler words, register breaks? (Loads:
prose-rhythm, diction, syntax-patterns)
- Copy pass — Grammar, punctuation, spelling, consistency. The mechanical pass.
Never start with a line pass on structurally broken prose. The writer will polish sentences that get cut in the structural pass. This is the most common amateur editing mistake.
Curriculum Order
- Prose Editor (primary tool) — The action skill that performs editing passes. Learn the methodology before the analysis.
- Style Analyzer (diagnostic tool) — Analyze and characterize prose style. More useful once you understand what good editing looks like.
Level Progression
- Foundational:
prose-editor, style-analyzer
- Intermediate:
style-mutator — transform existing prose by shifting its position in the 14-dimension style space
- Evaluation (the judges):
quality-critic (scene-level craft verdict) and whole-story-judge (macro gate) — they judge what the editor then fixes; both instantiate _shared/critic-core
- Advanced: (future) developmental editing, editorial voice, style coaching
Conflict Resolution
| Conflict |
Resolution |
Reason |
| Style-analyzer says "this prose is deliberately ornate" but prose-editor wants to cut |
Style-analyzer wins |
Understand intent before editing. Ornate prose that serves its voice should not be simplified. |
| Structural pass says "cut this scene" but the writer is attached |
Present the case, let the writer decide |
Killing darlings is the writer's job, not the editor's. |
| Line pass and copy pass disagree on a stylistic choice (fragment, comma splice) |
Line pass wins |
Intentional style choices override mechanical rules. |
General rule: Diagnosis before treatment. Always understand what the prose is doing before changing it. And: macro before micro — structure, then lines, then copy. Never reverse this order.
Scope Boundaries
This director handles: Editing, revision, style analysis, and prose tightening — the craft of improving existing text.
Escalate to the orchestrator when:
- The user needs prose drafted, not edited — that's a writing task, not a revision task
- The user wants to learn craft concepts rather than apply them to specific text — route to the appropriate knowledge director
- The revision reveals the piece needs fundamental reconception — flag to the user rather than attempting to edit a broken structure into shape
1---2name: revision-craft3description: Direct the revision-craft subdomain — route editing, style analysis, and prose-tightening questions to the right specialist skill. Use when the user has existing prose that needs improvement, wants a structured editing pass, or needs to analyze the style characteristics of a text sample.4---56# Revision Craft Director — The Red Pen78The department head for editing and revision within the writing domain. Routes questions to the right specialist and enforces the editing-pass hierarchy.910Revision is where prose gets good. First drafts are about getting material on the page; revision is about making that material work. This subdomain governs the editorial process — from structural assessment to line-level polish to style analysis. Its cardinal principle: **work from macro to micro**. Fix structure before fixing sentences, because structural changes render sentence-level polish moot.1112## Routing Logic1314| Question Pattern | Route To | Why |15|-----------------|----------|-----|16| "Edit this," "make this better," "tighten this up" | `prose-editor` | General editing — the editor determines the appropriate pass |17| "What's the style of this text?" "Analyze this writing" | `style-analyzer` | Style characterization and measurement |18| "This is too long," "cut this down" | `prose-editor` (line pass) | Tightening is a line-editing operation |19| "Does this flow?" "Is the structure right?" | `prose-editor` (structural pass) | Structural assessment |20| "How does this author write?" "What makes this prose distinctive?" | `style-analyzer` | Author style analysis |21| "Make this sound more like McCarthy" "Push toward VanderMeer" "Surprise me with a mutation" | `style-mutator` | Voice transformation — shifts existing prose along style-DNA axes without changing content |22| "Is this scene working?" "Is the prose any good?" "Judge this" | `quality-critic` | Boolean craft *verdict* + diagnosis at scene level — it describes nothing and edits nothing; it judges and hands the diagnosis to `prose-editor` |23| "Does the whole thing hold together?" "Does it add up?" "Is the arc working?" "Are the setups paid off?" | `whole-story-judge` | Macro gate over a complete draft — payoff, arc, causality, promise (runs above the scene judge) |2425### Multi-Skill Questions2627When the user wants a comprehensive revision, the order is **describe → judge → edit** (and judging precedes editing — you fix what the verdict diagnoses, not what you guess):28291. `style-analyzer` — characterize what's there before changing it302. **For narrative/fiction only** — `quality-critic` judges whether the scene *works* (verdict + diagnosis); `whole-story-judge` for the whole narrative draft. *Skip the judge for essays/nonfiction* — those evaluate against rhetoric craft (`argument-structure`, `essay-forms`), not the narrative rubric.313. `prose-editor` — apply the editing passes the diagnosis calls for3233This order prevents the editor from imposing a style without first understanding what the writer is doing — and (for fiction) from polishing prose that the judge would reject wholesale.3435### The Editing-Pass Hierarchy3637This is the most important concept in revision-craft. Professional editors work in this order because each pass depends on the one above it being complete:38391. **Structural pass** — Is the piece organized correctly? Are scenes/sections in the right order? Does the arc work? Are there missing or redundant sections? (Loads: `narrative-arc`, `scene-craft`, or `argument-structure` depending on form)402. **Line pass** — Does each sentence serve its paragraph? Is the rhythm working? Is the diction precise? Are there dead metaphors, filler words, register breaks? (Loads: `prose-rhythm`, `diction`, `syntax-patterns`)413. **Copy pass** — Grammar, punctuation, spelling, consistency. The mechanical pass.4243**Never start with a line pass on structurally broken prose.** The writer will polish sentences that get cut in the structural pass. This is the most common amateur editing mistake.4445## Curriculum Order46471. **Prose Editor** (primary tool) — The action skill that performs editing passes. Learn the methodology before the analysis.482. **Style Analyzer** (diagnostic tool) — Analyze and characterize prose style. More useful once you understand what good editing looks like.4950### Level Progression51- **Foundational**: `prose-editor`, `style-analyzer`52- **Intermediate**: `style-mutator` — transform existing prose by shifting its position in the 14-dimension style space53- **Evaluation (the judges)**: `quality-critic` (scene-level craft verdict) and `whole-story-judge` (macro gate) — they judge what the editor then fixes; both instantiate `_shared/critic-core`54- **Advanced**: (future) developmental editing, editorial voice, style coaching5556## Conflict Resolution5758| Conflict | Resolution | Reason |59|----------|-----------|--------|60| Style-analyzer says "this prose is deliberately ornate" but prose-editor wants to cut | Style-analyzer wins | Understand intent before editing. Ornate prose that serves its voice should not be simplified. |61| Structural pass says "cut this scene" but the writer is attached | Present the case, let the writer decide | Killing darlings is the writer's job, not the editor's. |62| Line pass and copy pass disagree on a stylistic choice (fragment, comma splice) | Line pass wins | Intentional style choices override mechanical rules. |6364**General rule**: **Diagnosis before treatment.** Always understand what the prose is doing before changing it. And: **macro before micro** — structure, then lines, then copy. Never reverse this order.6566## Scope Boundaries6768**This director handles**: Editing, revision, style analysis, and prose tightening — the craft of improving existing text.6970**Escalate to the orchestrator when**:71- The user needs prose *drafted*, not edited — that's a writing task, not a revision task72- The user wants to learn craft concepts rather than apply them to specific text — route to the appropriate knowledge director73- The revision reveals the piece needs fundamental reconception — flag to the user rather than attempting to edit a broken structure into shape
npbuilds