Novel Project Strategy

Novel Project Strategy

Use this skill when fiction work needs project governance rather than only prose craft.

When to use

Use this skill when the user asks to:

• bootstrap or normalize a novel workspace
• recover a longform fiction project in a new session
• decide what files should be read before touching a chapter
• define or interpret chapter-state, confirmation-state, or sync-state rules
• coordinate outline, timeline, setting, and prose updates
• keep manuscript layers or chapter-local facts from bleeding into the wrong project surfaces

Do not use this skill when the task is mainly:

• chapter prose generation
• scene rewrite quality
• style fidelity judgment
• character-entry quality review

For those, use novel-writing.

Task modes

First identify which project-governance mode the task belongs to.

1. Workspace bootstrap

Use when the project needs a stable collaboration structure for the first time.

Read:

• references/WORKSPACE_BOOTSTRAP_TEMPLATE.md
• references/STATE_AND_SYNC_MODEL.md

2. Session recovery

Use when the user is resuming longform work and the main problem is what to load, what not to load, and which files are source-of-truth.

Read:

• references/LONGFORM_PROJECT_WORK_STRATEGY.md
• references/STATE_AND_SYNC_MODEL.md

3. Ongoing chapter workflow

Use when the chapter work itself is not the question, but the state, boundaries, or structural sync around that work is the question.

Read:

• references/LONGFORM_PROJECT_WORK_STRATEGY.md
• references/STATE_AND_SYNC_MODEL.md

4. Coordination with prose craft

Use when a round touches both project governance and prose work.

Read:

• references/SKILL_COORDINATION.md
• then load novel-writing only for the prose-craft part of the task

Core workflow

Before work

• Read the workspace guide, load strategy or recovery pack, current chapter or task state, and recent edit records before changing text.
• Confirm the active manuscript layer, current chapter or task slice, and what files are considered source-of-truth for the current round.
• Prefer the smallest reading set that can answer the current task.

During work

• Treat chapters or equivalent narrative units as the primary work objects.
• Keep raw drafts, revised drafts, formal prose, outline, setting, and timeline records distinct.
• Do not make the full manuscript the default startup context.
• Use near-field full text and far-field structural context instead of loading the whole project.
• Keep chapter-local truth, structure-level truth, and confirmation state separate.
• Do not promote a chapter-local conclusion into outline, timeline, or setting unless the project rule or user confirmation allows that promotion.
• If stable facts, status changes, or confirmed decisions emerge, write them back to project files rather than leaving them only in chat.
• Keep user-visible status explicit: drafted, confirmed, synced, pending confirmation, or equivalent local states.

After work

• Update the relevant chapter or task state, edit record, and change log when real changes were made.
• Keep pending chapters or pending structural sync clearly marked until the user explicitly confirms them.
• If the current round changed structure-level truth, sync the related outline, timeline, or setting files in the same round when the project rule requires it.

Source-truth rules

• Read references/LONGFORM_PROJECT_WORK_STRATEGY.md when the task depends on the exact workflow, load-order, state, or recovery rules.
• Read references/STATE_AND_SYNC_MODEL.md when the task depends on chapter states, confirmation boundaries, structural sync, or fact-source precedence.
• Read references/WORKSPACE_BOOTSTRAP_TEMPLATE.md when bootstrapping or normalizing a novel workspace into a stable longform collaboration structure.
• Read references/SKILL_COORDINATION.md when this skill overlaps with novel-writing, project-engineering-strategy, or other project-governance workflows.
• Project-local rules override this skill when they are explicit.

Non-goals

• Do not use this skill to decide scene prose quality, chapter rhythm, or literary style by itself.
• Do not use this skill to replace project-specific worldbuilding decisions.
• Do not collapse longform project governance and prose craft into one undifferentiated workflow.