| Label | Pattern | Sent | Severity | Scope | State | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Not X, but Y" A stock construction that reads as written rather than thought. |
\b(?:not|isn't|wasn't)\s+\w+[^.?!]{0,40}?,?\s+
regex |
detect only | warn | global | on | |
| A beat of silence Genre-default atmosphere. |
\b(?:a beat of silence|the silence stretched|s
regex |
detect only | warn | global | on | |
| A mixture of Naming two abstractions instead of showing one concrete thing. |
\ba (?:mixture|blend|combination) of\s+\w+\s+a
regex |
detect only | warn | global | on | |
| A wave of Emotion as weather. Give what she notices instead. |
\ba (?:wave|surge|flood|rush) of (?:nausea|rel
regex |
sent | warn | global | on | |
| Adverb-propped gesture Stock stage direction. Give the gesture or cut it. |
\b(?:nod(?:s|ded|ding)?|smil(?:es|ed|ing)|shru
regex |
sent | warn | global | on | |
| Adverb-propped speech The adverb is doing work the line of dialogue should do. Cut it and fix the line. |
\b(?:said|asked|replied|muttered|murmured|adde
regex |
sent | warn | global | on | |
| As if simile Where borrowed images hide. Most are fine; check whether the comparison is built from this book's own particulars or from general stock. |
\bas if\b
regex |
detect only | info | global | on | |
| Body as emotion Stock somatic shorthand. Every book uses these; none of them are yours. |
\b(?:chest|stomach|throat|heart|jaw)\s+(?:tigh
regex |
sent | warn | global | on | |
| Chandler simile The "as X as a Y" construction is Chandler's signature and the easiest thing to echo unknowingly. Many are innocent; check any at an emotionally load-bearing moment. |
\bas (?!soon|long|far|well|much|many|though|if
regex |
detect only | info | global | on | |
| Chill ran down Stock. |
\ba (?:chill|shiver) (?:ran|went|crawled) (?:d
regex |
detect only | warn | global | on | |
| Could not help but Filler that describes a reaction instead of giving it. |
\b(?:could|couldn't|can't|cannot)\s+(?:not\s+)
regex |
detect only | warn | global | on | |
| Did not need to know Telling wrapped in a negative. Show the thing she would have needed. |
\b(?:did|didn't|does|doesn't)\s*n?o?t?\s*need
regex |
detect only | warn | global | on | |
| Em dash Not wanted in this manuscript. The drafting prompts ask models not to use them; this catches the ones that slip through, and any arriving by paste. |
\x{2014}
regex |
sent | warn | global | on | |
| Hung in the air Genre-default atmosphere. |
\b(?:hung|hangs|hanging) in the air\b
regex |
sent | warn | global | on | |
| It is not X, it is Y The escalation form of the same tell. Almost always cuttable to the second half alone. |
\b(?:it|this|that)(?:'s|\s+is|\s+was)\s+not\s+
regex |
sent | warn | global | on | |
| Like some kind of Vague comparison. Name it. |
\blike some (?:kind|sort) of\b
regex |
detect only | warn | global | on | |
| Little did she know Narrator addressing the reader over the character's head. |
\blittle did (?:she|he|they)\b
regex |
detect only | warn | global | on | |
| Model vocabulary Words models reach for that almost never appear in plain British fiction. |
\b(?:delve|tapestry|testament to|underscore[sd
regex |
sent | warn | global | on | |
| Not X, but Y The construction Anthropic names as one of its own tells. Rewrite as a plain statement or cut the first half. |
\b(?:not|isn't|wasn't|never)\s+(?!everyone|eve
regex |
sent | warn | global | on | |
| Part X, part Y A stock way of avoiding choosing. Name the thing. |
\bpart\s+\w+,\s*part\s+\w+
regex |
detect only | warn | global | on | |
| Quietly Anthropic names this as a word its models overuse. Not wrong, but count them: more than one or two a chapter is a tell. |
\bquietly\b
regex |
detect only | info | global | on | |
| Sententious opener A general truth in the narrator's mouth. In close third it is both an echo risk and a POV slip. |
^\s*(?:It was|There was|Grief|Love|Life|Death|
regex |
sent | warn | global | on | |
| Silence stretched Genre-default atmosphere at a load-bearing moment. |
\b(?:a beat of silence|the silence (?:stretche
regex |
sent | warn | global | on | |
| Smoothing invisible A body-language cliché that appears in an enormous amount of fiction. |
\b(?:smoothing|brushing) (?:invisible|imaginar
regex |
sent | warn | global | on | |
| Something shifted Stock interiority-at-a-distance. |
\bsomething\s+(?:shifted|flickered|passed)\s+(
regex |
detect only | warn | global | on | |
| Stock intensifier Reaching for emphasis instead of specifics. |
\b(?:utterly|profoundly|deeply|palpable|palpab
regex |
sent | warn | global | on | |
| Telling after showing Naming the emotion the scene has already shown. |
\b(?:she|he)\s+(?:felt|realised|knew|understoo
regex |
sent | warn | global | on | |
| That was the thing about The narrator stepping back to explain. Cut it. |
\bthat was the thing about\b
regex |
detect only | warn | global | on | |
| The kind of X that Frequently fine, but it is the hardboiled aphorism's favourite frame. |
\bthe kind of \w+ that\b
regex |
detect only | info | global | on | |
| There was something almost Hedged abstraction where a concrete detail belongs. |
\bthere was something (?:almost )?\w+ about\b
regex |
detect only | warn | global | on | |
| Thick with Stock atmosphere. |
\bair was thick with\b
regex |
detect only | warn | global | on | |
| Three-item rhythmic list Only a flag: many are fine. Worth checking whether the rhythm is doing the work instead of the words. |
\b\w+,\s+\w+,?\s+and\s+\w+\.
regex |
sent | info | global | on |