How to use the WriteStory fiction scaffolding agent skill

What an agent skill is and what WriteStory makes the agent do

An agent skill is a folder of instructions and supporting files that an AI agent loads when your request matches the skill's triggers. WriteStory tells the agent to scaffold a story rather than write it for you. It takes your seed material and builds the rest one layer at a time across seven narrative layers, from a short story up to a series.

For each element, the agent labels whether it was inferred from your notes or is a new option it is offering. It proposes pieces for you to accept, change, or reject. It can keep a story bible for each book and draft chapters only from that confirmed bible.

• Derives structure, wound, theme and prose from your own notes
• Labels each proposal as inferred from your material or a new suggestion
• Keeps a per-book story bible so planning persists across sessions
• Excludes factual summaries and non-fiction voice audits, which belong to other skills

Install WriteStory from the ZIP or the Claude apps

Download the WriteStory ZIP from this page. You have two options.

Option one is a personal install. Unzip the file into ~/.claude/skills/ so the folder is available to every project. Option two is a project install. Unzip it into the .claude/skills/ folder inside a specific project.

Option three is to upload the skill in the Claude apps through Settings, then Capabilities, then Skills.

• Personal: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
• Per project: unzip into .claude/skills/ in your project folder
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload

Set up the local data folder and requirements

WriteStory runs its tools as TypeScript files using the Bun runtime, so Bun must be installed. The skill also needs a local user data folder for its corpus, voice profile and book projects. The skill's Setup.md file explains how to create it.

Setup is needed mainly for the optional fiction voice model. Building that model uses Project Gutenberg plain-text story collections. You can use the skill for planning and bible work without it, but the drafting quality checks depend on it.

• Bun runtime installed (the tools are run with bun)
• A local user data folder set up as described in Setup.md
• Project Gutenberg plain-text story collections, only if you build the optional fiction voice model
• Network access is used by the corpus fetch step

Trigger the skill with natural requests

You do not need special syntax. Describe what you want in plain words and include the kind of help you need. The skill routes your request to one of five intents: Interview, BuildBible, Explore, WriteChapter, or Revise.

Phrases that work include 'interview me' or 'I have notes for a story' for a first session, 'build story bible' or 'map the story' for planning, 'brainstorm' or 'I'm stuck' for ideas, 'write chapter' or 'draft this' for scene drafting, and 'revise', 'edit', 'improve' or 'polish' for working on a draft you already own.

• "I have notes for a story. Interview me and layer my story."
• "Build story bible from my notes in this folder."
• "I'm stuck on Act two. Brainstorm what if options for my villain."
• "Write chapter 3 from the confirmed bible."
• "Revise my chapter for pacing and tighten the dialogue."

Work through a typical session

The usual path is Interview, then BuildBible, then WriteChapter, then Revise. Interview reads what you have and builds the spine with you. BuildBible turns that into a Story Bible, which is a project ISA. WriteChapter drafts from that bible, and Revise works on layers and polish. Explore is the idea engine you use when one layer is blank.

Each book is a resumable project. The skill reads its interview.md and Story Bible ISA.md before new work, so you can pick up where you left off in a later session.

• Interview: the agent reads your material and builds the spine with you
• BuildBible: produces the Story Bible
• WriteChapter: drafts revisable scenes from the confirmed bible only
• Revise: layers and polishes a draft you wrote

Safety notes: scripts and network use

WriteStory runs scripts and uses the network. Its tools include BuildFictionCorpus.ts, which can fetch Project Gutenberg collections, along with BuildVoiceProfile.ts, StoryGate.ts, StoryJudge.ts and VoiceMetrics.ts. Read the scripts and the Setup.md file before running them, and be deliberate about what the fetch step downloads.

The skill is designed to augment your writing rather than replace it. It emits new prose only from the confirmed bible in WriteChapter, and it works on your own draft in Revise.

• Review the scripts before running any of the Tools files
• The corpus fetch step uses the network
• Keep your data in the local user folder described in Setup.md