outline-book

name	outline-book
description	Turn a book idea into a structural outline with promises, arcs, and a chapter plan. Use when Sagar says "outline this book", "plan the plot", "structure this story", or has a new book idea that needs shape before drafting.

Outline a book

Produce a working outline for a book in src/content/books/<slug>/, stored in the book folder as _outline.md (the _ prefix keeps it out of the content-collection globs).

Preparation

Read from the writing-craft skill library:

• references/story-structure.md -- always
• references/serial-fiction.md -- always (everything here publishes serially)
• references/fantasy-genre.md -- for fantasy/fanfic shelves
• references/theme.md -- if the idea has a message or moral question
• references/character.md -- if protagonists are already known

Steps

1. Read the book's book.md and any existing _outline.md or chapters.
2. Interview the idea (ask Sagar only what the files don't answer, max 3 questions):
   • What is the ending state? (Wells: plot backwards from the Resolution)
   • Who changes, and what Lie do they start believing? (Weiland)
   • What are the chapter-one promises: tone, story, character, structure? (Sanderson)
3. Pick the framework that fits, don't force one:
   • Single-protagonist transformation -> Hero's Journey or Weiland beats.
   • Ensemble epic -> per-POV promise/progress/payoff threads (Sanderson).
   • Chapter-unit pacing for the serial -> Harmon Story Circle per chapter/arc.
   • State which framework was chosen and why, one line.
4. Write _outline.md with: premise paragraph, the four opening promises, act/arc breakdown with percentage targets, per-thread promise-progress-payoff table, and a first-arc chapter list (title + one-line goal + hook type per chapter, two hooks per chapter per the serial module).
5. Mark every chapter's "signpost of progress" -- which tracked thread visibly advances (Sanderson: readers quit when nothing signposts progress).
6. Verify pnpm build still passes (the _ prefix must keep the file out of collections).

Rules

• Outlines are living documents; revise freely. Published chapters are not (see revision.md module on public-serial revision discipline).
• Never pad the outline with chapters that only "travel". Leonard: leave out the parts readers skip.
• The outline is a diagnostic, not a contract: discovery-writing against it is fine, but update it after each detour so consistency checks stay meaningful.