42 lines
1.9 KiB
Markdown
42 lines
1.9 KiB
Markdown
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---
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description: Analyze character voice — consistency, distinctiveness, and development
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argument-hint: "[path, glob, or selection]"
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allowed-tools: [Read, Glob, Grep]
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---
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Read the manuscript at `$ARGUMENTS` and analyze how distinct and consistent each character's voice is. Report findings to the conversation.
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## What to analyze
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For each named character with meaningful dialogue:
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### Speech profile
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- **Vocabulary** — formal/informal, technical/plain, characteristic word choices
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- **Sentence shape** — short/long, complete/fragmented, complex/simple
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- **Rhythm** — clipped, flowing, interrupted, deliberate
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- **Emotional register** — how they show anger, fear, affection, humor
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- **Background markers** — regional, generational, professional, cultural cues that appear in speech
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### Consistency
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- Does the voice hold across scenes and chapters?
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- Does it adapt appropriately under stress, with different conversational partners, or across an arc — or does it slip and re-form without reason?
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- Does any growth in the character show up *in the voice* rather than only in the narration?
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### Distinctiveness
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- Could a reader identify the speaker with the dialogue tags removed? Test by sampling unattributed lines.
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- Are any two characters bleeding into each other? Name the overlap.
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- Are any characters' voices so close to the narrator's that they don't stand out?
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## Output format
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Per character (focus on the major ones):
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- **Voice profile** — 2-3 sentences capturing the signature
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- **Sample lines** — 2-3 quoted lines that exemplify the voice
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- **Consistency** — strong / mostly stable / drifts; cite the strongest example and any slip
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- **Distinctiveness** — distinctive / shared traits with [other character] / undifferentiated
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Close with:
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- **Overall assessment** — which voices are working, which need work
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- **Priority fixes** — three to five concrete suggestions ordered by impact
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