| name | emotional-interiority |
| description | Activates when writing chapters to ensure internal reactions, sensory-emotional responses, and to prevent report-style narration. |
Emotional Interiority Skill
This skill enforces deep emotional resonance and internal reflection during the writing phase. When drafting scenes, especially dialogue-heavy or action-heavy ones, you MUST adhere to the following:
- Internal Reactions: After every significant event, the POV character should have an internal response — a thought, a sensation, an emotion. This doesn't mean every paragraph, but it is required at key moments.
- Sensory-Emotional Responses: Emotions manifest physically (e.g., tight chest, cold hands, the taste of copper, stomach dropping). Map emotions to physical sensations rather than just stating the emotion.
- Flag Report-Style Narration: If the prose reads like a sequence of cold actions ("She did X. Then she did Y. He said Z."), it is report-style narration. Flag it immediately. Fix it by interleaving action with interior reaction.
- Show Internal Conflict: When characters make decisions, show the war inside them. Depict the competing impulses, the hesitation, and the exact moment of commitment.
- Avoid Naming Emotions Directly: "She felt sad" is weak writing. "Her throat tightened and she couldn't look at the photograph" is strong writing. Show the emotion through physical and behavioral cues.
