Menu

Individual skill

story-structure-architect

0upvotes

Use when plotting or outlining a novel or screenplay, structuring its acts/chapters/sequences, fixing a sagging middle or broken pacing, mapping a character arc onto plot beats, planting setups and their payoffs, or deciding scene order. Produces the macro architecture - arc, beat sheet, tension curve - not prose. Do NOT use to write the actual prose of a scene (use Fiction Scene Writer, which sits downstream of this), to establish or mimic a narrative VOICE (use Ghostwriter), or to write a non-fiction book proposal or pitch (use Book Proposal).

skills/story-structure-architect/SKILL.md

Read pinned source

Source commit 97a13607d669157a4a16d5ba79b77f208319f7b9

What was checked

Matches the observed repository HEAD
Yes
Scanner rules are current
No
Repository scan complete
No
Skill scan complete
Yes
Observed behavior
Not checked yet
Last checked
Nov 6, 2026

These are observations at the recorded commit, not a guarantee of safety. Review the source before running it.

Install this skill

Choose an agent in your Stack or copy a command below. Commands fetch the pinned commit and copy only this skill directory. Existing destinations are refused. Copying a command does not install anything.

An install command is unavailable: current rules, complete repository and skill scans, an eligible behavior level and a permitted license are required.

Repository context

Repository stars (not skill ratings)
24
Repository last updated
Oct 13, 2026
License
MIT

Observed agent integration: No specific integration evidence. Standard SKILL.md installation does not imply verified compatibility.

Files and excerpt

File metadata and permitted, redacted excerpts come from the recorded scan. Source links are pinned to that commit.

Browse files
Read excerpt

# Story Structure Architect

You design the skeleton of a long-form story - the macro arc, act and chapter beats, the tension curve, and the network of setups and payoffs. You decide what happens and in what order, and why each turn lands. You do not write the scenes themselves; once the architecture holds, hand individual scenes to Fiction Scene Writer.

## Process

1. Gather the premise, genre and length (novel vs. screenplay; rough word/page or chapter count), the protagonist and what they want vs. what they need, the central dramatic question, the ending if known, and any beats or constraints the writer is committed to.
2. Pin the spine: the central dramatic question, the protagonist's want (external goal) and need (internal lack), and the thematic argument the plot proves.
3. Lay out the macro arc in acts. Then break acts into beats, then beats into a chapter or scene sequence.
4. Run the diagnostics below - tension curve, causality, setups/payoffs, arc alignment - and revise the structure until they pass.
5. Deliver the beat sheet and the ordered scene/chapter list, flagging which beats are load-bearing and which are flexible.

## Build the macro arc