sethshoultes
16 verified skills
authors-rewrite
Dispatch a named author persona as a sub-agent to rewrite an existing manuscript file from scratch with full bible context. Usage - /authors-rewrite <file> <author>. Use when an existing chapter or scene needs more than a critique pass — when the prose itself isn't working and a clean rewrite by the named author is required. The skill assembles a self-contained brief (bible files, prior/next chapters, architecture beats, voice rules), dispatches the author, and confirms save.
documentation
authors-channel
Load a named author persona into the current conversation for direct collaborative drafting or editing. The persona takes over the voice and editorial judgment of the session until the user drops it. Substantive prose blocks (>50 words of in-character narrative) auto-save to manuscript/<current>.md by default; saying "preview only" or "don't save" opts out for a single block. Use when the user wants to write *with* a specific author rather than getting a review back — e.g., "let me draft with Hemingway in the room," "channel Didion on this essay," "put McCarthy at the keyboard."
testing
authors-build-place
Build a place entry for the project bible via an interactive interview. Usage - /authors-build-place <name> [--author <author-name>]. Seven questions covering type, sensory signature, one odd detail, meaning to characters, how it changes, contradiction, connections. Optional --author lens (mcphee for architectural history, didion for cultural specificity). Use when you're adding a new location to a long-form project and want author personas to read its bible entry before editing passages set there.
tools
authors-edit
Mark up a draft with editorial feedback from one or more author personas. Usage - /authors-edit <file> [author1 author2 ...]. If no authors named, inspects the file and picks 1-2 based on genre (marketing copy → Hemingway + Orwell; fiction → King + Vonnegut; essay → Didion + Baldwin; long-form nonfiction → McPhee). Returns a consolidated marked-up view, not N separate critiques. Use when you want a real editorial pass on a piece of writing.
tools
authors-journal
Capture a session journal entry in the project bible. Usage - /authors-journal. Writes .great-authors/journal/YYYY-MM-DD.md with what was worked on, decisions made, what's unresolved, and where the user left off. Use at the end of a writing session so the next session's author personas know what's in flux vs. settled. If an entry already exists for today, offers to append rather than overwrite.
testing
authors-project-init
Initialize the per-project memory bible (.great-authors/) in the current working directory. Creates project.md, voice.md, timeline.md, glossary.md, and empty characters/, places/, scenes/ directories. Use when the user is starting a new writing project (novel, essay collection, long-form nonfiction) and wants author personas to have persistent context across sessions.
tools
authors-corpus-critique
Run ONE editor across MULTIPLE files in parallel, then consolidate into a corpus-level pattern report. Surfaces patterns no per-file critique catches — voice drift, recurring tics, structural failures that only become visible across multiple pieces. Usage - /authors-corpus-critique <author> <path-or-glob> [<path-or-glob>...]. Different from /authors-critique (N authors on 1 file). This is 1 author on N files.
data-ai
authors-draft
Draft new prose in a named author's voice from a brief. Usage - /authors-draft <brief> <author> [--to <path>]. Loads the author persona, writes prose in that voice, and saves the output to manuscript/<current>.md by default (or --to override). When new characters, places, or scenes appear in the draft, automatically dispatches the appropriate builder (character-builder, scene-builder) in Mode B to add them to the project bible. Use when you want a first-draft pass in a specific voice - prose lands on disk immediately, not stranded in chat.
development
authors-orchestrate-novel
Top-level autonomous workflow for writing a novel end-to-end with the great-authors plugin. Composes existing skills (project-init, build-character, build-place, build-relationship, draft, channel, rewrite, continuity, critique, edit, debate, journal, consolidate) into a multi-phase pipeline with human checkpoints. The human provides direction (premise, genre, characters, voice); the AI orchestrator dispatches author personas as sub-agents to do the work. Use when a user wants the full great-authors pipeline run for them with minimal hand-holding — analogous to great-minds-plugin's agency-* workflows. Usage - /authors-orchestrate-novel, optionally with --phase <N> to run a single phase or --resume to continue from the last checkpoint.
tools
authors-continuity
Check a draft for continuity violations against the project bible. Usage - /authors-continuity <file> [author]. Reads the draft and every bible file; fans out to 1-2 authors; returns flagged inconsistencies - character detail drift (eye color changes, age contradictions), timeline contradictions, voice rule violations, invented-term misuse. Use before sharing a chapter with beta readers or merging it into the main manuscript.
testing
authors-build-character
Build a character entry for the project bible via an interactive interview. Usage - /authors-build-character <name> [--author <author-name>]. Optional --author flag shapes the interview questions through one of the ten author personas (e.g., --author king adds small-town and pop-culture questions; --author le-guin adds social-position questions). Use when the user is creating a new character for a long-form project and wants a structured bible entry that author personas will read before editing passages with this character.
development
authors-critique
Get a fast, cheap gut-check critique of a draft from multiple author personas. Usage - /authors-critique <file> [author1 author2 ...]. Each author returns a 3-bullet verdict only - no marked passages, no rewrites. Defaults to 3 authors if none specified. Use when you want quick directional feedback before investing in a full /authors-edit pass.
testing
authors-consolidate
Scan journal entries and offer to promote repeated decisions into the permanent bible. Usage - /authors-consolidate. Reads .great-authors/journal/* and identifies decisions that appear in multiple entries; for each, proposes which bible file to promote to (project.md, voice.md, a character file, etc.). Every promotion requires user confirmation. Use periodically - after 5+ sessions - to keep the bible current without losing fidelity to in-flux ideas.
testing
authors-debate
Run a 2-round craft debate between two named author personas on a specific passage or topic. Usage - /authors-debate <passage-or-topic> <author-A> <author-B>. Round 1 - each states their position. Round 2 - each responds to the other. Consolidation names the real tension and picks a winner or offers a third option. Use when you genuinely don't know how to handle a craft choice (e.g., Hemingway vs. McCarthy on whether a scene needs muscle or weight).
testing
authors-build-relationship
Build a relationship entry between two existing characters in the project bible. Usage - /authors-build-relationship <character-a> <character-b>. Six questions covering type, power dynamic, history, current conflict, shared vocabulary, secrets and wrong assumptions. Updates the
development
authors-build-scene
Build a scene entry (beat card) for the project bible via an interactive interview. Usage - /authors-build-scene [<id>] [--author <author-name>]. Optional --author flag channels McPhee (start with scene shape) or Vonnegut (start-close-to-end and glass-of-water want). Use when the user is planning a scene, has a scene that's drifting off-structure, or wants to ensure cross-chapter callbacks don't get lost.
tools