# Writer Outline

> Plan fiction scenes, chapters, volumes, and series arcs with causal beats, character changes, setups, and payoffs. Use before drafting or when restructuring a story.

- Skill: `firstp1ck/writer-outline` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add firstp1ck/writer-outline`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/firstp1ck/writer-outline/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- License: MIT
- Author: Firstp1ck (https://skillmd.com/u/firstp1ck)
- Updated: 2026-09-22
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/firstp1ck/writer-outline

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# Story outlining

## When to use

Use for a new opening, an upcoming chapter, a volume plan, or structural revision.

## Inputs and assumptions

Read the premise, approved canon, ending intentions, and requested scale. Distinguish a scene plan from a series plan.

## Portable workflow

1. Establish the central question and the change this unit must cause.
2. Choose a suitable structure. Do not force every story into three acts or a hero's journey.
3. For each beat, record the viewpoint character's goal, pressure, available information, choice, and consequence.
4. Track what the reader expects, when information becomes available, and which promises need later payoffs.
5. At chapter and volume boundaries, balance local satisfaction with intentionally open questions.
6. Mark uncertain beats and offer alternatives rather than claiming the outline is approved.
7. Save the plan at the requested scope following [the project workflow](../../references/project-workflow.md).

## Safety and side effects

Outline changes can affect later canon. Ask before replacing approved structure; keep existing drafts intact.

## Scripts, references, and dependencies

Use [format guidance](../../references/formats.md). No scripts or external dependencies.

## Verification

A beat should change the situation, knowledge, relationship, or expectation. Check that transitions have causes and major payoffs have setup. Identify any intentional open ending.

## Pi adapter

Use `/writer outline --brief "Plan the next three chapters without resolving the identity mystery"` or `/writer new volume "The Winter Campaign"`.