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Story‑Engineering Manual ​

This manual turns high‑level story intentions into a finished draft by treating storylines—each built on a Promise → Progress → Payoff (PPP) curve— as the master inputs. A second input, storyline coordination, tells the system how those threads braid together (which one gets top billing, when they intersect, how often we revisit each). From these two levers the process grows four outline layers that progressively refine the novel:

  • Levels 0‑1—author‑owned design space
  • Levels 2‑3—living outlines that update automatically when Levels 0‑1 change, but still invite human insertions
  • Level 4—the first‑draft manuscript generated strictly from the frozen outlines

Promise → Progress → Payoff (PPP) — What It Is & Why It Matters ​

  • Promise – The hook: a question or expectation you plant in the reader’s mind. Example: “A disgraced prince vows never to claim the throne.”
  • Progress – Stepped escalations that show the promise moving, twisting, or backfiring. Example: the prince is forced to lead a regiment; he discovers an heirloom blade; the populace rallies behind him.
  • Payoff – The emotional and plot resolution that proves the promise mattered. Example: he takes the crown—but to abolish the monarchy, not to rule.

Locking every major storyline to a PPP curve prevents saggy middles, guarantees climaxes feel earned, and makes revisions painless: change the promise, and you instantly know which progress beats and payoff scene must adjust.

Level 0 – Brainstorm Dump ​

Goal: Capture every stray idea without judgement. How:

  1. List concepts, images, “what‑ifs,” snippets of dialogue.
  2. Tag each with a provisional storyline name or “Global.”
  3. Keep quantity high; quality control happens later.

This pile is the creative reservoir the rest of the system drinks from.

Level 1 – Storylines & Coordination (Conceptual Blueprint) ​

Broken down, this is a collection of nested storylines and storyline coordination units. Level 1 is where the story line is explained at a high level, structuring the brainstorm in level 0.

Examples of storylines may be a character's emotional arc, a specific journey, a specific sequence of actions.

Create a tree-like structure for the storylines.

Level 1 converts the raw brainstorm into nested storyline dossiers plus a coordination brief. Each storyline dossier should read like a thoughtful mini‑essay:

  • Name & Scope – Who or what the arc follows. Should be very concise and simple. (This is the heading)
  • Frequency/Importance Label the storyline in the title brackets as A/B/C/D/E this controls how often they should appear or is stressed, the cadence of the storyline. They refer to the importance to the immediate parent storyline. D/E/F can be mini-storylines that appear in only a couple of scenes or parts of a scene. Order the list of storylines by this Importance.
  • Promise and Intended Emotional Journey – The hook you’re selling and how the reader should feel from first beat to payoff. First bullet.
  • Why It Strengthens the Book – Thematic role, tonal flavor, market angle. Second bullet.
  • Nested Component Storylines or Progress Checkpoints – A list of the component storylines that make up this storyline, with story points drawn from the brainstorm if they're the lowest level storylines. Checkpoints are bullets, following continuing as the third+ bullets. Nested storylines use markdown headers.

While all of these should be covered, it should not be formatted with headers or titled. Rather just put each dash-bullets that has all the information contained within. Use a very concise and direct writing style, don't worry about complete sentences.

The first and second bullets should NOT BE LABELED with the wordy titles, just go straight into the content, what they are is understood.

The Level 1 storylines don't have need to be chronologically ordered, they go by importance. They are myriad threads which can be added to or removed from at any time. Level 2 gives the storylines more structure and chronology.

Example:

# Level 1 Outline
## 1.  MC's Perspective & Strategic Intent [A]
MC's attempting to seduce Deng Yu for his purposes, but his feelings get more complex over time. 
- How will he feel about her by the end?
- MC feels more real with a deep internal perspective with intention, not randomly stumbling into yet another relationship. 
### 1.1. Interest in Deng Yu [C]
etc

After you finish all dossiers, write a Coordination Brief that answers:

  • Where do storylines collide or echo thematically?
  • Are they parallel in time, staggered, or converging?

Level 1 is heavy on explanation in a direct and concise style, because clarity here makes every downstream step cheaper.

A lot of focus on WHY each element is there, what we hope to accomplish with it, how the element fits into the whole meta roster of the story as a whole. This is intended to focus the story on matching the needs of the target audience and to keep the elements of the story entertaining and novel.

While the writing style should be extremely concise, the actual content has to be expansive and cover everything in detail throughout all the storylines.

