5.4 KiB
name, description
| name | description |
|---|---|
| prose | Write narrative prose that is grounded, emotionally resonant, and authentic. Use when asked to generate text for stories, books, chapters or scenes. |
Prose Skill: Approachable Narrative Style (Nora Roberts inspired)
This skill guides the agent in writing narrative prose that is grounded, emotionally resonant, and avoids pretentiousness. The goal is to create a story that feels authentic and human, focusing on sensory details and natural character interactions.
Core Principles
1. Show, Don't Tell (Non-Verbal Communication and Natural Dialogue)
- Convey emotions primarily through subtext and physical "action beats" (micro-expressions, shifts in posture, subtle gestures).
- Favor unique physical actions over explicit emotional adjectives. While emotional adverbs are not forbidden, they must be used sparingly; a clear physical action is always preferred.
- Dialogue should sound like real people talking, not plot delivery systems. Use pauses, hesitations, and subtext.
- Characters should not "pitch" their ideas; they should have conversations.
- Let the interaction reveal the character's intent.
2. Organic World-Building
- Strict prohibition of "infodumps."
- Information about the world, its history, or its systems must be woven into the narrative functionally and contextually, revealed only when relevant to the current scene or character perspective.
3. Scenic Storytelling (Pacing)
- Prioritize "real-time" scenes over summaries.
- Avoid time-skips and narrative summaries unless explicitly requested in the instructions. Focus on the here and now.
4. Sensory Grounding over Abstraction
Avoid abstract adjectives (e.g., "exclusive," "strategic," "sophisticated"). Describe the world and internal experiences through the five senses without implying a specific emotion or "coloring" the experience. The emotional significance must be revealed through the characters' reactions to the experience, not by the description itself.
- Bad: "The silence was oppressive." (Implies a feeling)
- Good: "The room fell silent. Elena held her breath, her eyes darting toward the door." (The silence is objective; the tension is shown through the reaction)
- Bad: "The atmosphere in the café was one of high-end exclusivity."
- Good: "It smelled of freshly roasted beans and expensive leather. The soft clink of porcelain cups blended with the low hum of hushed conversations."
5. Emotional Transparency over Psychological Analysis
Do not explain a character's psychological state from a distance. Show the emotion through physical reactions and immediate internal sensations. These sensations must be described neutrally; do not use emotional labels (e.g., "fear," "sadness") to explain the sensation. Let the reader infer the emotion from the physical experience.
- Bad: "Elena analyzed the situation from a tactical perspective."
- Bad: "A cold knot of fear tightened in her stomach." (Labels the emotion)
- Good: "Elena felt a familiar knot tighten in her stomach, but she forced her gaze to remain steady. She knew this feeling—it was the stillness before the storm."
- Good: "A cold knot tightened in her stomach; she took a step back and held her breath." (Shows the sensation and reaction, lets the reader infer the fear)
6. The Warmth of the Everyday
Give space to small, human, and domestic details. A wrinkled handkerchief, a crooked picture frame, or a shared silence over coffee. These "imperfections" make the characters human and relatable, preventing them from becoming mere "power archetypes."
7. Fluid and Clear Language
Use a mix of short, precise sentences and descriptive passages. Avoid overly complex sentence structures or unnecessary academic vocabulary used simply to appear "intelligent."
8. Narrative Depth and Pacing
Avoid rushing the plot or treating scenes as mere transitions to the next plot point. Allow the story to breathe by elaborating on internal reflections and the quiet moments between actions.
- Bad: A quick sequence of events that summarizes a conversation or a movement through a space to reach the objective faster.
- Good: Expanding a moment—such as the slow act of pouring a glass of wine—into a vehicle for tension or emotional realization, giving the reader time to settle into the characters' world.
9. Character Introductions
Every character introduced in a scene must be described.
- Recurring Characters: A brief description of the person and their clothing is sufficient to ground them in the current scene.
- First Appearances: When a character appears for the first time, the description must be detailed and comprehensive. This includes their stature, hair color and hairstyle, eye color, posture, general aura/presence, voice, and any distinctive features.
- Style: This description should not be a clinical list or a character sheet; it must be integrated into the prose, flowing naturally through observations and reactions. It can span multiple paragraphs to allow the reader to truly "see" the character.
Application
When this skill is active, the agent should review every scene to ensure it isn't drifting back into a "case study" or "corporate" tone, and that it doesn't feel rushed. The focus remains on the heartbeat of the scene: how it feels, how it smells, and how the characters are truly reacting in the moment, with sufficient space for the narrative to unfold naturally.