Pantsing, discovery write, write without an outline

Discovery Drafting

Overview

Draft by discovery ("pantsing"): start from a one-paragraph story kernel rather than a beat sheet, write forward, then reconcile each chapter back into the story bible through a structured loop (extract entities → reverse outline → diff against the bible → reconcile). This is the complement to chapter-writing's outline-first workflow. The bible is maintained after the prose, not before — which the repo's import-style entity extraction and continuity checks already support.

Prerequisites

A story project must already exist (created via the story-init skill), with at least a story.md and one character. No plot structure is required to start — arcs get built during reconciliation.

When to Use

• The user wants to draft without outlining first, or identifies as a discovery writer
• Starting a project from a situation/character rather than a plot
• NOT for mysteries or other clue-dependent genres where setup must precede payoff (use chapter-writing; see genre-craft)
• NOT for revising existing chapters (use revision-continuity)
• The user can switch modes per project or per chapter; record the mode so audits know which discipline applies

Workflow

1. Write the story kernel. Consult references/story-kernel.md and draft the one-paragraph kernel with the user (character in a situation, a want, an obstacle, a tone signal). Store it in story.md under ## Story Kernel and set draft-mode: discovered in frontmatter.
2. Draft forward. Write the chapter from the kernel using the session shape in references/drafting-cadence.md (re-read → write → close with a next-session note). Write forward only; park bible questions as [TODO: check bible] inline rather than stopping. Follow the prose craft in chapter-writing/references/writing-guidelines.md and the scene-grain tools in the scene-craft skill as usual, and write in the voice and house style recorded in style-sheet.md — discovery changes planning order, not prose standards.
3. Run the reconcile loop. After each chapter, follow references/reconcile-loop.md exactly:
   • Extract new entity/promise candidates (import-style, user-approved)
   • Reverse-outline the chapter into the chapter file and scenes/ records
   • Diff against the bible (new / contradiction / enrichment / dangling)
   • Reconcile: update the bible or revise the chapter — never neither
   • Append post-hoc chapter notes; set chapter frontmatter mode: discovered
4. Batch review every 3–5 chapters. Re-read post-hoc notes, sweep the promise/question ledgers for dangling setups, and cut dead ends per references/dead-ends.md (abandoned ledger entries keep a recorded reason; cut characters get status: cut, not deletion).
5. Hold the cadence. Keep the agreed target (see references/drafting-cadence.md) and log each session with story progress . --log; at midpoint and draft completion, hand the batch to revision-continuity for developmental checks before continuing.
6. Close the loop on mode. When the draft is complete, every mode: discovered chapter must have post-hoc notes and a completed diff — flag any that don't as unfinished maintenance, then hand the manuscript to revision-continuity for revision passes.

Conventions

• story.md frontmatter draft-mode: discovered marks a discovery project; per-chapter mode: discovered / mode: outlined tracks mixed projects.
• Chapters carry a ## Chapter Notes (post-hoc) section recording what was discovered, what was cut, and open questions — the project's memory of why the bible looks the way it does.
• Entity candidates extracted from prose are presented for user approval before bible files are created (same discipline as story import).
• Cut threads are logged, not erased: abandoned promises/questions keep status: abandoned with a reason; cut characters keep their file with status: cut.
• Bidirectional links and kebab-case ids follow the story-init conventions exactly — discovery changes when the bible is written, not how.

CLI Maintenance

Use the Story CLI when it is available. If story is not installed, use bun run story -- from the Story Skills repository checkout or the bundled fallback node ../story-maintenance/scripts/story.js with the same arguments, resolving the path relative to this skill folder. If no CLI is available, perform the registry, backlink, and word-count checks manually.

After each reconcile loop:

story wordcount . --write
story reindex .
story links .
story validate .
story continuity .

Reference Files

• references/story-kernel.md - The one-paragraph kernel: character in a situation, want, obstacle, tone signal
• references/reconcile-loop.md - The core loop: extract entities/promises → reverse-outline → diff against the bible → reconcile; mode: discovered flag
• references/dead-ends.md - Recognizing and cutting dead ends: cut/fold/prune, abandoned ledger entries, the darling log
• references/drafting-cadence.md - Daily targets, batch reviews, session shape, recovering a broken cadence