Generate story concepts using a genre-first approach. Use when starting a new project, when brainstorming ideas, when a concept needs strengthening, or when you want to ensure emotional impact drives the story.
npx claudepluginhub joshuarweaver/cascade-content-creation-misc-1 --plugin jwynia-agent-skills-1This skill uses the workspace's default tool permissions.
You generate and evaluate story concepts using a genre-first approach where desired emotional impact drives all decisions about setting, characters, and plot.
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You generate and evaluate story concepts using a genre-first approach where desired emotional impact drives all decisions about setting, characters, and plot.
Emotional experience first. Setting serves genre, not the reverse.
A "sci-fi story" is not a genre—it's a setting. The genre is what readers feel: wonder, horror, mystery, drama. Start with the emotional experience you want to create, then choose setting elements that enhance it.
This skill uses a modular framework:
| Module | Purpose | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Core: Elemental Genres | Defines 11 genres by emotional impact | This skill |
| Setting: Science Fiction | Sci-fi elements serving each genre | Story Idea Generator - Sci Fi Module.md |
| Setting: Urban Fantasy | Urban fantasy elements by genre | Story Idea Generator - Urban Fantasy Module.md |
| Setting: Epic Fantasy | Secondary-world fantasy by genre | Story Idea Generator - Epic Fantasy Module.md |
| Setting: Historical Fiction | Historical elements by genre | Story Idea Generator - Historic Fiction Module.md |
| Implementation Guide | Process and examples | Story Idea Generator - Implementation Guide.md |
Each genre is defined by the emotional experience it creates:
| Genre | Core Experience | Reader Feels |
|---|---|---|
| Wonder | Awe and fascination with the unfamiliar | "I had no idea that was possible" |
| Idea | Intellectual stimulation, "what if" exploration | "I never thought about it that way" |
| Adventure | Excitement through physical challenges | "What happens next?" (external) |
| Horror | Dread, fear, confrontation with threat | "I'm afraid to look but can't stop" |
| Mystery | Curiosity about unknown facts | "I want to figure it out" |
| Thriller | Tension through immediate danger | "Will they make it in time?" |
| Humor | Amusement, entertainment, delight | "That was unexpected and delightful" |
| Relationship | Investment in interpersonal connections | "I want them to work it out" |
| Drama | Internal conflict, transformation | "What happens next?" (internal) |
| Issue | Exploration of complex questions | "I see this differently now" |
| Ensemble | Group dynamics, combined effort | "How will they come together?" |
Identify Primary Genre
Review Genre Requirements
Consider Secondary Genre
Select Setting Type
Customize Setting Elements
Adapt to Genre Needs
Create Primary Characters
Establish Relationships
Define Internal Conflicts
Craft High Concept
Expand Story Elements
Review Genre Alignment
Score Concept (1-5 scale)
Address Weaknesses
Preserve Vision
| Primary | Strong Secondary | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Horror | Mystery | Dread + investigation creates layered tension |
| Adventure | Wonder | Excitement + awe creates epic scope |
| Thriller | Drama | External pressure + internal transformation |
| Romance | Drama | Connection + personal growth |
| Mystery | Thriller | Investigation + urgency |
| Idea | Drama | Concept exploration + personal stakes |
| Combination | Problem | Solution |
|---|---|---|
| Horror + Humor | Tone clash | Commit to one; other appears briefly |
| Thriller + Relationship | Pace conflict | Time-box relationship moments |
| Idea + Adventure | Pacing mismatch | Ideas emerge during action |
| Issue + Humor | Undermining | Humor must never mock the issue |
Secondary genre gets at most 30% of story focus. It enhances primary experience, doesn't compete with it.
Wrong: "I want to write a fantasy story." Right: "I want to write a Wonder story set in a fantasy world."
Fantasy is where it happens. Wonder is what readers feel.
Problem: Horror story with extensive humor subplot breaks dread. Fix: Secondary must serve primary. If it undermines, cut it.
Problem: Hitting all requirements mechanically, missing the spirit. Fix: Requirements exist to create emotional experience. Evaluate by feeling, not checkbox.
Problem: Characters who wouldn't be affected by genre events. Fix: Design characters specifically vulnerable to or positioned for this genre.
When helping develop story ideas:
Ask: "What do you want readers to feel?"
If they answer with setting ("space opera"), push for genre: "But what emotion? Wonder at scale? Thriller tension? Adventure excitement?"
Once genre is clear, check:
Apply the 5-point evaluation:
Focus on lowest-scoring elements first.
| story-sense State | Use Story Idea Generator |
|---|---|
| State 0: No Story Yet | Start here—generate concepts |
| State 1: Concept Without Foundation | Strengthen using genre requirements |
Writer: "I want to write a sci-fi novel."
Your approach:
Writer: "I have this idea about a detective in a fantasy world, but it feels weak."
Your approach:
Writer: "My horror story keeps becoming a romance and I lose the dread."
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/story-ideas/ or a sensible location for this projectcontext/output-config.md if context network exists.story-idea-generator-output.md at project root otherwiseFor this skill, persist:
| Goes to File | Stays in Conversation |
|---|---|
| Genre decisions | Discussion of preferences |
| Generated story concepts | Iteration on ideas |
| Character/setting sketches | Real-time feedback |
| Pitch statements | Exploration of options |
Pattern: {concept-name}-{date}.md
Example: heist-noir-idea-2025-01-15.md
Your role is generative: help them identify what emotional experience they want to create, then shape all elements to deliver it.
Genre is not a label applied after writing. It's the foundation that shapes everything. When you know the emotional experience you're creating, every decision becomes clearer:
Start with what readers should feel. Everything else follows from that.
Pattern: "I want to write a fantasy story" or "I want to write sci-fi" without identifying the emotional experience. Why it fails: Setting is where it happens; genre is what readers feel. A "fantasy story" could be wonder, horror, mystery, thriller, or drama. Without the emotional core, all decisions become arbitrary. Fix: Push past the setting label: "What do you want readers to feel?" Once the emotion is clear, setting elements become tools to deliver that experience.
Pattern: The secondary genre begins dominating the story—the horror novel becomes primarily a romance, the thriller becomes mostly an ideas story. Why it fails: Readers came for the primary genre's emotional experience. When secondary takes over, they feel bait-and-switched. The story loses its emotional coherence. Fix: Secondary gets at most 30% of focus. If secondary is taking over, either commit to it as primary or ruthlessly prune it back. Time-box secondary genre moments.
Pattern: Hitting all genre requirements mechanically without feeling the emotional experience. Why it fails: Requirements exist to create emotional impact, not as boxes to check. A mystery with clues, suspects, and reveals but no curiosity has followed the form without the function. Fix: Evaluate by feeling, not checkbox. Read your scenes and ask: "Does this make me feel [the genre emotion]?" If not, the elements aren't working regardless of technical presence.
Pattern: Characters who wouldn't be affected by the genre's events—the horror story protagonist who isn't really scared, the mystery detective who doesn't care about truth. Why it fails: Readers experience genre through characters. If characters don't feel the emotion, neither do readers. Flat character response flattens genre impact. Fix: Design characters specifically vulnerable to or positioned for this genre. The horror protagonist must have something to fear. The mystery character must need to know.
Pattern: A clever "what if" or setting hook without the genre infrastructure to deliver emotional experience. Why it fails: Concepts are starting points, not stories. "What if dragons ran Wall Street" is interesting but tells us nothing about what readers will feel. Without genre foundation, concepts remain exercises. Fix: After the concept, immediately ask: what emotion? Then build the genre requirements that will deliver that emotion through this concept.
| Skill | What it provides |
|---|---|
| brainstorming | Raw idea generation before genre filtering |
| research | Domain knowledge for setting specifics |
| Skill | What this provides |
|---|---|
| cliche-transcendence | Genre-aligned concepts ready for originality checking |
| character-arc | Characters positioned for genre-specific transformation |
| worldbuilding | Settings designed to serve genre requirements |
| outline-collaborator | Genre-first concepts ready for structural development |
| Skill | Relationship |
|---|---|
| genre-conventions | Story-idea-generator selects genre; genre-conventions provides detailed requirements for each |
| story-sense | Story-idea-generator creates State 1 concepts; story-sense diagnoses what's missing |