StoryForge has three writing modes that change the workflow noticeably. The author_writing_mode field belongs to the author profile (~/.storyforge/authors/{slug}/profile.md). Valid values for fiction: outliner, plantser, discovery. The default in the profile template is outliner.
Memoir authors have their own vocabulary at creation time: in the memoir path, /storyforge:create-author asks for Structured, Accumulative or Discovery. On save, update_author normalizes that to the fiction terms: Structured becomes outliner, Accumulative becomes plantser, Discovery stays discovery. In the profile, and for every reading skill including book-conceptualizer, it is then outliner, plantser or discovery. A value that is none of the three memoir terms is stored unchanged, and a profile you edit by hand is not normalized.
You set the mode when creating an author with /storyforge:create-author, or later with /storyforge:configure. If an older profile has no such field, /storyforge:new-book asks once and writes your answer back to the profile.
By default the mode applies to all books by that author. When you create a book, new-book asks whether this book should deviate. A deviation is stored in the book (author_writing_mode in the README frontmatter, only once you deviate) and takes precedence over the profile, but not everywhere:
plot-architect reads the effective value through get_book_full (field effective_author_writing_mode) and honors the book override. new-book also bases its recommendation on the effective mode.chapter-writer, chapter-writer-memoir, book-conceptualizer and rolling-planner read author_writing_mode from the author profile and ignore the book override.If you deviate for one book, change the profile as well where needed, or expect chapter-writer and book-conceptualizer to decide by the profile.
The writing mode is not a matter of taste, it is a decision about how you work. Outliners are rarely happy with a discovery workflow and vice versa.
The mode mainly decides three things:
book-conceptualizer and new-book recommend next (plot-architect or rolling-planner). For memoir books book-conceptualizer names plot-architect-memoir for outliner and plantser, while new-book still names plot-architect in its closing message, memoir included.plot-architect ischapter-writer offers the rolling-planner before the first scene planAll quality checks (hook, reviewer, humanizer, proofreader, checkers) run the same way in every mode.
Profile: You want the entire structure in place before the first scene is written.
Pros:
Cons:
Good for:
plot-architect runs its full workflow here: structure, beat map, subplots, foreshadowing table, character arc alignment, chapter plan, story timeline and tonal document. The skill produces a scene list only in the snowflake flow. Scenes are planned later by chapter-writer per chapter.
Profile: You want a compass, not a map. Surprises are welcome, total deviations are not.
Pros:
rolling-planner provides structure in small portionsCons:
Good for:
In plantser mode plot-architect aims at a Minimal Viable Outline (six sentences) instead of a full beat sheet. Steps 4 to 6 (subplots, foreshadowing table, character arc alignment) are skipped unless you ask for them. The skill suggests Snowflake or 3-Act (minimal) as the structure. If you pick 3-Act, the chapter plan, the story timeline and the tonal document still run. If you pick Snowflake, its own flow replaces steps 3 to 8, including chapter plan and story timeline, and only the tonal document is added at the end.
Profile: You write to find out what happens. Planning takes away your curiosity.
Pros:
Cons:
Good for:
In discovery mode plot-architect stops and points you to the rolling-planner. You can explicitly override that, the skill does not force it.
| Aspect | Outliner | Plantser | Discovery |
|---|---|---|---|
Recommended next skill after book-conceptualizer |
plot-architect |
plot-architect |
rolling-planner |
plot-architect |
full workflow | Minimal Viable Outline (6 sentences), steps 4 to 6 skipped | skipped |
rolling-planner |
optional | 3 to 5 scenes ahead | before every writing session |
chapter-writer without a scene plan |
plans directly | offers rolling-planner |
offers rolling-planner |
| World and characters | upfront | core elements | emerge while writing |
| Continuity check | at the end | regularly | often, already while writing |
create-author → new-book → book-conceptualizer → plot-architect →
character-creator → world-builder → [chapter-writer → chapter-reviewer →
chapter-humanizer → chapter-proofreader] (per chapter) →
manuscript-checker → export-engineer
create-author → new-book → book-conceptualizer → plot-architect (minimal) →
character-creator → [rolling-planner → chapter-writer → chapter-reviewer] (repeat) →
continuity-checker → manuscript-checker → export-engineer
create-author → new-book → book-conceptualizer →
character-creator (core cast) →
[rolling-planner → chapter-writer] (repeat) →
continuity-checker → manuscript-checker → export-engineer
In all three modes the chapter-humanizer and the chapter-proofreader are part of the standard path after the reviewer. The voice-checker is an optional overall check. /storyforge:next-step tells you what is due next at any time.
