writing-for-the-readerlisted

# Writing for the reader Give the reader a standalone result in the order they need it. ## Contract 1. **Start with reader value.** Put the fact, action, or decision the reader came for first. 2. **Describe present truth.** Write what the thing is, does, requires, or guarantees now. 3. **Match the time frame to the reader's task.** Guidance states current truth. A record whose purpose is change preserves the relevant before-and-after state and reason. 4. **Use visible actors and actions.** Put the actor in the subject and the important action in the verb. 5. **Earn every explanation.** Include context when it changes understanding, action, or safety. Match its depth to the reader's task. 6. **Preserve evidence boundaries.** Keep provenance and uncertainty when they determine how strongly the reader may rely on a claim. 7. **Keep production work in its working record.** The result receives the decision, the evidence the reader needs to trust or use it, and uncertainty that changes the reader's action. Abandoned approaches, self-correction dialogue, instructions received, speculative branches, and narration of edits just performed stay in the working channel. Replace process narration with the present fact the reader needs. 8. **Let the artifact stand alone.** Prefer stable language that remains useful after the session and the current release are forgotten. ## Process-leak test For each sentence, ask: > Would this serve the intended reader a