Novel Write

Novel Write

Run the full multi-author chapter generation pipeline. Replicates the ai-novel-writer Python project natively in Claude, with optional ChromaDB RAG if the Python project is available.

Skill directory

This skill lives alongside two companion files in the same directory:

• authors.md — all 15 author style guides (read this at Step 2)
• prompts.md — the exact 6-step pipeline prompts (read this at Step 2)

The skill base directory is shown in the Base directory for this skill: line at the top of this file when invoked. Use it to find the companion files.

Step 1: Gather inputs

Parse arguments passed to /novel-write. Accept in any order:

If --genre, --premise, or --chapter are missing, ask the user for them before proceeding.

Author IDs (valid values for --authors): hemingway, tolkien, christie, king, austen, marquez, mccarthy, sanderson, hobb, abercrombie, clarke, jemisin, gibson, leguin, pratchett

Example invocations:

/novel-write --genre "epic fantasy" --premise "A blind cartographer discovers maps that predict the future" --chapter "Chapter 1: The cartographer receives a mysterious commission"
/novel-write --genre noir --premise "..." --chapter "..." --authors hemingway,mccarthy,king

Step 2: Load companion files and wiki

Read the following files using the Read tool:

1. <skill_base_dir>/authors.md — store all author style guides in memory
2. <skill_base_dir>/prompts.md — store all pipeline prompts in memory
3. <wiki_dir>/characters.md — story character roster
4. <wiki_dir>/plot.md — plot events so far
5. <wiki_dir>/world.md — world-building facts
6. <wiki_dir>/themes.md — themes and motifs

Concatenate wiki files into a single WIKI_TEXT block:

=== CHARACTERS ===
<characters.md content>

=== PLOT EVENTS ===
<plot.md content>

=== WORLD FACTS ===
<world.md content>

=== THEMES ===
<themes.md content>

If a wiki file does not exist, use "[Not yet established]" for that section.

If --previous was provided, read that file as PREVIOUS_TEXT. Otherwise set PREVIOUS_TEXT = "None yet.".

Step 3: Check for ChromaDB (hybrid RAG)

Run this PowerShell check via Bash:

Test-Path "F:\AI Stock Projects\ai-novel-writer-no-api\chroma_db"

• If output is True → RAG available. For each author in Step 4, query ChromaDB for style passages (see sub-step below).
• If output is False → RAG unavailable. Set PASSAGES = "No RAG passages available. Rely on the style guide above." for all authors.

RAG query (run once per author when ChromaDB is available):

Collection names are the plain author IDs (hemingway, sanderson, etc.) — each has 20 style-example passages with metadata (scene_type, emotional_tone, techniques, book).

Use Bash to run (save as a temp script or inline via PowerShell):

# Save to a temp file and run: python rag_query.py <author_id> "<chapter_brief>"
import sys, warnings
warnings.filterwarnings("ignore")
author_id = sys.argv[1]
chapter_brief = sys.argv[2]

try:
    import chromadb
    client = chromadb.PersistentClient(path=r"F:\AI Stock Projects\ai-novel-writer-no-api\chroma_db")
    col = client.get_collection(author_id)
    try:
        # Try semantic search (requires OPENAI_API_KEY in environment)
        results = col.query(query_texts=[chapter_brief], n_results=3)
        docs = results.get("documents", [[]])[0]
    except Exception:
        # Fallback: return 3 random docs without semantic ranking
        result = col.get(limit=3, include=["documents"])
        docs = result.get("documents", [])
    print("\n\n---\n\n".join(docs) if docs else "No passages found.")
except Exception as e:
    print(f"RAG unavailable: {e}")

Store the output as PASSAGES for that author. If an exception occurs or output starts with "RAG unavailable", fall back to "No RAG passages available. Rely on the style guide above."

Step 4: Run the 6-step pipeline for each author

Process authors one at a time in order (order 1–15, or the subset specified by --authors).

For each author, do the following sub-steps using the prompts from prompts.md. Substitute all [BRACKET] variables with the actual values gathered so far.

4a. Announce

Print: \n--- [Author Display Name] (order N) ---

If RAG is available, query ChromaDB for this author's PASSAGES now (see Step 3 RAG query).

4b. Step 1 — Narrative Analysis

Use the Step 1: Narrative Analysis prompt from prompts.md. Substitute: [GENRE], [PREMISE], [CHAPTER_BRIEF], [WIKI_TEXT], [PREVIOUS_TEXT].

Record: primary_goal, secondary_goals, key_characters, emotional_arc, constraints.

Note: The narrative analysis is the same for all authors — you may run it once and reuse across authors, or run it per-author. Running it once is more efficient.

4c. Step 2 — Style Planning

Use the Step 2: Style Planning prompt from prompts.md. Substitute: [AUTHOR_DISPLAY_NAME], [AUTHOR_STYLE_PROMPT] (from authors.md), the narrative analysis fields, [PASSAGES].

