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Transforms a brain dump into a story-structured essay outline. Pressure tests for a real thesis, applies the Saunders framework via story-lens skill to validate hook, escalation, and conclusion, then writes a tight outline to file. Also fixes stale skill count in README (22 → 24). 🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
49 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
49 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
---
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name: story-lens
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description: This skill should be used when evaluating whether a piece of prose constitutes a high-quality story. It applies George Saunders's craft framework — causality, escalation, efficiency, expectation, and character accumulation — as a structured diagnostic lens. Triggers on requests like "is this a good story?", "review this prose", "does this feel like a story or just an anecdote?", "critique this narrative", or any request to assess the craft quality of fiction or narrative nonfiction.
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---
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# Story Lens
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A diagnostic skill for evaluating prose quality using George Saunders's storytelling framework. The framework operates on a single core insight: the difference between a story and an anecdote is causality plus irreversible change.
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Load [saunders-framework.md](./references/saunders-framework.md) for the full framework, including all diagnostic questions and definitions.
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## How to Apply the Skill
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### 1. Read the Prose
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Read the full piece before forming any judgments. Resist diagnosing on first pass.
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### 2. Apply the Six Diagnostic Questions in Order
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Each question builds on the previous.
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**Beat Causality**
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Map the beats. Does each beat cause the next? Or are they sequential — "and then... and then..."? Sequential beats = anecdote. Causal beats = story.
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**Escalation**
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Is the story moving up a staircase or running on a treadmill? Each step must be irrevocable. Once a character's condition has fundamentally changed, the story cannot re-enact that change or linger in elaboration. Look for sections that feel like they're holding still.
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**The Story-Yet Test**
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Stop at the end of each major section and ask: *if it ended here, would it be complete?* Something must have changed irreversibly. If nothing has changed, everything so far is setup — not story.
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**Character Accumulation**
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Track what the reader learns about the character, beat by beat. Is that knowledge growing? Does each beat confirm, complicate, or overturn prior understanding? Flat accumulation = underdeveloped character. Specificity accrues into care.
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**The Three E's**
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Check against the triad: Escalation (moving forward), Efficiency (nothing extraneous), Expectation (next beat is surprising but not absurd). Failure in any one of these is diagnosable.
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**Moral/Technical Unity**
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If something feels off emotionally or ethically — a character's choice that doesn't ring true, a resolution that feels unearned — look for the technical failure underneath. Saunders's claim: it is always there. Find the craft problem, and the moral problem dissolves.
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### 3. Render a Verdict
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After applying all six diagnostics, deliver a clear assessment:
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- Is this a story, or still an anecdote?
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- Which diagnostic reveals the primary weakness?
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- What is the single most important structural fix?
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Be direct. The framework produces precise, actionable diagnoses — not impressionistic feedback. Imprecise praise or vague encouragement is not useful here. The goal is to help the writer see exactly where the story is working and where it isn't.
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