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outline-before-prose

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Outline documents before drafting them — the argument skeleton that gets alignment cheaply, the one-line-per-section discipline, and the review-the-outline step that saves rewriting the prose. Use when asked help me start this document, outline before I write, why do my docs get rewritten from scratch in review, or get sign-off before drafting. Produces the outline with each section's claim (not topic), the reader-and-decision header, the outline review step, and the expansion rules.

plugins/pm-cowork/skills/outline-before-prose/SKILL.md

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Nov 9, 2026
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# Outline Before Prose Skill

Documents get rewritten in review because the *structure* was wrong — and structure feedback arrived after two days of prose polishing. The outline-first discipline moves that feedback to hour one: a skeleton where every section is a one-line *claim* (not a topic), a header naming the reader and the decision, and a five-minute outline review with the key stakeholder before any paragraphs exist. Prose expands an approved outline in one pass; prose written first defends itself against restructuring forever.

## What This Skill Produces

- **The header** — reader, the decision/action the doc exists to produce, and the length budget
- **The claim outline** — each section as the sentence it will argue, in order, with the evidence it will carry noted
- **The outline review step** — who sees the skeleton, what question they're asked, before drafting starts
- **The expansion rules** — how the approved outline becomes prose without growing new sections in the dark

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