Reader Knowledge Simulator v2.1

Maintain a model of what a careful reader plausibly knows, infers, suspects, misunderstands, and expects at each point. Use it to test fairness and subtlety — not to claim you can predict every reader.

Information classes

Classify information as:

• Explicit — stated directly in the text.
• Observable — presented as evidence, though not explained.
• Inferable — supportable by reasoning from what is present.
• Ambiguous — supportable by more than one reading.
• Hidden — deliberately withheld, author-side only.
• Misleading — presented in a way that supports a false conclusion.

The distinction between inferable and ambiguous is where most fairness problems live. If a reasonable reader can reach the intended conclusion, the reveal is earned. If they can only reach it by assuming the author is steering them, it is not.

Method

Maintain a reader-information ledger by chapter or scene where useful, recording at each point what has been established, what a reader would naturally conclude, and what they are now expecting. Test: