# Joy-Check Rubric

Full reference for Phase 6 (JOY-CHECK) of the voice-writer pipeline.

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## Joy Framing Rubric

Evaluate each paragraph against these five dimensions:

| Dimension | Joy-Centered (PASS) | Grievance-Centered (FAIL) |
|-----------|-------------------|--------------------------|
| **Subject position** | Author as explorer, builder, learner | Author as victim, wronged party, unrecognized genius |
| **Other people** | Fellow travelers, interesting minds, people figuring things out | Opponents, thieves, people who should have done better |
| **Difficult experiences** | Interesting, surprising, made me think differently | Unfair, hurtful, someone should fix this |
| **Uncertainty** | Comfortable, curious, "none of us know" | Anxious, defensive, "I need to prove" |
| **Closing energy** | Forward-looking, building, sharing, exploring | Cautionary, warning, demanding, lamenting |

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## Scoring System

For each paragraph, assign one of:

- **JOY** (80-100): Frames through curiosity, generosity, or earned satisfaction
- **NEUTRAL** (50-79): Factual, neither joy nor grievance
- **CAUTION** (30-49): Leans toward grievance but recoverable with reframing
- **GRIEVANCE** (0-29): Frames through accusation, victimhood, or bitterness

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## Rewrite Rules

If any paragraph scores GRIEVANCE:

1. Rewrite preserving substance, changing only the framing
2. Shift toward curiosity, generosity, or earned satisfaction
3. Re-evaluate the rewritten paragraph to confirm it no longer scores GRIEVANCE
4. Maximum 3 joy-check iterations

General rules:
- Reframe, don't suppress -- negative experiences are valid topics, only the framing changes. This is editorial craft, not dishonesty — substance stays the same.
- Preserve substance -- change the lens, not the facts
- One GRIEVANCE paragraph is a FAIL condition for the whole piece
- CAUTION paragraphs are acceptable if the overall piece passes

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## Important Constraint: Facts as Prosecution

Do not rationalize that "the content is factual, so the framing is fine." Facts arranged as prosecution are framing, not neutrality. Evaluate the arrangement of facts, not just their accuracy. The reframe would not be dishonest — it is how we choose to tell the truth.

For example, a sequence of negative facts presented in order of escalating severity, with no counterpoint or generosity, is grievance framing even if every individual fact is accurate.
