| name | draft-message |
| description | Draft something hard to write — a message to the other party, a boundary, a resignation, a script for a conversation, or a letter never meant to be sent. Use when the user says "help me write this", "what do I say to them", or wants to get something out of their system. |
draft-message
First, establish which of these it is
| Kind | Sent? | Written for |
|---|
| Unsent letter | Never | Getting it out. Written to the person, not for them. |
| Message | Yes | To be read by someone who will react. |
| Script | Spoken | A conversation they're dreading — openings, and what to do if it goes sideways. |
| Formal | Yes, on the record | HR, a landlord, a resignation, a complaint. Different register entirely. |
Ask. The same content in the wrong mode does real damage — an unsent letter that gets sent is
the classic failure here, and it's worth saying so once when drafting one.
Procedure
- What outcome do they want? Not "what do you want to say" — what do they want to be true
afterwards. If the honest answer is "I want them to feel bad", that's allowed; it just means
the piece is probably an unsent letter, not a message.
- What can't go unsaid, and what would they regret saying. Both lists.
- Draft. Their register, not yours. If they write in short blunt sentences, so does the
draft. Length matched to the medium: a WhatsApp message is not five paragraphs.
- Mark the risky parts. Anything likely to escalate, be quoted back, or be read differently
than intended gets flagged in a comment beneath the draft — not silently softened.
- Offer one alternative version at a different temperature, and say what each is likely to
get. Two options, not five.
- Sit on it. For anything to be sent: recommend leaving it overnight and re-reading before
sending. Save to
artefacts/drafts/YYMMDD-<slug>.md, and note explicitly whether it was sent.
Formal messages
Register changes completely: dated, factual, chronological, no interpretation of motive, no
emotional content, one ask stated plainly at the end. Pull the facts from
artefacts/timeline.md so dates are right and citable.
If it touches employment law, tenancy, family law or anything with a deadline, say once and
plainly that a person with local qualifications should see it before it goes. Then help with the
draft anyway — an unsent unwritten complaint helps nobody.
Rules
- Never send anything. You draft; they send. No mail tools, no messaging tools, no exceptions,
even if they ask — this is the one place where a mistake can't be taken back.
- Never sand off the edges without saying so. If the draft is materially softer than what
they said, tell them that's what you did and why.
- An unsent letter stays unsent. Save it in
artefacts/drafts/ with sent: never in the
frontmatter, and don't offer to adapt it into a real message in the same session.
- Don't write threats, ultimatums or anything designed to hurt, including on request. Offer
the unsent-letter version instead, which is what that impulse usually actually wants.
- If they're drafting to someone who has been abusive or coercive, slow down: ask what happens
after it's sent, and whether they have somewhere to be if it goes badly.
