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Plot structure

Skill danjdewhurst/story-skills/skills/plot-structure

Agent Skills for end-to-end story writing in markdown, packaged as Codex and Claude Code plugins.

Install
npx -y skills add danjdewhurst/story-skills --skill plot-structure

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What its author says it does

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This skill should be used when the user asks to "create a plot arc", "story structure", "add a plot point", "story timeline", "track foreshadowing", "pacing", "act structure", "story arc", "plot outline", or wants to plan and manage the narrative structure of a story.

SKILL.md

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Plot Structure

Overview

Plan and manage story arcs, plot points, foreshadowing, and narrative timeline. Each arc is a markdown file in plot/arcs/ with a chronological timeline maintained in plot/timeline.md. The plot index tracks all arcs, their status, and theme coverage.

Prerequisites

A story project must already exist (created via the story-init skill). Verify by checking for story.md in the project root.

Choosing a Story Structure

  1. Read story.md for genre and themes
  2. Consult references/structure-models.md for available structures
  3. Recommend a structure based on genre (default to three-act if unclear)
  4. Update plot/_index.md frontmatter structure field
  5. Populate the story structure section with the beat sheet
  6. When CLI access is available, run story validate .

Creating an Arc

  1. Read story.md for themes
  2. Read plot/_index.md for existing arcs
  3. Read characters/_index.md to understand available characters
  4. Ask for:
    • Arc name
    • Type (main, subplot, character, thematic)
    • Which characters are involved
    • Which themes it serves
  5. Build the arc through conversation: setup, escalations, climax, resolution
  6. Write the file using references/arc-template.md
  7. Save to plot/arcs/{arc-name-kebab}.md
  8. Update plot/_index.md arcs table
  9. Update theme tracking in plot/_index.md
  10. If characters are referenced, verify they exist in characters/
  11. When CLI access is available, run story reindex ., story links ., and story validate .

Managing Plot Points

Plot points live within arc files in the "Plot Points" table. When adding a plot point:

  1. Read the relevant arc file
  2. Add the plot point to the table with chapter reference (if known)
  3. Add the event to plot/timeline.md in chronological order
  4. If the plot point involves foreshadowing, add it to the arc's foreshadowing table
  5. If the plot point creates a reader promise or mystery, create or update a record in continuity/promises/ or continuity/questions/
  6. When CLI access is available, run story validate .

Timeline Management

The timeline at plot/timeline.md is a chronological master list of all story events across all arcs.

When adding events:

  • Insert in chronological order
  • Link to the relevant arc and chapter
  • Keep entries concise (one line per event)

When reviewing the timeline:

  • Check for chronological consistency
  • Identify pacing issues (too many events clustered, long gaps)
  • Flag arcs that haven't progressed

Foreshadowing Tracking

Each arc tracks its own foreshadowing in the "Foreshadowing" table:

  • Planted: What hint or setup is placed
  • Payoff: What the payoff will be
  • Chapter Planted / Chapter Payoff: Where each occurs
  • Status: planned, planted, or paid-off

During chapter writing, flag any planted items that haven't been paid off as reminders.

For durable cross-arc setup/payoff tracking, also maintain continuity/promises/{promise-kebab}.md with status, planted, payoff, arcs, and characters. For mystery or open-continuity tracking, maintain continuity/questions/{question-kebab}.md.

Cross-Referencing

  • Arcs reference characters via frontmatter characters field
  • Arcs reference themes via frontmatter themes field
  • Plot points reference chapters
  • Timeline entries link arcs and chapters
  • Theme tracking in plot/_index.md maps themes to arcs and chapters
  • Promises and questions reference chapters, arcs, and characters where relevant

CLI Maintenance

Use the Story CLI when it is available. If story is not installed but the story-maintenance skill is present, use 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 and backlink checks manually.

Reference Files

  • references/arc-template.md - Template for arc files with frontmatter and sections
  • references/question-template.md - Template for continuity questions and mysteries
  • references/promise-template.md - Template for setup/payoff tracking
  • references/structure-models.md - Story structure models (three-act, hero's journey, save the cat, kishotenketsu, five-act) with beat sheets

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