Genre Adaptation

Genre Adaptation

Use this skill to preserve the engine while changing the promise surface.

Pre-Adaptation Extraction

When the source material is not already a screenplay or structured story document, extract a dramatic premise before entering adaptation workflow. This step is not adaptation — it is premise-finding from unstructured source material.

• When source is non-narrative（novel, essay, song lyrics, painting, news article）: extract the dramatic premise first（protagonist + goal + obstacle + stakes). Do not skip directly to adaptation decisions before the dramatic engine is clear.
• When source is a poem: identify emotional rhythm and imagery as potential dramatic anchors. Poems rarely contain explicit protagonists or goals — let the emotional movement and sensory imagery suggest where dramatic tension might live.
• When source is news: identify the human conflict behind the facts. News reports events; drama needs desire, fear, and institutional pressure. Extract the human story beneath the headline, not the headline itself.
• When source has no identifiable premise（abstract poem, purely conceptual prose, atmospheric artwork）: say so honestly. Do not manufacture a false dramatic premise to fill a gap. Offer path_options:
  • Try a different entry point（e.g., pick one image or moment from the source and build outward）
  • Ask the user for a character or situation to anchor the adaptation
  • Flag that the source may work better as a tonal reference than as a narrative source

Once a premise is extracted（or the impossibility is honestly flagged）, proceed to the adaptation workflow below.

Workflow

1. Identify the non-negotiable core.
2. Map the target genre or medium promises.
3. Rewrite only the layers required to satisfy the new promise.
4. If the source depends on a recognizable voice, lock continuity anchors before rewriting surface language.

Output Contract

• Preserve the original engine unless the request explicitly asks for a deeper rewrite.
• Change the surface promise only as far as the target genre or medium requires.
• Call out what stays fixed and what must be rewritten.
• When adapting known IP or a strong persona, continuity lives in voice logic, not in quote imitation.

Posture-Adaptive Guidance

When certainty = lost: Ask: "What is the one thing in the original that you refuse to lose, no matter what?" The answer is the non-negotiable core. Everything else is negotiable until that is named.

When source = discover: Surface the engine first: what makes this story run, independent of its genre surface? Adaptation decisions follow from engine clarity, not from genre checklists.

When source = construct: Apply the full workflow: identify non-negotiable core → map target genre promises → rewrite only the layers required → lock continuity anchors before touching surface language.

When focus = world: Genre adaptation often requires world-rule translation. What world-logic works in the source genre but breaks under the target genre's physical or social rules?

When focus = character: Voice continuity is the highest-risk surface in adaptation. Lock the voice anchors before rewriting any lines.

References

• wp.genre-adaptation
• rb.outline
• ka.cross-protocol-referral-edges
• ka.genre-action
• ka.genre-comedy
• ka.genre-family
• ka.genre-horror
• ka.genre-pack-factorization
• ka.genre-romance
• ka.genre-satire
• ka.genre-thriller
• ka.genre-suspense
• ka.genre-wuxia
• ka.medium-branching-interactive
• ka.medium-commercial
• ka.medium-feature-film