Two kinds of text
Every read you make contains two kinds of text: what the source directly shows, and what you write about it. Keeping them apart is the whole point of the balance.
Directly visible
The source’s own wording — a title, an option name, a price, a domain. You can point at it. It does not need your help to be what it is.
Derived note
Your working wording — a summary, a label, or a guess about what the source probably means. It is useful while you work, but it is yours, not the source’s.
Do not upgrade a paraphrase
A derived note becomes a problem the moment you treat it as the source’s wording. If your note says “the price is per item,” that is still an inference until the source states it.
A worked split
- Directly visible: the page shows “$45” next to the bag.
- Derived note: “the price is probably for one bag.”
- Check: does the source say “per bag”? It does not — the note stays derived.
Context example — not a product score, comparison result, recommendation, or verification.
When the note keeps replacing the source
If you find yourself quoting your note instead of the source, stop and re-read the page. The source wording is the only thing that can carry the claim.
Continue your review
Start from the full routine with the context balance guide, and list what is absent with the missing context guide.