Record: tone, techniques, key_elements, opening_strategy, pacing_notes.

4d. Step 3 — Draft

Use the Step 3: Draft prompt from prompts.md. Substitute: all style plan fields, all narrative analysis fields, [AUTHOR_STYLE_PROMPT], [GENRE], [CHAPTER_BRIEF], [WIKI_TEXT], [PREVIOUS_TEXT], [PASSAGES].

Record: current_draft, style_notes, confidence. Set round_count = 0.

4e. Step 4 — Evaluate

Use the Step 4: Evaluation prompt from prompts.md. Substitute: [AUTHOR_DISPLAY_NAME], [AUTHOR_STYLE_PROMPT], narrative analysis fields, style plan fields, [CURRENT_DRAFT].

Record: style_accuracy, narrative_coherence, character_consistency, diagnosis, improvement_directives.

Check pass/fail:

• ALL THREE scores ≥ 70 → skip to 4g (Finalize)
• Any score < 70 AND round_count < 3 → go to 4f (Revise)
• Any score < 70 AND round_count ≥ 3 → go to 4g anyway (max rounds reached)

Print scores: Scores: style=[X] coherence=[Y] character=[Z]

4f. Step 5 — Revise (conditional)

Use the Step 5: Revision prompt from prompts.md. Substitute: [AUTHOR_DISPLAY_NAME], [CURRENT_DRAFT], [DIAGNOSIS], [IMPROVEMENT_DIRECTIVES] (as bullet list), style plan fields, [PASSAGES].

Update current_draft to the revised draft. Increment round_count by 1. Print: Revising (round [round_count])...

Return to Step 4e (Evaluate).

4g. Step 6 — Finalize

Use the Step 6: Finalization prompt from prompts.md. Substitute: [AUTHOR_DISPLAY_NAME], [CURRENT_DRAFT], style plan fields, [PASSAGES].

Record final_draft, final_style_notes, final_confidence.

4h. Save author draft

Create ./drafts/ directory if it does not exist. Write the final draft to ./drafts/<author_id>.md:

# [Author Display Name] Draft

**Confidence:** [final_confidence]%

**Style Notes:** [final_style_notes]

---

[final_draft]

Print: ✓ [Author Display Name] — confidence: [final_confidence]%

Step 5: Editor synthesis

Once ALL selected authors have completed Step 4, run the Editor Synthesis prompt from prompts.md.

Substitute:

• [CHAPTER_BRIEF] — the chapter brief
• [GENRE] — the genre
• Author drafts block: format each as === [Author Display Name] (confidence: X%) ===\n[final_draft]\n[Style notes: final_style_notes]

Record final_chapter_text and synthesis_notes.

Save the final chapter:

Determine the next chapter number by counting files in ./output/:

(Get-ChildItem -Path "./output/" -Filter "chapter-*.md" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Measure-Object).Count + 1

Create ./output/ directory if it does not exist. Write to ./output/chapter-<N>.md:

# Chapter [N]

*Genre: [genre] | Chapter Brief: [chapter_brief]*

---

[final_chapter_text]

---

## Synthesis Notes

[synthesis_notes]

## Author Drafts

- [Author1 Display Name]: `./drafts/<author1_id>.md` (confidence: X%)
- [Author2 Display Name]: `./drafts/<author2_id>.md` (confidence: X%)
[... all selected authors ...]

Step 6: Update wiki

Run the Wiki Extraction prompt from prompts.md. Substitute [FINAL_CHAPTER_TEXT] with final_chapter_text. Substitute context about what is already in the wiki so Claude doesn't duplicate.

For each non-empty list returned:

• new_characters → append each entry to <wiki_dir>/characters.md
• new_plot_events → append each entry to <wiki_dir>/plot.md
• new_world_facts → append each entry to <wiki_dir>/world.md
• new_themes → append each entry to <wiki_dir>/themes.md

Append with a section header like:

## After Chapter [N]

- [entry 1]
- [entry 2]

Step 7: Report completion

Print:

═══════════════════════════════════════════
  Novel Write Complete
═══════════════════════════════════════════
  Final chapter: ./output/chapter-[N].md
  Author drafts: ./drafts/
  Wiki updated:  [wiki_dir]/

  Authors processed: [list with confidence scores]
═══════════════════════════════════════════

Error handling

• If a wiki file is missing, continue — use "[Not yet established]" for that section.
• If ChromaDB query fails, continue without passages — do not abort.
• If any author step fails, record the error, skip that author, and continue with the next.
• If the ./drafts/ or ./output/ directory cannot be created, report the error and stop.

Notes on efficiency

• Narrative analysis (Step 1) produces the same result for all authors. You may run it once before the author loop and reuse the result for all authors.
• Each author's Steps 2–6 are independent of other authors and depend only on the shared narrative analysis.
• RAG queries are per-author and should be run immediately before that author's pipeline begins.