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Chapter Writing

An outline-first fiction workflow that pulls context from character, world, and plot files, gets a beat-by-beat outline approved, drafts the chapter, then updates every index, timeline, and continuity record.

Content & WritingIntermediate★ 243⑂ 36AI score 8/10Last updated: Sep 24, 2026

What it does

  • Reads story.md, the style sheet, character/location profiles, plot arcs, timeline, and continuity files to establish current story state.
  • Confirms chapter scope, POV, and locations, then builds a beat-by-beat outline for your approval before any prose is written.
  • Drafts full prose in the project's POV and tense, honoring each character's recorded voice words and avoid-words.
  • Post-write, it updates chapters/_index.md, plot/timeline.md, arc files, scene records, foreshadowing status, and continuity state, then runs story wordcount / reindex / links / validate / pacing / progress.
  • Hands off line edits to line-editing and continuity audits to revision-continuity, keeping responsibilities clean.

Who it's for

  • Novelists and serial-fiction writers drafting chapter by chapter
  • Writers who keep losing track of character state, timelines, and unpaid setups
  • Anyone managing a manuscript repo in Claude Code who wants automated indexing and validation

Examples

  1. "Write the next chapter" → reads the previous chapter's ending state and active arcs, proposes the next beats, drafts after approval.
  2. "Just outline chapter 3" → returns POV, locations, per-scene outcomes (yes / no / yes-but / no-and), and the chapter hook type.
  3. "Add a chase scene from the protagonist's POV" → writes in that character's voice and creates the matching scenes/ record plus continuity updates.

· · · Install guide · · ·

Try it now, no install

Paste this into Claude to use the skill without installing anything.

Read the instructions in this file and follow them to help me:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/danjdewhurst/story-skills/HEAD/skills/chapter-writing/SKILL.md

What I want: (describe your task here)

If Claude can't open the link, open it yourself and paste the contents instead.

↓ If it works for you, download the ZIP below and install it. Then it runs on its own — no pasting each time.

Install in the Claude app (no terminal)
  1. Download the ZIP with the button below.
  2. In Claude, open Settings → Capabilities and turn on 'Code execution and file creation'. (one time)
  3. Go to Customize → Skills → + → 'Upload a skill' and upload the ZIP.
↓ Download ZIP
Install in Claude Code

Let Claude do it — paste this into Claude Code

Install the skill I found on Claude Skill Mart.
Copy the skills/chapter-writing folder from the GitHub repo danjdewhurst/story-skills into my ~/.claude/skills/chapter-writing/.
When it's done, tell me in one line what this skill can do.

Install with a command instead

git clone https://github.com/danjdewhurst/story-skills.git && mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && cp -r story-skills/skills/* ~/.claude/skills/

⚠ This is a third-party skill. Check the source repository before installing.

  1. Open a terminal.
  2. Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/danjdewhurst/story-skills.git
  3. Make sure the skills folder exists: mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
  4. Copy the skills across: cp -r story-skills/skills/* ~/.claude/skills/ (install the siblings line-editing, scene-craft, revision-continuity, and story-maintenance too — this skill delegates to them).
  5. Optional: add the complementary prose skill — git clone https://github.com/forjd/better-writing.git ~/.claude/skills/better-writing
  6. Restart Claude Code, open your story project folder, and say "write the next chapter".
  7. Your project needs at least a story.md bible and one file in characters/ for the workflow to run properly.
View source on GitHub ↗License: MIT