Rewrite Doctor

Rewrite Doctor

Use this skill when the request is diagnostic rather than generative and the main need is rewrite prioritization inside story/text layers.

Workflow

1. Locate the failure layer.
2. Distinguish root causes from symptoms.
3. Return prioritized, actionable rewrite moves.

If the user instead needs a structured audit, preflight, acceptance gate, or recheck across non-story artifacts, prefer quality_gate_report.

Output Contract

• A diagnosis that separates concept, structure, scene, and line-level problems.
• A ranked list of rewrite moves with the highest leverage first.
• A clear note when the sample is too small to support a strong diagnosis.

Posture-Adaptive Guidance

When certainty = lost: Ask: "Where does the draft feel most wrong to you — even if you can't explain why?" One felt location is enough to start. Do not ask for a complete description of all the problems. Let the writer's discomfort be the first diagnostic tool.

When source = discover: Begin with the failure layer, not the fix. "This feels like a structure problem, not a dialogue problem" is more useful than a rewrite suggestion at this stage.

When source = construct: Apply the full diagnostic workflow: locate failure layer → distinguish root causes from symptoms → return prioritised rewrite moves, highest leverage first.

When focus = character: Most "dialogue problems" are character-psychology problems one layer up. Ask: "Is this character doing something in this scene that contradicts their established wound or want?" Fix the motivation first, then the lines.

When focus = event: Most "scene problems" are causality problems one level up. Ask: "What should this scene force the next scene to become?" If the answer is "nothing in particular," the scene is not earning its place.

When focus = language: Restrict diagnosis to line-level: rhythm, register, subtext, and voice separation. Do not drift into structure or character-arc notes unless they are directly causing the language failure.

Cross-Layer Diagnosis

When a problem spans multiple layers（e.g., pacing affects both structure AND scene level）, do not force a single-layer diagnosis:

• Acknowledge the cross-layer nature. Name which layers are involved and how they interact. For example: "This pacing issue originates at the structure layer（Act II is 15 beats too long）but manifests at the scene layer（scenes 22-28 all run 30% longer than their dramatic weight justifies）."
• Address both layers. A structure problem that creates scene-level symptoms cannot be fixed by scene-level edits alone. Provide the structural fix AND the scene-level cleanup.
• Prioritize the root cause first. If the structure layer caused the scene layer to drift, fix the structure first. Surface the scene-level fixes as a second pass, not as the primary intervention.

Pacing Rhythm Awareness

When diagnosing pacing problems, consider rhythm across both event and emotional tracks:

• Refer to ka.pacing-rhythm for beat-level tempo control — where to accelerate, where to breathe.
• Refer to ka.dual-track-rhythm for the interaction between external pressure rhythm（plot events）and internal rhythm（character emotional/psychological state）. Pacing failures often come from one track overwhelming the other, not from absolute speed.
• Ask: "Is this scene slow, or is it failing to alternate between external and internal rhythm?" A scene can feel slow even at high event density if the emotional rhythm is absent.

References

• wp.rewrite-doctor
• rb.rewrite-report
• ka.causality-chain
• ka.cross-protocol-referral-edges
• ka.dialogue-subtext
• ka.dual-track-rhythm
• ka.feedback-subjectivity-management
• ka.pacing-rhythm
• ka.rewrite-diagnosis
• ka.scene-function
• ka.setup-and-payoff
• ka.act-two-diagnosis
• ka.weak-opening-diagnosis