opener-critique

Opener Critique

Table of Contents

• Classifier
• Workflow
• Worked example
• Guardrails

Related skills: Called by Editor in structural pass. Sets tone contract; downstream skills (voice-check, slop-detector S1) can reference its classification.

Classifier

Class	Markers	Voice verdict
confession	I hadn't, I used to think, I did not know, Until last week, I spent three hours, I was wrong about	PASS
reframe	X is commonly called Y — actually Z, Most people think X; actually Y	PASS
admission	I substitute learning for doing, I have been meaning to, I have opinions about X — the kind that feel like knowledge	PASS
puzzle (biology cold open)	Biological/systems question opened with a specific number or contradiction	PASS
epistolary	Dear friend, Dear reader, second-person address to a specific imagined reader	PASS (rare but valid)
news-hook	GPT-5 launched, Last week OpenAI, With the release of X, reacting to an external event	FLAG tier-1
generic-opener	AI is transforming, In a world where, In today's fast-paced, As we enter a new era	FLAG tier-1

Workflow

Evaluate opener:
- [ ] Step 1: Extract first 1-3 sentences
- [ ] Step 2: Match against classifier marker lists
- [ ] Step 3: Assign class
- [ ] Step 4: Write one-line justification
- [ ] Step 5: If news-hook or generic-opener, produce 2 rewrite options in the confession/admission register

Worked example

Draft opener (bad): "In today's rapidly evolving AI landscape, teams face a critical choice between RAG and fine-tuning for domain knowledge."

Classification: generic-opener. Tier-1.

Rewrites:

• (a) "I spent four months trying to make a RAG demo not lie. The model was never the problem."
• (b) "I had not shipped a fine-tune until last quarter. I assumed the model was the hard part. It wasn't."

Draft opener (good): "I spent a week re-prompting a customer-service agent before I realised the agent was the wrong unit of analysis."

Classification: confession (I spent, I realised). PASS.

Draft opener (puzzle — valid): "Your immune system can recognize roughly ten trillion distinct molecular threats. It does this with a genome that contains fewer than twenty thousand protein-coding genes. The math should not work."

Classification: puzzle. PASS.

Guardrails

1. First 3 sentences only. If the writer's opener is 1 sentence, use that alone.
2. Never rewrite the opener beyond 2 suggested options, each ≤2 sentences.
3. News-hook and generic-opener are automatic tier-1. Never soften.
4. If the opener is borderline (e.g., an admission that's ALMOST generic), default to PASS and note as candidate for Editor's drift review.
5. Series-log posts often open with the scoreboard or a direct match reference — that's admission-adjacent, accept.
6. Epistolary register is valid but RARE. Flag if the writer uses it more than 1 in 10 posts.

Quick reference

• Input: first 3 sentences of draft.
• Output: classification + verdict (PASS / FLAG tier-1) + rewrites if flagged.
• Seven classes: confession, reframe, admission, puzzle, epistolary (all pass); news-hook, generic-opener (flag).