StoryForge has three writing modes that massively change the workflow. The mode is set in the author profile (author_writing_mode) and determines which skills make sense in which order.
The writing mode is not a preference — it is a work-style decision. Outliners are miserable with a discovery workflow and vice versa. Picking the wrong mode is one of the most common causes of writer's block.
Profile: You want the entire structure locked down before the first scene is written. You can spend months planning and enjoy it.
Pros:
Cons:
Good for:
Profile: You want a compass, not a map. You like surprises — but not total deviations.
Pros:
Cons:
Good for:
Profile: You write to find out what happens. Planning kills your curiosity. Characters tell you the story.
Pros:
Cons:
Good for:
| Aspect | Outliner | Plantser | Discovery |
|---|---|---|---|
| Planning phase | 4-12 weeks | 1-3 weeks | 2-5 days |
| Plot outline | Complete | 6 key beats | Premise only |
| Character arcs | Fully defined | Rough direction | Start point only |
| World building | Complete upfront | Core elements | Grows while writing |
| Timeline | Fixed upfront | Rough phases | Emerges via writing |
| Rewrite rate | 20-40% | 40-60% | 50-80% |
| Flow experience | Plannable | Regular | Unpredictable |
Typical pipeline:
create-author → new-book → book-conceptualizer → plot-architect →
character-creator → world-builder → chapter-writer (x18) →
chapter-reviewer (x18) → manuscript-checker → export-engineer
Duration for an 80k-word novel (realistic):
Typical pipeline:
create-author → new-book → book-conceptualizer → plot-architect (6 beats) →
character-creator → [rolling-planner → chapter-writer → chapter-reviewer] (repeat) →
continuity-checker → manuscript-checker → export-engineer
Duration for an 80k-word novel:
Typical pipeline:
create-author → new-book → book-conceptualizer (minimal) →
character-creator (core, no arc) →
[rolling-planner → chapter-writer] (repeat) →
continuity-checker → manuscript-checker → export-engineer
Duration for an 80k-word novel:
Phase 1 — Planning (week 1-6):
Week 1: /storyforge:brainstorm
→ Idea: Old lighthouse keeper finds 1987 silver coin
Week 2: /storyforge:book-conceptualizer the-lighthouse-keeper
→ Premise: "Arne Kruse, 72, believes he has finally found his
missing brother after 38 years — but the island has its own
rules of forgetting."
→ Theme: "What you have not processed comes back —
but not as what you expected."
Week 3-4: /storyforge:plot-architect the-lighthouse-keeper
→ 3-Act Structure, 18 chapters
→ All clues plotted:
- Ch 2: Logbook remnants in cellar (setup)
- Ch 5: Silver coin found by Arne (inciting incident)
- Ch 8: Pastor Thaden acts suspicious (red herring)
- Ch 11: Inga recognizes the mint stamp (turning point)
- Ch 14: Arne finds brother's diary (all is lost)
- Ch 17: Brother is alive — changed identity (climax)
- Ch 18: Reconciliation, but no happy ending (resolution)
Week 5: /storyforge:character-creator (x4)
→ Arne, Inga, Pastor Thaden, "The Stranger" (later: the brother)
Week 6: /storyforge:world-builder the-lighthouse-keeper
→ Kargholm: Fictional North Sea island, 180 inhabitants
→ Travel matrix with 6 locations
→ Canon log initially: "The lighthouse was built in 1897",
"Jürgen Kruse (brother) disappeared 14.3.1987"
Phase 2 — Drafting (week 7-18):
Every chapter follows the plan. Chapter-writer reads the plan, previous chapters, canon log, timeline, tonal document. Scene-by-scene mode:
/storyforge:chapter-writer the-lighthouse-keeper 01
→ Scene 1 (~900 words): Arrival in storm
Author (inline): Too nostalgic, Arne is tired, not sentimental
→ Scene 2 (~900 words): Lighthouse interior tour
→ corrected
→ Scene 3 (~800 words): At night: first alien signal from the sea
→ Full chapter review
/storyforge:chapter-reviewer the-lighthouse-keeper 01
→ Check 28 points, 2 findings: adverb density, filter word "saw"
→ Fix, status: Final
Phase 3 — Revision (week 19-22):
/storyforge:manuscript-checker the-lighthouse-keeper --interactive
→ 12 findings (similes, filter words, adverb clusters)
/storyforge:voice-checker the-lighthouse-keeper
→ 3 AI-tells in ch 8, fix
/storyforge:export-engineer the-lighthouse-keeper --format epub
Phase 1 — Minimal setup (day 1-3):
Day 1: /storyforge:book-conceptualizer lavender-field-notes
→ Premise: "A piano tuner loses his hearing — and discovers
that his grandmother spent her life encoding a secret in a
musical score."
→ Protagonist: Julian (47, piano tuner)
→ Core tension: Hearing loss vs. final grand restoration
Day 2: /storyforge:character-creator lavender-field-notes
→ Only Julian + grandmother (Memoria) + wife Maja
→ No arc defined — only "who are they today?"
Day 3: /storyforge:world-builder lavender-field-notes
→ Minimal: Rhineland setting, lavender field as motif
Phase 2 — Writing-as-Discovery (day 4+):
/storyforge:rolling-planner lavender-field-notes
→ Scene 1: Julian tunes a Bösendorfer — suddenly can't hear the
third overtone.
(Goal: finish tuning. Conflict: hearing gap. Consequence:
appointment with ENT doctor.)
/storyforge:chapter-writer lavender-field-notes 01
→ Writes the scene. While writing, a minor character "emerges":
a child watching, pointing to the wrong string.
→ User says: "Rule: The child (Mira, 8) must return in ch 3."
→ PreCompact hook writes it to book CLAUDE.md.
/storyforge:rolling-planner lavender-field-notes
→ Loads the new rule automatically, plans ch 2 with Mira callback.
After 5 chapters:
/storyforge:continuity-checker lavender-field-notes
→ Reconstructs timeline: Day 1 = Monday, March 14.
→ Travel matrix: 4 locations identified, times plausible.
→ No conflict.
After 20 chapters a plot has emerged — in retrospect it looks like a plan. That is discovery writing.
Phase 1 — MVO (week 1-2):
/storyforge:plot-architect blacklead
→ Plantser variant: 6 key beats
Beat 1 (Opening): Mira discovers the glassblower workshop
Beat 2 (Call): A glass shard shows her dead mother
Beat 3 (Midpoint): Mira masters the shards, but the shards master her too
Beat 4 (Crisis): The workshop burns, Mira loses the shards
Beat 5 (Climax): Mira builds her own shard — from herself
Beat 6 (Resolution): Mira is alive, but no longer only herself
Between the beats: open.
Phase 2 — Rolling-writing:
/storyforge:rolling-planner blacklead
→ 4 scenes planned toward beat 2
→ Then new rolling session
This gives you the plot compass without detail shackles.
Possible but not recommended. Going from discovery to outliner means reconstructing the existing text — not planning forward. The continuity-checker helps:
/storyforge:continuity-checker my-book
→ Reconstructs timeline, travel matrix, canon
→ Then /storyforge:plot-architect my-book
→ Detects: 12 chapters exist, plans remainder
The reverse (outliner → discovery) is easier: throw out the plan and use rolling planner.
continuity-checker.continuity-checker every 3 chapters.plot/tone.md.If you have never finished a book, I recommend:
StoryForge does not force you into a mode. But it punishes you if you switch modes without adjusting the context. If you are struggling: use
/storyforge:unblock— the skill can diagnose whether the block is from mode mismatch.