sanderson-professional-writing

name	sanderson-professional-writing
description	Use when the problem is writer process, finishing, revision discipline, professional posture, discovery vs outlining, or building a repeatable practice. Based on Brandon Sanderson's 2025 lectures on professional writing philosophy, process, and revision.

Sanderson Professional Writing

Use this skill when the real problem is not sentence-level craft but how the writer works.

Source Protocol

• Read references/source-notes.md first.
• Treat the lecture material as process guidance, not universal law.
• Preserve the writer's goals. The aim is not to force one workflow on every project.

Operating Loop

1. Identify the current process failure: not starting, not finishing, over-outlining, endless revision, no revision, fear of market, or tool confusion.
2. Place the writer on the gardener-to-architect spectrum for this project.
3. Decide which decisions need to be made now and which can be discovered in draft.
4. Set a finish-first constraint when the user is stuck in early-chapter churn.
5. Build a small, repeatable writing cadence.
6. Define the next process experiment, not a lifelong doctrine.

Contract

Current project stage:
Current failure mode:
Writer tendency:
What must be known before drafting:
What can be discovered in draft:
Finishing rule:
Revision entry point:
Next process experiment:

Core Principles

• Finishing teaches more than theorizing.
• A process is successful when it helps this writer complete better work.
• Outlining and discovery are both tools.
• Learn why a technique works so you can adapt it.
• Serious writers should act on a long horizon.

Rules

• Do not shame discovery writers for not outlining.
• Do not shame outliners for liking structure.
• Do not recommend major revision before a meaningful draft exists unless the project is clearly broken.
• Do not confuse a marketing problem with a finishing problem.
• If the writer is inexperienced, bias toward completion over perfection.