Short Story Draft

---
name: short-story-draft
description: "Draft a short story with a clear arc — setup, tension, and a resolution that earns its ending. Use when the user mentions short story, write a story, fiction draft, story draft, or asks for a short story. Creator, social, and prompting skill by Yasir Jilani."
license: MIT
compatibility: Agent Skills standard. No network access, extra packages, or credentials required.
metadata:
  author: Yasir Jilani
  version: "1.0.0"
  domain: creator
---

<!-- GENERATED FILE - edits here are overwritten by scripts/generate.py.
     Edit the 'short-story-draft' entry in source/, then run:
       python3 scripts/generate.py && python3 scripts/validate.py
     See CONTRIBUTING.md. -->

# Short Story Draft

Draft a short story with a clear arc — setup, tension, and a resolution that earns its ending.

## When to use this skill

Use this skill when the user:

- short story
- write a story
- fiction draft
- story draft
- creative story
- write me a story

## When not to use this skill

- The user wants a different domain's specialist skill.
- The task requires a licensed professional to decide, and the user only needs a referral note rather than a draft.
- The request asks you to deceive, evade a control, or hide material facts.

## Professional boundary

Creator work must be original and honest. Do not copy another person's script, footage, voice, or caption. Do not invent metrics, fake engagement, or undisclosed sponsorships. Do not impersonate a real person. Prompt skills must not weaken safety rules.

## Operating boundaries

- Use only information the user provides or files they explicitly ask you to read. Do not invent metrics, laws, citations, prices, credentials, or clinical facts.
- Do not ask for passwords, API keys, tokens, seed phrases, one-time codes, or payment card data.
- Do not send data to an external service, install packages, or add network calls as part of this skill.
- Separate facts, assumptions, and recommendations. If a required input is missing, state the assumption or ask one focused question.
- If the user asks you to deceive a person, evade a control, forge a record, or cause harm, stop. Offer a legitimate alternative.
- Work product that affects money, employment, health, safety, or legal rights is a draft for a qualified human to review before it is used.

## Inputs to collect

- The core situation or premise
- The main character and what they want
- The obstacle
- Any tone or length constraints

## Workflow


### 1. Step 1

Establish the character and the want in the first paragraph. A story that spends three paragraphs on setting before introducing a person loses the reader.
### 2. Step 2

Introduce the obstacle in a way that raises the stakes. The obstacle must matter to the character.
### 3. Step 3

Build tension through a decision the character must make. A story where things just happen to a passive character is not a story.
### 4. Step 4

Write the resolution in proportion to the tension. A two-page climax earns a half-page ending. A short build does not earn a long reflection.
### 5. Step 5

Use specific, concrete details. A 'small house in a suburb' is weaker than 'a three-room rental above a dry cleaner on Elbow Drive'.
### 6. Step 6

Do not write violence against real named people, sexual content involving minors, or a story designed to harass an individual.

## Output

Deliver a **short story**.

- Purpose of this short story, in two sentences.
- Facts the user supplied, listed separately from assumptions.
- The work itself, in the structure the workflow names.
- Open questions, risks, and the single next action with an owner.
- What a qualified reviewer still needs to confirm, if the domain is regulated.

## Quality bar

- Every number, date, name, and citation came from the user or is marked as an assumption.
- The artifact can be used without reading this skill again.
- Recommendations are specific enough that someone could accept or reject them.
- Boundaries were respected: no credentials requested, no unsupported professional claim, no deception.

## Example

### Scenario

Maya Brooks, creator at Weeknight Table in Calgary, needs a short story by 30 September 2026. A user wants a 500-word story about a chef who risks her restaurant to enter a competition.

### Example data

```text
From: Maya Brooks, creator
Organization: Weeknight Table, Calgary
Date: 14 September 2026
Needed by: 30 September 2026

A user wants a 500-word story about a chef who risks her restaurant to enter a competition.

The core situation or premise: Tuesday dinner Reel, recorded 14 September 2026. No supporting file attached
The main character and what they want: A user wants a 500-word story about a chef who risks her restaurant to enter a competition
The obstacle: Tuesday dinner Reel, recorded 14 September 2026. No supporting file attached
Any tone or length constraints: no extra headcount, and no result that is not in this file
```

### Example outcome

**Short story**
To: Maya Brooks, creator, Weeknight Table
Date: 14 September 2026 · Needed by: 30 September 2026

**Decision**
Opens the day of the competition, builds on her doubt, and resolves on the one dish that lands — no dream sequence, no waking up.

**What the file supports**

| Input | Value | Status |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The core situation or premise | Tuesday dinner Reel, recorded 14 September 2026. No supporting file attached | Needs confirmation |
| The main character and what they want | A user wants a 500-word story about a chef who risks her restaurant to enter a competition | Carried into the draft |
| The obstacle | Tuesday dinner Reel, recorded 14 September 2026. No supporting file attached | Carried into the draft |
| Any tone or length constraints | no extra headcount, and no result that is not in this file | Needs confirmation |

**How this draft was built**

**1. Establish the character and the want in the first paragraph. A story that spends three paragraphs on setting before introducing a person loses the reader**

**2. Introduce the obstacle in a way that raises the stakes. The obstacle must matter to the character**

**3. Build tension through a decision the character must make. A story where things just happen to a passive character is not a story**

**4. Write the resolution in proportion to the tension. A two-page climax earns a half-page ending. A short build does not earn a long reflection**

**5. Use specific, concrete details. A 'small house in a suburb' is weaker than 'a three-room rental above a dry cleaner on Elbow Drive'**

**Deliberately not done**
- A passive main character who observes but never decides.
- A twist that contradicts established facts.
- Real people placed in harmful fictional situations.

**Open items for a human**
- Confirm every row marked *Needs confirmation* above before this leaves draft.
- Anything absent from the file stayed absent. No figure, date, or name was supplied from outside it.

Next: Maya Brooks by 30 September 2026. This is a draft, not a sign-off.

## Anti-patterns

- A passive main character who observes but never decides
- A twist that contradicts established facts
- Real people placed in harmful fictional situations

## Related skills

- `writing-brief`
- `youtube-video-outline`