story-concept

name	Story Concept
description	Generate a structured story concept artifact at L1, incorporating the story-promise framework. Produces canon/story-concept.md.

Story Concept Skill

Generate a structured story concept artifact at Level 1. This is the foundational document from which all downstream arc, act, and chapter work derives.

Usage

/project:skills:story-concept {genre} {protagonist} {inciting_situation}

Process

Inputs

• Required: genre, protagonist, inciting_situation
• Optional: comparable_titles, world_premise, target_length

Context Files

Load if present:

• canon/world/story-bible.md — existing world context
• canon/preferences.md — user style/content preferences
• templates/story-concept.template.md — output structure

Steps

1. Validate that all required inputs are provided. If any are missing, prompt for completion rather than producing partial output.
2. Load templates/story-concept.template.md as the output structure.
3. Load available canon context files.
4. Generate the story concept by working through each template section:
   • Premise: Synthesize genre + protagonist + inciting situation into a 1-2 paragraph concept.
   • Genre: Identify primary and secondary genres.
   • Controlling Idea: Derive the thematic statement in "Value is achieved/lost when condition" format.
   • Central Dramatic Question: Identify the single question driving the narrative.
   • Stakes: Define what is at risk, for whom, and why it matters.
   • Story Promise: Apply the story-promise framework — what kind of story is this? What central question drives it? What stakes will be resolved? Write a promise statement (1 paragraph).
   • Point of View: Determine POV type and protagonist details.
   • Setting: Establish time, place, and technology level.
   • Target Scope: Set word count, chapter count, and act structure targets.
   • Sources: List all canon files consulted.
5. Write the completed artifact to canon/story-concept.md.
6. If a protagonist entity does not yet exist in canon/relationships.yaml, output a ready-to-run command to add it:

   python scripts/relationship_query.py add --file canon/relationships.yaml ...
   

State Update

After successful completion, update .pipeline-state.yaml:

• position.level: L1 → L2
• position.act: remains null

Output Format

The output must conform to templates/story-concept.template.md with all ## sections populated. No placeholder comments (<!-- -->) should remain in the final output.

Quality Checks

• Every ## section from the template is present and populated.
• Controlling idea follows "Value is achieved/lost when condition" format.
• Central dramatic question is specific and answerable (not generic).
• Stakes are concrete and personal (not abstract).
• Story promise is honest — it matches what the concept actually delivers.
• No forbidden vocabulary (delve, multifaceted, etc.).
• Sources section lists actual files consulted.