| name | story-sequence |
| description | Write an Instagram story sequence (4-7 stories) ready to be typed straight into the app, in fully native output — one line = one Instagram text box, Classic font, white highlight, no stickers and no CTA button. Provides the narrative framework (hook / confrontation / resolution / proof / scarcity / call to action), the copywriting rules (cutting prose into boxes, rhythm, hook types, honest scarcity, social proof, CTA) and the design rules (typography, safe zones, image selection). Use when someone asks for a "story sequence", "Instagram stories", "IG stories", "tell a story in stories", or wants to turn an offer, an angle or a launch into stories. |
Story Sequence — method
Produce a sequence of stories the user types by hand into Instagram, one text box at a time. No mockup, no sticker, no button, no video export. Raw text, cut exactly the way it will be entered.
Three reference files:
references/OUTPUT-FORMAT.md — the exact deliverable templatereferences/COPYWRITING.md — copy recipes, story by storyreferences/DESIGN.md — typography, safe zones, image selection and prep
The target format (non-negotiable)
What the viewer sees once the story is live:
- Instagram's Classic font, highlight on → black text on rounded white boxes.
- Left-aligned, boxes stacked in the top / middle third of the frame.
- One box = one idea. Never two thoughts in the same box.
- Vertical space between boxes — they are visually separate, not glued together.
- The photo fills the background, the subject stays readable below the text.
- No emoji, no hashtag, no sticker, no CTA button. The call to action is text like everything else.
The rule that governs the deliverable: one line inside the code block = one Instagram text box.
Step 1 — Load the brand's real context
Never write before reading. Search the repo, the second brain, the live site, any export:
| What to find | Where it usually lives |
|---|
| Brand voice, signature vocabulary, "don't say" list | marketing audit, guidelines, founder transcripts |
| Personas + real customer verbatims | market deep search, forums, comments, reviews |
| Written testimonials | Google/Trustpilot/Birdeye export, reviews data file, screenshots |
| Approved figures (volume, rating, price, lead time, awards) | landing page, internal docs, sales script |
| Top 3 objections | market audit, sales script, email sequences |
| Current offer + the real constraint (lead time, capacity, stock) | offer doc, ops |
| Image bank | assets folder, CDN, site data files |
Output of this step: two lists in your head — the approved figures, and the banned words.
⚠️ Hard rule: never invent a figure. If a number exists in contradictory versions (the site says X, the docs say Y, the user wants Z), escalate it in an "Align before publishing" block at the top of the document, ask for the ruling, then apply it everywhere.
If no brand context exists anywhere: ask five questions maximum before writing — who buys, what they are trying to avoid, the strongest proof available, the real constraint that creates urgency, the single action asked for at the end.
Step 2 — Pick the angle and the length
An angle is an emotion, not a product theme. "Freedom", "time passing", "the fear of choosing wrong", "what nobody says out loud", "what doing nothing costs".
One angle per sequence. Two angles in a sequence means zero angle.
Length: 6 stories by default. Four if the offer is simple and the audience warm, seven if the social proof deserves two screens. Never more than seven — completion rate collapses.
Step 3 — The narrative framework
| # | Role | Target emotion | What it does |
|---|
| 1 | Hook / setup | intrigue | A figure or a claim stated bare, stopping the thumb. Ends on an ellipsis to open the loop. |
| 2 | Confrontation | recognition | Names the real problem, the one the audience won't admit. No product here. |
| 3 | Resolution | relief | The product enters — emotional benefit → hard spec → emotional benefit (sandwich structure). |
| 4 | Proof | trust | Real customer verbatims, review mosaic, awards. Never a self-issued superlative. |
| 5 | Scarcity | soft urgency | Anchored in a real arithmetic constraint (lead time, capacity, season, stock). Never "limited offer". |
| 6 | Call to action | decision | Recalls the proof, recalls the scarcity, asks for one single action. First-person signature. |
At 4 stories: merge 1+2 (a hook that already names the problem) and 5+6 (scarcity inside the CTA).
At 7 stories: split the proof (written reviews, then one customer case told properly) — never anything else.
The honest scarcity rule: if you cannot explain why N slots remain using arithmetic the reader can redo in their head (X weeks of production, Y workshops, this season ⇒ that deadline), the urgency is fake. Rewrite it or delete it. Manufactured urgency is the one mistake that costs trust irreversibly.
Story-by-story detail: references/COPYWRITING.md.
Step 4 — Write in box format
- 6 to 14 words per box. Beyond that, the box runs 4+ lines and crushes the photo.
- 4 to 6 boxes per story. Fewer feels empty. More is unreadable on mobile.
- Short declarative sentences. Subject-verb-object. No stacked subordinate clauses.
- Rhythm: long box → long box → short box that lands. The last box of a story is almost always the shortest.
- Enumeration exception: a box may carry 2-3 lines if it is a hammered list (three grievances, three promises). That forms a single rhythmic block.
- The ellipsis is only used at the end of story 1 (and sometimes 4) — it signals "tap for more", it is not decorative punctuation.
- Straight quotes and em dashes render fine in Instagram.
Mandatory read-back test: read each box out loud. If you run out of breath, it's too long. If it can't stand alone on a screen, it isn't a box.
Step 5 — Assign one image per story
A primary image plus an alternate, per story, visually verifying each one (open it and look — never trust the filename, the alt text, or a catalogue description).
The essentials: the top third must be quiet (sky, light foliage, wall, blur) because that's where the text sits, the subject lives in the bottom third and must stay visible under the boxes, never put text over a face, and JPG is mandatory (Instagram rejects WebP).
Full rules, conversion, safe zones, contrast: references/DESIGN.md.
Step 6 — Deliver
One .md file in the project folder, named STORY-SEQUENCE-<ANGLE>-<MONTH>.md, strictly following references/OUTPUT-FORMAT.md.
If images are selected: copy them into images/, convert to JPG, add a README.txt mapping image → story and listing the discarded assets with the reason, then zip it.
Send the .md and the zip.
The revision loop
The user comes back after publishing. Responses to the classic feedback:
| Feedback | Fix |
|---|
| "too long" | merge two middle stories — never cut the hook or the CTA |
| "sounds salesy" | strip superlatives, return to first person, add a disqualifier ("if it's not right for you, I'll tell you") |
| "change the CTA" | rewrite the entire last story around the new action, not just the last line |
| "that number is wrong" | fix it everywhere + check the site and creatives still showing the old value |
| "the boxes are too big" | recut, aim for 8 words max |
| "not enough proof" | add verbatims, never adjectives |
Always return the whole regenerated file, never a patch — the user copies from the file.
Anti-patterns
- ❌ A poll / slider / link sticker on every story. This format is pure text.
- ❌ A
🔘 CTA → button at the end of the sequence.
- ❌ Emoji inside the text boxes.
- ❌ Feature dumps: a list of specs with no emotional benefit around it.
- ❌ Writing copy before reading the brand voice.
- ❌ Social proof built on reworded testimonials — verbatim or nothing.
- ❌ Recommending an image without looking at it.
- ❌ Urgency that can't be justified by a calculation.
- ❌ Commenting on your own honesty ("this isn't a sales tactic") — stating the constraint is enough, commenting on it weakens it.
