drafting

name	drafting
description	Create writing plans, section drafts, and manuscript prose. Use when drafting or editing any part of the paper, building evidence chains from notes, or planning the writing.

Drafting

The research workflow:

outline  →  search queue  →  notes  →  writing plan  →  drafts  →  manuscript

Reading notes capture what each paper says. Section drafts capture what the papers mean together for the user's argument. Notes are automatic; drafts require user approval — they contain the user's intellectual contribution.

Proposing a section draft

When: 2+ reading notes relate to the same outline section; the user discusses how sources connect; a clear evidence chain forms across notes.

How:

1. Talk it through first — propose the evidence chain, let the user react and redirect
2. Ask explicitly: "Want me to save this as a working draft in drafts/?" Do NOT create the file before yes
3. Read outline.md for the section's argumentative job, and the relevant notes
4. Create drafts/section-<number>-<slug>.md from templates/section-draft.md:
   • Argument — what the section argues, how it advances the thesis (2–3 sentences)
   • Evidence bridge — numbered logical chain connecting sources to the argument. The most valuable part: it captures reasoning, not just references
   • Gaps — missing evidence → add to search-queue.md
   • Draft prose — rough paragraphs with [@key] citations
   • Sources used — table mapping each paper to its contribution

Cite evidence precisely — the user must find any claim's source in under 30 seconds:

• Direct quotes with page/section: "exact words from the paper" (Smith 2024, p. 12)
• Paraphrases name the location: Smith et al. found X (Table 2, p. 8)
• Real numbers, pulled from the paper: "N=217", "d=0.43" — never "a large sample"
• Key claims get quote + key: "TUS significantly enhanced positive mood" [@sanguinetti2020, p. 5]

The writing plan (drafts/writing-plan.md)

Create once the outline is stable, before drafting begins, from templates/writing-plan.md. It is the bridge between "what are we arguing?" (outline) and the prose (drafts) — instructions for drafting, not the draft:

• Word budgets per section and total (prevents sprawl, respects venue limits)
• Paragraph-level jobs: "P1: establish the problem. P2: historical precedent. P3: why AI is different."
• Section jobs — the one question each section answers, with boundary notes for adjacent sections that could blur
• Discipline notes — sprawl, over-hedging, and other section-specific risks
• Throughline map — where the paper's central spine should surface
• Key citations needed — mapped to the search queue

Update it when sections are added, budgets shift, or feedback changes a section's job. Consult it before drafting any section.

Writing and editing the manuscript

1. Read manuscript/main.md and outline.md first
2. Edit manuscript/main.md directly; [@key] syntax, keys must exist in references.bib
3. Never invent examples, quotes, or numbers — copy them from real project files (see CLAUDE.md, this rule is absolute)
4. After significant edits, offer to rebuild: make pdf

Conventions

• Pandoc Markdown with YAML frontmatter
• Citations: [@smith2024], [@smith2024, p. 42], [see @smith2024; @jones2023]
• APA 7th by default (bibliography/citation-style.csl — swappable)
• Reference keys: authorYear (walker2017)
• make wordcount — check against the writing plan's budgets