Level 2 – Scene Map (Tent‑Pole Outline) ​

Purpose: Sketch the whole novel scene‑by‑scene, showing which storyline(s) move forward and why the scene must exist. Method:

  1. March chronologically from opening to finale.

  2. For each scene, jot:

    • Scene slug (“Marketplace Confrontation”).
    • Storylines serviced
    • Extended summary
      • Inline rationale: “Delivers Progress #2 of the Prince arc; introduces sword motif.”

Human role: rearrange, add, delete, or freeze scenes. LLM role: whenever Level 0 or 1 changes, it proposes patches—adding missing progress beats, flagging scenes now orphaned, suggesting cadence fixes.

Level 3 – Narrative Skeleton ​

Purpose: Blow up each Level 2 line into 1‑3 paragraphs of compressed prose so you can feel flow, tone, and POV hand‑offs. Contents per scene

  • Timestamp & setting flavor.
  • POV character’s immediate goal and obstacle.
  • Snippets of dialogue and internal thought.
  • Entry hook & exit beat.

Level 3 is verbose enough that you can read it straight through and experience a stripped‑down novella version of the book.

Live‑update rule: If Level 1 swaps a Progress checkpoint, the LLM rewrites only those scenes whose purpose is now out of date, preserving locked paragraphs and author notes elsewhere.

Level 4 – First Draft ​

The LLM expands the Narrative Skeleton into full prose that obeys your Writing Style Guidelines: vivid description, natural dialogue, no outline headings. Scene order, POV choices, and every PPP promise are sacrosanct unless you climb back and alter Levels 0‑3.

Change‑Propagation Workflow ​

  1. Add or modify an idea in Level 0 ⟶ manually fold it into the relevant Level 1 storyline when you’re ready.
  2. Edit Level 1 (promise, progress, payoff, or coordination) ⟶ LLM proposes updates to Levels 2‑3.
  3. Tweak or reorder scenes in Level 2 ⟶ LLM verifies PPP coverage; if gaps appear, it prompts fixes or updated checkpoints.
  4. Rewrite chunks of Level 3 ⟶ Level 4 absorbs them verbatim.
  5. Direct edits in Level 4 are fine for line craft but should not violate a locked promise. When in doubt, revise upstream instead.

Why This Structure Works ​

  • Clarity – A single broken promise can be traced back to the exact dossier paragraph that birthed it.
  • Flexibility – Because Levels 2‑3 regenerate from conceptual changes, you can pivot mid‑project without torpedoing finished prose.
  • Focus on Reader Payoff – PPP keeps every scene pointed at satisfying real audience desires.
  • Collaboration Friendly – Authors inject creativity early and often; the LLM handles consistency sweeps and grunt updates.

Follow these layers and you’ll always know what your story has promised, where that promise currently stands, and how the finale will pay it off—while retaining the freedom to improvise until the very last draft.

Global Storylines ​

Global storylines are threads that run through every novel you write, no matter the genre, cast, or premise. They don’t belong to any single character arc; they shape the reader’s whole experience. Treat them exactly like regular storylines—give them a Promise, Progress checkpoints, and a Payoff—then list them in Level 1 and coordinate them like any other thread. They rarely own a scene outright, but they should touch almost every scene.

World‑Building / Lore Revelation ​

Promises ​

“You will understand how this world works and why it feels real.”

Progress ​

First glimpse of the status quo → deeper cultural rules → hidden history revealed → paradigm‑shifting truth.

Payoff ​

Final piece of lore snaps into place, letting the climax make sense.

Tone / Mood Arc ​

Promises ​

“The emotional color will shift in a deliberate way.”

Progress ​

Light or ironic opening → shadows lengthen → sustained dread or wonder → catharsis or restoration.

Payoff ​

Closing mood that either returns to equilibrium or locks the new tone in place.

Antagonist Pressure ​

Promises ​

“The opposition tightens its grip.”

Progress ​

Villain introduced indirectly → first direct clash → antagonist adapts & dominates → final confrontation.

Payoff ​

Defeat, reversal, or transformation of the antagonist force.

Pacing Rhythm ​

Promises ​

“The story will breathe between high‑intensity and quiet moments.”

Progress ​

Rising action block → recovery scene → steeper rise → brief plateau → sprint to climax.

Payoff ​

Denouement that lets the heartbeat return to normal.