mmcmedia Wholesome Story Pipeline Skill
Generate full children's novels from seed files using the proven Creek pipeline approach.
Overview
This is the Creek pipeline — the approach that produced the best stories (Library Cat, Puddle) at the lowest cost. The key insight: trust the AI to tell a story naturally, then polish once at the end. No quality loops during generation, no critique passes, no complex feedback cycles.
Pipeline Phases
| Phase | Model | Purpose | Cost/Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. EXPAND | GPT-5.2 | Seed → 4,500-5,000 words full prose | ~$0.07 |
| 2. EDIT | GPT-5-mini | One polish pass (90-100% retention) | ~$0.01 |
| 3. ASSEMBLE | Local | Stitch edited chapters → clean markdown | Free |
Total cost: ~$0.08/chapter, ~$0.50 for a 6-chapter story, ~$1.80 for a 23-chapter novel.
Prerequisites
- OpenAI API key in
/projects/wholesome-library-2026/generation/.env(OPENAI_API_KEY) - Seed file with
## Chapterheaders (each chapter = 100-1500 word outline) - Python 3 available
Usage
Quick Run (Single Story)
cd /Users/mmcassistant/clawd/projects/wholesome-library-2026/generation
nohup python3 -u run-story.py <seed-file> <output-prefix> > /tmp/<name>-expansion.log 2>&1 &
IMPORTANT: Always use nohup to prevent process death from exec timeouts.
Examples
# Novel-length (23 chapters, ~2 hours)
nohup python3 -u run-story.py seeds/seed-frequency-full.md frequency > /tmp/frequency.log 2>&1 &
# Short story (6 chapters, ~30 min)
nohup python3 -u run-story.py fresh-seeds/seed-02.md clockwork-sparrow > /tmp/clockwork.log 2>&1 &
Monitor Progress
tail -f /tmp/<name>-expansion.log
# Or check output files:
ls -lh <output-prefix>-ch*-expanded.md # Phase 1 outputs
ls -lh <output-prefix>-ch*-edited.md # Phase 2 outputs
ls -lh <output-prefix>-final-clean.md # Phase 3 output
Check Completion
# Word count of final output
wc -w <output-prefix>-final-clean.md
# AI tell count (lower = better, target <20 for full novel)
grep -ciE 'as if|as though|seemed to|felt a |couldn.t help but|found herself|found himself|washed over|settled over' <output-prefix>-final-clean.md
Seed File Format
Seeds must have this structure:
# Story Title
**Characters/metadata at top (optional)**
## Chapter 1: Title
Outline text (100-1500 words describing what happens)
## Chapter 2: Title
Outline text...
## Chapter 3: Title
Outline text...
The script parses ## Chapter headers. Everything before the first chapter header becomes the story context/header passed to GPT-5.2.
Seed Sources
| Location | Description |
|---|---|
generation/seeds/ |
Novel-length seeds (The Frequency, etc.) |
generation/fresh-seeds/ |
Short story seeds (5 stories, 6 chapters each) |
generation/batch1/ |
Batch 1 seeds (Puddle, Window, Birds, Chalk, Tree) |
Pipeline Script Details
Script: generation/run-story.py
Phase 1: EXPAND (GPT-5.2)
- Each seed chapter → ~4,500-5,000 words of full novel prose
- Feeds previous chapter ending for continuity
- Rules baked into prompt: distinct character voices, show-don't-tell, varied pacing, concrete stakes
- Max tokens: 16,000 per chapter
- Skip logic: won't re-expand if output file already exists with >500 bytes
- Automatic retry on short outputs (<50 words)
Phase 2: EDIT (GPT-5-mini)
- One pass: structural + prose polish
- Aggressive AI tell removal (as if, seemed to, felt a, etc.)
- 90-100% word retention target — polish, NOT rewrite
- Fixes pacing, echo words, weak verbs, body language variety
- Skip logic: won't re-edit if edited file already exists
Phase 3: ASSEMBLE
- Stitches all edited chapters (falls back to expanded if no edit)
- Strips changelog artifacts
- Cleans excessive newlines
- Outputs:
<prefix>-final-clean.md - Reports: final word count, AI tell count, total cost
Key Rules (DO NOT CHANGE)
- Use
run-story.py— NOTrun-story-option4.py(Option 4 adds complexity without quality improvement) - GPT-5.2 for expansion, GPT-5-mini for editing (never GPT-4o, it's deprecated)
- Always use
nohupfor background execution - Trust then polish — no quality loops during generation
- One edit pass is enough — multiple micro-edits make things worse
Post-Pipeline Steps
After the pipeline produces <prefix>-final-clean.md:
- Polish Pipeline (optional):
cd polish-pipeline && ./batch-polish.sh— triple helix editor for final quality pass - Cover Generation:
scripts/generate-cover.sh— Nano Banana cover art - Upload to Supabase:
scripts/upload-story.mjs— publish to Wholesome Library - McKinzie Review: Move to
review-queue/pending/for approval
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Fix |
|---|---|
| Process dies mid-run | Restart with same args — skip logic resumes from last completed chapter |
| Short chapter output (<200w) | Script auto-retries once; if still short, check API quota |
| High AI tell count in final | Run polish pipeline for aggressive cleanup |
| Cost seems high | Check if GPT-5.2 is using reasoning tokens (reasoning:0 = good) |
History
- Feb 9, 2026: Creek pipeline identified as best approach (Library Cat test)
- Feb 10, 2026: Batch 1 generated (5 stories: Puddle, Window, Birds, Chalk, Tree)
- Feb 11, 2026: Skill formalized. "The Frequency" + "Clockwork Sparrow" running.