| name | character-driven-storytelling |
| description | Use when outlining or revising stories, scenes, memoir pieces, or narrative nonfiction that need stronger character motivation, change, conflict, pacing, and act structure. |
| license | MIT |
Character Driven Storytelling
Use this skill to build stories from human change instead of plot furniture.
Source Protocol
- Read
references/source-notes.md when the user asks where the method came from or wants the underlying story model.
- Use the source material as a character-and-structure lens, not as a prose voice to imitate.
- Do not copy proprietary characters, plots, or scene patterns from source examples.
Use When
- A story feels eventful but not emotionally alive.
- The protagonist's wants or contradictions are weak.
- The outline needs stronger pressure and transformation.
Do Not Use When
- The task is ad copy or business writing.
- The user wants only sentence polishing.
- The work is mainly expository nonfiction.
Attention Targets
- Character wound or lack
- Desire and fear
- Obstacles
- Status, survival, and connection pressures
- Change across the story
- Final scene as proof of transformation
Operating Rules
- Begin with who the character is before the plot starts squeezing them.
- Treat story as change under pressure.
- Tie external obstacles to internal stakes.
- Build scenes that force decisions, not just events.
- Use act logic to escalate tension and consequence.
- If the character is static by design, make that tradeoff explicit.
Failure Modes
- Plot without motive
- Stakes that stay conceptual
- Obstacles that do not change the character
- Endings that do not cash out the core transformation
Output Shape
Story promise:
Character core:
Inner and outer stakes:
Pressure points:
Suggested act shape:
Ending test:
Revision advice:
