Diagnose flat dialogue, same-voice characters, and lack of subtext. Use when conversations feel wooden, characters sound alike, or dialogue only does one thing at a time.
npx claudepluginhub joshuarweaver/cascade-content-creation-misc-1 --plugin jwynia-agent-skills-1This skill uses the workspace's default tool permissions.
You diagnose dialogue-level problems in fiction. Your role is to identify why conversations feel flat and guide writers toward dialogue that does multiple things simultaneously.
Guides Next.js Cache Components and Partial Prerendering (PPR) with cacheComponents enabled. Implements 'use cache', cacheLife(), cacheTag(), revalidateTag(), static/dynamic optimization, and cache debugging.
Guides building MCP servers enabling LLMs to interact with external services via tools. Covers best practices, TypeScript/Node (MCP SDK), Python (FastMCP).
Generates original PNG/PDF visual art via design philosophy manifestos for posters, graphics, and static designs on user request.
You diagnose dialogue-level problems in fiction. Your role is to identify why conversations feel flat and guide writers toward dialogue that does multiple things simultaneously.
Dialogue must do more than one thing at a time or it is too inert for the purposes of fiction. (Sloane, 1979)
Good dialogue simultaneously advances plot, reveals character, builds tension, establishes relationship dynamics, and creates subtext. If dialogue is only delivering information, it's failing.
Every line of dialogue operates on three layers:
| Layer | Definition | Check |
|---|---|---|
| Text | What's literally said | Is it character-specific? Efficient? Natural rhythm? |
| Subtext | What's meant beneath the words | Is there a gap between said and meant? |
| Context | What shapes the exchange | Power dynamics? History? What each character wants? |
When dialogue fails, it usually fails at Layer 2 (no subtext) or Layer 1 (undifferentiated voices).
Symptoms: All characters sound the same. Covering dialogue tags makes speakers indistinguishable. Vocabulary, rhythm, and sentence structure are uniform across characters.
Key Questions:
Diagnostic Checklist:
Interventions:
Symptoms: Dialogue feels stilted, formal, unnatural. Characters speak in complete grammatical sentences. No contractions. No interruptions. No fragments.
Key Questions:
Diagnostic Checklist:
Interventions:
Symptoms: Characters explain things they'd both already know. One character asks questions just so another can explain. "As you know, Bob..." syndrome.
Key Questions:
Diagnostic Checklist:
Interventions:
Symptoms: Characters say exactly what they mean, feel, and want. No gap between surface and meaning. Dialogue lacks dramatic tension because everything is explicit.
Key Questions:
Diagnostic Checklist:
Interventions:
Symptoms: Dialogue accomplishes one thing (usually plot information) but nothing else. Conversations feel functional but inert. No relationship shift, no character revelation, no tension.
The Double-Duty Test: For every exchange, you should be able to answer at least three:
Diagnostic Checklist:
Interventions:
Symptoms: Dialogue pacing doesn't match scene needs. Tense moments have leisurely exchanges. Calm moments have rapid-fire dialogue. No rhythm variation within scenes.
Key Questions:
Pacing Tools:
| Fast Pacing | Slow Pacing |
|---|---|
| Short exchanges | Longer speeches |
| Minimal/no tags | Pauses described |
| No action beats | Action beats between lines |
| Interruptions | Reflection embedded |
Interventions:
Pattern: "As you know, Bob, our company was founded in 1985 when your father and my uncle..." Problem: Characters explain mutual knowledge for reader benefit Fix: Find conflict in information or discover it on-page
Pattern: Every character uses same vocabulary, rhythm, directness Problem: Voices indistinguishable without tags Fix: Profile each character's speech patterns; give distinct verbal DNA
Pattern: "Um, hi." "Oh, hey, yeah, so..." "Right, right." Problem: Realistic but dramatically dead - fiction dialogue is compressed reality Fix: Cut to the meaningful; small talk only if it reveals character
Pattern: "she said angrily," "he replied nervously," "she exclaimed furiously" Problem: Tags doing dialogue's job; telling not showing Fix: Let words and actions carry emotion; use "said"
Pattern: Characters articulate themes, lessons, or subtext explicitly Problem: Trust removed from reader; preachiness Fix: Trust readers to infer meaning from behavior and implication
Pattern: Perfectly alternating, evenly-sized responses, no interruption or power differential Problem: Unnaturally balanced; no one dominates or defers Fix: Let one character dominate, another interrupt, a third stay silent
"Said" is the best dialogue tag to use.
Why "said" works:
When to use other tags:
Tag vs. Beat:
The beat shows; the tag tells.
When a writer presents dialogue problems:
Which layer is failing?
Can the writer answer at least three of:
The simplest diagnostic: does it sound like something a human would say? Can you distinguish speakers without tags?
Run through the anti-pattern list. Most dialogue problems match at least one.
Based on identified state, provide specific fixes. Use tools for quantitative analysis when helpful.
Analyzes dialogue for voice distinctiveness between characters.
deno run --allow-read scripts/voice-check.ts dialogue.txt
deno run --allow-read scripts/voice-check.ts --text "\"I want...\" \"I want...\"" --speakers Alice,Bob
Analyzes:
Checks dialogue against the double-duty test.
deno run --allow-read scripts/dialogue-audit.ts scene.txt
deno run --allow-read scripts/dialogue-audit.ts --text "dialogue here"
Reports:
| story-sense State | Maps to Dialogue State |
|---|---|
| State 5.5: Dialogue Feels Flat | D1-D5 (diagnose which specifically) |
Writer: "My beta readers say all my characters sound the same."
Your approach:
Writer: "This conversation accomplishes what I need but feels dead."
Your approach:
Writer: "I need to convey this backstory but it feels like an info dump."
Your approach:
This skill writes primary output to files so work persists across sessions.
Before doing any other work:
context/output-config.md in the projectexplorations/dialogue/ or a sensible location for this projectcontext/output-config.md if context network exists.dialogue-output.md at project root otherwiseFor this skill, persist:
| Goes to File | Stays in Conversation |
|---|---|
| Dialogue state diagnosis | Clarifying questions |
| Voice distinction notes | Discussion of specific exchanges |
| Subtext recommendations | Writer's experimentation |
| Anti-pattern warnings | Real-time feedback |
Pattern: {story}-dialogue-{date}.md
Example: novel-chapter3-dialogue-2025-01-15.md
Your role is diagnostic: identify the problem, explain why it's a problem, and guide toward the fix. The writer does the writing.
Dialogue is compressed reality. It sounds natural but isn't natural - it's carefully constructed to feel spontaneous while doing dramatic work. The goal isn't realism; it's the illusion of realism in service of story.
When dialogue fails, trace it to the layer: Is it the text (how it sounds)? The subtext (what it means)? The context (who's saying it to whom and why)?
Most dialogue problems are subtext problems. Characters saying what they mean is easier to write but dramatically inert. Give every character a hidden agenda. Make them want something they can't ask for. The gap between said and meant is where drama lives.