---
name: prose-writer
description: >
  Draft prose from a brief — voice-aware, form-aware, and grounded in craft principles. Use when
  the user needs new prose written, whether fiction, essay, or nonfiction. Takes an editorial
  brief (voice register, form, audience, constraints) and produces a draft that the user can
  then revise.
metadata:
  author: nirav
  version: "1.0"
compatibility: Designed for Claude Code
allowed-tools: Read Write Glob
---

# Prose Writer — The Drafting Desk

Produce prose from a brief. This skill reads the relevant craft knowledge, selects a voice register, and writes a draft that respects the editorial constraints. It is the writing-domain equivalent of `lore-writer` — but for general prose rather than in-universe artifacts.

## How to Run

### Input

The user provides (or the orchestrator passes):

1. **What** — the subject, topic, or scene to write
2. **Form** — what kind of writing (fiction scene, personal essay, argumentative essay, lyric essay, etc.)
3. **Voice** — one of three options:
   - A **register preset** (minimalist, conversational, literary, academic, lyric) — the quick option
   - A **Voice Card** from the style-mixer — a 14-dimension style spec with author blend ratios
   - An **author push** ("write this like 70% Hobb / 30% Camus") — the prose-writer will load `style-dna` and resolve it
   - Or let the skill suggest a voice based on form
4. **Audience** — who reads this (general, literary, academic, specific community)
5. **Constraints** — word count, specific requirements, anti-patterns to avoid

### Steps

1. Read the relevant knowledge skills based on form:
   - Fiction: `sentence-craft/*`, `narrative-craft/scene-craft`, `narrative-craft/dialogue`, `narrative-craft/point-of-view`, `narrative-craft/concrete-detail`
   - Essay: `sentence-craft/*`, `rhetoric/essay-forms`, `rhetoric/argument-structure`, `rhetoric/rhetorical-appeals`
   - Nonfiction: `sentence-craft/*`, `narrative-craft/pacing`, `rhetoric/rhetorical-appeals`
2. **Resolve voice**:
   - If a **register preset** is given → use the corresponding DNA position from `style-mixer`'s Legacy Registers table
   - If a **Voice Card** is given → read the 14-dimension profile and voice description directly
   - If an **author push** is given → read `sentence-craft/style-dna/references/author-profiles.md`, resolve the blend, and generate an inline Voice Card
   - If no voice is specified → suggest based on form (see Choosing a Register below), but note that the user may prefer a DNA-based voice
3. Write the draft, applying craft principles from the loaded skills AND the resolved voice profile. The 14 dimensions constrain the draft:
   - Match the target sentence rhythm variance
   - Maintain the target psychic distance
   - Hit the target information density
   - Respect the ornamentation level
   - Control narrative velocity to match the profile
   - Hold the lexical register
   - Calibrate authorial presence
   - Tune sensory bandwidth
   - Manage emotional explicitness
   - Balance world-to-story ratio
   - Build syntactic complexity to match
   - Maintain tonal stability/instability
   - Render dialogue at the target texture level
   - Hold the epistemic stance
4. Self-check: read the draft against the editorial brief AND the voice profile. Does it honor both?
5. Present the draft with brief craft notes explaining key choices

### Output

A draft with optional craft annotations (e.g., "The short sentence here is deliberate — rhythmic contrast after the long buildup").

## Voice Register

| Register | Character | Best For |
|----------|-----------|----------|
| **Minimalist** | Short sentences, concrete nouns, omission as technique. What's left out matters as much as what's in. | Flash fiction, hard-boiled prose, when the subject is strong enough to carry spare treatment |
| **Conversational** | Direct address, contractions, accessible rhythm. The reader feels spoken to. | Personal essays, blog posts, journalism, any audience that values approachability |
| **Literary** | Complex syntax, figurative language, musicality. The prose itself is part of the experience. | Literary fiction, lyric essays, writing where craft is expected to be visible |
| **Academic** | Precise terminology, qualification, citation-dense. Rigor over accessibility. | Critical essays, research-adjacent writing, expert audiences |
| **Lyric** | Fragment, image, compression, white space. Poetry-adjacent. | Lyric essays, experimental prose, when the subject resists linear treatment |

### Choosing a Register

If the user doesn't specify, suggest based on form:
- Fiction (genre) → Conversational or Minimalist
- Fiction (literary) → Literary
- Personal essay → Conversational
- Argumentative essay → Conversational or Academic (depending on audience)
- Lyric essay → Lyric
- Journalism/nonfiction → Conversational

## Writing Principles

1. **Craft knowledge is a constraint, not a display.** The draft should read as natural prose, not as a demonstration of techniques. If a reader notices the anaphora before they notice the meaning, the technique failed.
2. **The first sentence matters disproportionately.** It sets the voice, the register, the tempo, and the reader's expectations. Spend extra care on it.
3. **Concrete over abstract.** Ground every passage in sensory specificity. The abstract ideas grow from concrete soil.
4. **Voice consistency is non-negotiable.** Once a register is chosen, maintain it. Register breaks should be deliberate and meaningful.
5. **Earn the ending.** The final sentence carries the weight of everything before it. Don't trail off; don't over-explain. End on the strongest note available.

## Scope Boundaries

**This skill handles**: Drafting new prose from a brief — fiction, essays, nonfiction.

**This skill does NOT**:
- Revise existing prose (that's `prose-editor`)
- Analyze style (that's `style-analyzer`)
- Make structural decisions for the user (it writes within given constraints; structural choices belong to the user or the orchestrator)