The examples are invented and only show the flow.
Planning:
/storyforge:brainstorm
/storyforge:book-conceptualizer the-lighthouse-keeper
→ premise, theme, target audience
/storyforge:plot-architect the-lighthouse-keeper
→ 3-act structure, 18 chapters, all clues plotted
/storyforge:character-creator the-lighthouse-keeper (per character)
/storyforge:world-builder the-lighthouse-keeper
→ locations, travel matrix
Writing: Every chapter follows the plan. The chapter writer loads the plan, previous chapters, canon facts, timeline and the tonal document (plot/tone.md) and writes scene by scene:
/storyforge:chapter-writer the-lighthouse-keeper 1
→ scene 1 (~900 words): you give inline feedback, the skill corrects
→ scene 2, scene 3 ...
→ chapter review by you
/storyforge:chapter-reviewer the-lighthouse-keeper 01-arrival
→ findings (for example adverb density, filter words), then fix them
Revision:
/storyforge:manuscript-checker the-lighthouse-keeper --interactive
/storyforge:export-engineer the-lighthouse-keeper epub
Minimal setup:
/storyforge:book-conceptualizer lavender-field-notes
→ premise and core tension, nothing more
/storyforge:character-creator lavender-field-notes
→ only the core characters
Writing as discovery:
/storyforge:rolling-planner lavender-field-notes
→ scene recipe for the next scene (goal, conflict, consequence)
/storyforge:chapter-writer lavender-field-notes 1
→ While writing, a minor character emerges.
→ You write: "Rule: The child must return in chapter 3."
→ The PreCompact hook copies the rule into the book rules as soon as the
context is compacted (not when you type it).
/storyforge:rolling-planner lavender-field-notes
→ Reads the book data, the author profile and the summaries of the
chapters so far, and plans the next scene from them.
The rolling-planner does not load book rules or callbacks. The new rule only takes effect when chapter-writer writes the chapter: it then appears in the chapter writer's brief among the rules it has to honor.
After a few chapters:
/storyforge:continuity-checker lavender-field-notes
→ reconstructs timeline and travel matrix from the written text
The hook only picks up single-line messages that start with one of the prefixes Rule:, Regel:, Workflow: or Callback: (case-insensitive, the text at most 300 characters long), and it only runs when the context is compacted. Everything else stays transient.
/storyforge:plot-architect blacklead
→ plantser variant: Minimal Viable Outline, six sentences that carry the
arc roughly (for example opening, call, midpoint, crisis, climax,
resolution; the labels are only an illustration)
/storyforge:rolling-planner blacklead
→ 3 to 5 scenes toward the next beat, then a new rolling session
That gives you a plot compass without detail shackles.
This is possible but not recommended. If you move from discovery to outliner, you have to capture the existing text backwards. The continuity checker helps:
/storyforge:continuity-checker my-book
→ reconstructs timeline, travel matrix and canon from the chapters
/storyforge:plot-architect my-book
→ reads README, plot/outline.md and characters/ and plans from those
plot-architect does not read the existing chapters. So carry what the continuity checker found into the outline beforehand.
The reverse (outliner to discovery) is easier: you leave the plan alone and use the rolling planner. You change the mode in /storyforge:configure (profile). For a single book there is the override in the book, which only steers plot-architect and the recommendation of new-book.
chapter-writer has two modes: Mode A (scene by scene, recommended) and Mode B (whole chapter at once). In Mode A, three rules protect quality across session boundaries.
Before the first scene, chapter-writer builds a scene plan for the whole chapter (rule of thumb about 900 words per scene). Once you confirm it, the skill saves it under ## Scene Plan in the chapter's README.md. In a new session it loads the saved plan instead of deriving it again. Scenes already written are marked Written ✓ and locked.
After two approved scenes, chapter-writer proactively tells you to start a new session. The reason: correction loops burn context quickly, and prose written after a loss of context gets worse. The limit is a quality rule, not a technical one. On the next start you simply run /storyforge:chapter-writer {book-slug} {chapter-number} again and the saved plan is loaded.
If the author profile says plantser or discovery and the chapter has no scene plan yet, chapter-writer asks at the start:
/storyforge:rolling-planner {book_slug} {chapter_slug}. chapter-writer stops at this point and is started again afterwards.With outliner or no mode set, it continues without asking.
continuity-checker now and then.continuity-checker regularly, not only at the end./storyforge:book-dashboard.plot/tone.md early.If you have never finished a book:
If you get stuck,
/storyforge:unblockhelps. The skill diagnoses the root cause of a writer's block (fear, perfectionism, procrastination or distraction) and gives targeted steps based on your book.