character-driven-storytelling

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: