name: agentic-draft description: "Write first-draft prose for the novel Agentic. Use when asked to write a chapter, scene, or prose draft for the book."

Agentic — Chapter Drafting Skill

Write first-draft prose for the novel Agentic. One chapter at a time.

Invocation

User says: "draft chapter N" or "write chapter N" or just the chapter number.

Context Loading Protocol

Before writing ANY prose, load these three layers. Do not write from memory.

Layer 1: Standards (load every time, no exceptions)

1. content/books/agentic/bible/references/prose-style.md — voice analysis 2. content/books/agentic/bible/references/ban-list.md — banned words/moves 3. content/books/agentic/bible/style-guide.md — narrative rules

Layer 2: Bible (load per chapter)

4. Character voice guides — ONLY characters physically present in this chapter (content/books/agentic/Characters/*.md) 5. content/books/agentic/bible/detonator-continuity.md — if detonator appears 6. content/books/agentic/bible/symbols.md — if any tracked symbol appears 7. content/books/agentic/bible/superbowl-arc.md — for Super Bowl texture notes

Layer 3: Active (unique to this chapter)

8. The chapter outline: content/books/agentic/chapters/ch##-*.md 9. content/books/agentic/chapters/INDEX.md — for timeline, size guide, cross-references 10. The last 2-3 drafted chapters from the SAME PLOTLINE (see Plotline Siloing below) 11. Any specific instructions from Nick in the conversation

Load all layers using parallel tool calls. Do not start writing until all are read.

Plotline Siloing

Two tracks run independently until convergence:

Sloane track: Ch 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15
Graham track: Ch 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16
Converged: Ch 17 onward (both tracks in play)

When drafting a Sloane chapter, load previous Sloane drafts as context. Do NOT load Graham chapters — this causes "plot bleed" where characters reference information they don't have. Vice versa for Graham chapters. After convergence (Ch 17+), load from both.

For "last 2-3 drafted chapters," check the drafts/ directory for the most recent files on the correct track.

Pre-Draft Checklist (do silently, do not print)

Before writing, verify:

[ ] Chapter outline has enough detail to draft (if THIN, tell Nick and offer to flesh it out first)
[ ] All speaking characters have voice guides (if missing, tell Nick and offer to create one)
[ ] Day/Time is set (if TBD, propose a value based on timeline)
[ ] Size is assigned (S/M/L/XL)

If any check fails, stop and tell Nick what's missing. Offer to fix it before drafting.

Writing the Draft

Structure

Write the FULL chapter in one pass
Target the chapter's shirt size:

- S = 1,500-2,000 words - M = 2,500-3,000 words - L = 3,500-4,000 words - XL = 4,000-5,000 words

Follow the beat list in the chapter outline EXACTLY. Every beat must appear. Do not add beats. Do not skip beats.
End on an unresolved question. Do not wrap up neatly.

The 12 Prose Rules

1. Show interior through exterior. Characters are never "angry" or "scared." Their bodies do things. They notice things. They stop doing things. 2. "Said" or nothing. No "muttered," "exclaimed," "breathed," "offered," "countered." Action beats over attribution. 3. Similes compare down. Extraordinary → mundane. "Like he was waiting for the bus." Never up. Max one per page. 4. Short sentences are verdicts. They close a thought with finality. Max 2-3 single-sentence paragraphs per page. 5. Objects carry meaning. Characters are revealed by how they interact with objects. Every physical detail must characterize, not decorate. 6. Withhold the important thing. Tell the reader a character knows something without revealing what. The reader leans forward. 7. No named emotions. Not "she felt afraid." Show the physical manifestation. 8. No adverbs on dialogue tags. Zero instances of "said quietly." 9. No editorializing. The narrator observes. The reader judges. Never "It was a cruel thing to say." 10. No explaining subtext. Not "What he really meant was..." If the subtext needs explaining, rewrite the dialogue. 11. Dark humor is character-driven. Deadpan. Never authorial winking. Characters are funny because they are themselves. 12. Interior monologue bleeds into narration. No italics for thoughts. No "she thought." The POV character's perspective simply becomes the narration.

Voice Calibration

The prose rhythm is medium sentences punctuated by short, blunt ones. The short sentences land like verdicts.

Longer sentences stack clauses with commas and "and" — they accumulate, they don't nest. No 50+ word sentences with complex subordination.

A signature move: a statement, then a correction or qualification in a sentence fragment immediately after. The fragment overrides what came before.

Character introductions get one dense paragraph (5-8 sentences): appearance → the detail that tells you what the appearance means → the inner truth the appearance hides.

Dialogue runs untagged for extended stretches in two-person exchanges. The reader is trusted to track speakers.

What Goes on the Page

Three things only: 1. Things characters say. Dialogue. The primary engine. 2. Things characters do. Physical behavior. Interior states shown through exterior action. 3. Setting descriptions. Concrete, sensory, specific. Grounding and meaning through objects and spaces.

Nothing else earns its space.

Hard Rules

No Mara inner monologue. Ever. She is known only through dialogue and action.
No interrogation frame references between Ch 2 and Ch 34. The reader must forget it exists.
Super Bowl is texture, not plot. TVs in backgrounds. Food on counters. The game in passing. Weather — always present, never the point.
Political neutrality. Characters can be politically motivated. The narrative never picks sides.

Output

Write the draft to: content/books/agentic/drafts/ch##-draft.md

Format:

# Chapter [N]: [Title]

[prose]

No metadata header. No scene breaks marked with --- unless the chapter outline specifies a time/location jump. Just prose.

Post-Draft

After writing: 1. Report word count (approximate) 2. Report beats hit — list each beat from the outline and confirm it appeared 3. Flag any issues: - Beats that were hard to execute and may need Nick's review - Continuity questions (character knowledge, timeline) - Missing voice guide moments (character spoke but guide was thin) - Any banned words/phrases that slipped through (self-check against ban list) 4. Ask: "Ready for the next chapter, or do you want to review this one first?"

Thin Chapter Protocol

If a chapter outline is marked THIN in remaining-work.md or lacks scene beats:

1. Tell Nick: "Chapter N is thin — missing [X, Y, Z]. Want me to flesh out the outline first, or draft from what we have?" 2. If fleshing out: write expanded beats into the chapter file, then draft from the expanded version 3. If drafting anyway: do your best, but flag sections where you invented beats not in the outline

Missing Voice Guide Protocol

If a speaking character has no voice guide:

1. Tell Nick: "[Character] speaks in this chapter but has no voice guide. Want me to create one first, or draft and we'll adjust?" 2. If creating: write a voice guide to Characters/[Name].md following the pattern of existing guides 3. If drafting anyway: base the voice on whatever notes exist in the chapter outline and character files

Speed Mode

If Nick says "just go" or "keep going" or "next" — skip the post-draft report. Just write the draft, save it, and immediately load the next chapter.

The Drafting Skill (SKILL.md)