git:20260920.5444aa3 to git:20260920.620c8c2

---

name: scene-craft

description: This skill should be used when the user asks to "plan a scene", "scene structure", "sequel scene", "dialogue subtext", "deep POV", "psychic distance", "try fail", "scene cards", "exposition", "info dump", "flashback", "time skip", "story opening", "first page hook", "introduce a character", or wants scene-level craft for drafting or revision.

---

# Scene Craft

## Overview

Plan and check scenes at the scene grain — the layer between plot beats and

chapter prose. Covers the missing half of the chapter-writing scene model

(Scene **and** Sequel), try/fail escalation, scene cards, dialogue subtext,

deep POV and psychic distance, exposition handling, flashbacks and time

skips, and openings. Use during chapter planning, before drafting, and in

revision when a scene feels flat.

## Prerequisites

A story project must already exist (created via the story-init skill), with

characters defined (character-management) and a plot structure in place

(plot-structure). This skill extends chapter-writing; it does not replace the

outline-first drafting workflow.

## Workflow

1. **Choose the craft layer.** Identify which scene-grain problem this is:

- Scene feels like incidents with no breathing room → `references/scene-sequel.md`

- Middle of the chapter sags or resolves too easily → `references/try-fail.md`

- Chapter has multiple POVs/timelines to order → `references/scene-cards.md`

- Conversation reads flat or voices blur → `references/dialogue-subtext.md`

- Narration feels distant or head-hops → `references/deep-pov.md`

- Worldbuilding facts are piling up undelivered → `references/exposition.md`

- Past events or a time jump are needed → `references/flashbacks-time.md`

- Starting the book or a chapter, or introducing a character → `references/openings.md`

2. **Read the relevant reference(s).** Each file carries its own checklists

and planning fields; apply them, don't paraphrase them.

inputs the reference requires (sequel beats, try/fail positions, subtext

wants, zoom level, exposition audit, flashback trigger, hook check) into

the chapter outline or the scene's planning notes before drafting or

revising.

- Set `sequel: true/false` and fill the `dilemma:` field plus the

`## Sequel` section (reaction/dilemma/decision) for scenes with

sequel content (see `references/scene-sequel.md`)

- Keep `state-changes` current for every change the scene makes

(try/fail checklist, deep-POV filter-word scan, tag-swap test, first-page

hook check).

drafting workflow; theme-audit findings feed revision-continuity. When a

scene decision changes canon (new knowledge, moved objects, changed

relationships), update `continuity/state.md` and the affected entity

files (bidirectional links, per the story-init conventions).

## Conventions

- Scene ids stay `chapter-{NN}-scene-{NN}`; scene files live in `scenes/`

with kebab-case filenames.

- All planning metadata (dilemma, decision, subtext wants, psychic-distance

level) lives in frontmatter or a `## Planning` / `## Scene Card` section

of the scene file — never only in chat.

- `characters` vs `mentions` follows the story-init rule: characters present

in-scene under `characters`; remembered, recorded, or flashback-only

characters under `mentions`.

- Do not overwrite chapter prose merely to satisfy a craft checklist. Flag

intentional deviations (e.g. a deliberate info dump as a stylistic device)

in the scene file's planning notes so a later audit doesn't "fix" them.

## CLI Maintenance

Use the Story CLI when it is available. If `story` is not installed but the

`story-maintenance` skill is present, use `node ../story-maintenance/scripts/story.js`

with the same arguments, resolving the path relative to this skill folder.

If no CLI is available, perform the registry and backlink checks manually.

After adding or revising scene records:

```shell

story reindex .

story links .

story validate .

story continuity .

```

## Reference Files

- **`references/scene-sequel.md`** - Sequel mechanics: reaction → dilemma → decision (Dwight Swain's scene framework)

- **`references/try-fail.md`** - Try/fail escalation cycles and the Five Commandments scene shape

- **`references/scene-cards.md`** - Scene card unit (start state → change → end state), reordering, POV braiding

- **`references/dialogue-subtext.md`** - Subtext as planning input, dialogue-as-negotiation, voice differentiation, tag-swap test

- **`references/deep-pov.md`** - Psychic distance zoom levels and checkable deep-POV rules

- **`references/exposition.md`** - Drip-feed, conflict-carried exposition, in-world documents, info-dump warning

- **`references/flashbacks-time.md`** - Flashback entry/exit mechanics, tension-cheat warning, time-skip conventions

- **`references/openings.md`** - In medias res, "enter late, leave early", first-page hook check, character introduction technique