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Story Sense

  • 548 installs
  • 133 repo stars
  • Updated February 24, 2026
  • jwynia/agent-skills

story-sense is a Claude Code skill that adds narrative coherence, emotional stakes, and character-driven momentum to product specs, marketing copy, and agent prompts for developers who need clearer stakeholder-facing wri

About

story-sense is a narrative craft skill from jwynia/agent-skills with 490 installs and rank 23 on skills.sh. It helps developers and coding agents inject story structure into product specifications, marketing copy, and system prompts so documents read with coherent arcs, meaningful stakes, and momentum instead of flat feature lists. Reach for story-sense when PRDs, landing page copy, or agent instructions feel technically correct but fail to persuade, orient, or sustain attention. The skill complements technical authoring by focusing on emotional through-lines and character motivation rather than code structure or API design.

  • Detects flat narrative arcs and suggests concrete story upgrades
  • Aligns product features to hero’s journey or three-act structures
  • Works on specs, landing pages, email sequences, and agent instructions
  • Returns structured feedback with before/after examples
  • Reduces generic AI output by enforcing story logic

Story Sense by the numbers

  • 548 all-time installs (skills.sh)
  • +10 installs in the week ending Aug 2, 2026 (Skillselion tracking)
  • Ranked #721 of 3,282 Productivity & Planning skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
  • Data as of Aug 5, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
npx skills add https://github.com/jwynia/agent-skills --skill story-sense

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Listed on Skillselion
Installs548
repo stars133
Last updatedFebruary 24, 2026
Repositoryjwynia/agent-skills

How do you add narrative stakes to product specs?

Inject narrative coherence, emotional stakes, and character-driven momentum into product specs, marketing copy, and agent prompts.

Who is it for?

Developers and technical writers polishing PRDs, landing copy, or agent prompts that need persuasive narrative structure beyond bullet lists.

Skip if: Low-level API documentation, code refactoring tasks, or teams requiring strictly neutral regulatory prose without narrative framing.

When should I use this skill?

User asks to improve narrative flow in specs, add emotional stakes to copy, or make agent prompts more compelling and coherent.

What you get

Story-structured PRDs, marketing copy, and agent prompts with coherent arcs and emotional through-lines.

  • story-structured PRDs
  • revised marketing copy
  • coherent agent prompts

By the numbers

  • 490 installs on skills.sh
  • Rank 23 in jwynia/agent-skills catalog

Files

SKILL.mdMarkdownGitHub ↗

Story Sense: Diagnostic Skill

Identify what state a story is in and what it needs to move forward. This is not a linear process but a diagnostic model: Assess → Diagnose → Intervene → Reassess.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:

  • Writer is stuck and doesn't know why
  • Story feels broken but root cause unclear
  • Need to evaluate story problems systematically
  • Someone asks "what's wrong with my story?"

Do NOT use this skill when:

  • Writer wants you to write the story (use story-collaborator)
  • Writer wants coaching questions only (use story-coach)
  • Publishing/marketing questions (use book-marketing)

Core Principle

Story Sense is the ability to know what any story needs, regardless of its current state or intended medium.

There's no such thing as "stuck." There's only:

  • Not yet having diagnosed the problem
  • Not yet applying the right intervention

The Story States

State 0: No Story (Blank Page)

Symptoms: Nothing exists yet Interventions: story-idea-generator, elemental genres

State 1: Concept Without Foundation

Symptoms: Have idea but world/characters/plot feel thin Interventions: cliche-transcendence, systemic-worldbuilding, key-moments

State 2: World Without Life

Symptoms: Setting exists but feels like backdrop Interventions: worldbuilding skill suite (belief-systems, economic-systems, governance-systems)

State 3: Flat Non-Humans

Symptoms: Aliens/fantasy species feel like humans in costume Interventions: conlang, species development frameworks

State 4: Characters Without Dimension

Symptoms: Characters serve plot rather than driving it Interventions: character-arc, underdog-unit, positional-revelation

State 4.5: Plot Without Pacing

Symptoms: Scenes work individually but don't accumulate Interventions: scene-sequencing

State 5: Plot Without Purpose

Symptoms: Events happen but don't accumulate meaning Interventions: moral-parallax, key-moments

State 5.5: Dialogue Feels Flat

Symptoms: Characters sound alike, conversations lifeless Interventions: dialogue

State 5.75: Ending Doesn't Land

Symptoms: Story builds well but resolution disappoints Interventions: endings

State 5.85: Draft Not Progressing

Symptoms: Planning done but draft isn't happening Interventions: drafting

State 5.9: Prose Feels Flat

Symptoms: Story works but sentences are functional not memorable Interventions: prose-style

State 6: Draft Complete, Needs Revision

Symptoms: Draft exists but revision feels overwhelming Interventions: revision

State 7: Ready for Evaluation

Symptoms: Story exists but quality uncertain Interventions: sensitivity-check, story-analysis

Decision Tree

Is there anything on the page?
├── NO → story-idea-generator
└── YES → What's the problem?
    ├── Feels generic → cliche-transcendence
    ├── World feels thin → worldbuilding
    ├── Non-humans feel fake → conlang
    ├── Characters flat → character-arc
    ├── Pacing off → scene-sequencing
    ├── Dialogue wooden → dialogue
    ├── Ending weak → endings
    ├── Meaning unclear → moral-parallax
    ├── Draft not progressing → drafting
    ├── Prose flat → prose-style
    └── Draft needs revision → revision

Diagnostic Process

1. Listen for symptoms - What are they describing as the problem? 2. Ask clarifying questions - Get specific about where they're stuck 3. Identify the state - Match symptoms to state list 4. Name the diagnosis - Explain what you're seeing 5. Recommend intervention - Point to specific skill 6. Offer next steps - What should they try first?

Available Scripts

entropy.ts

Injects creative randomness from curated lists.

deno run --allow-read scripts/entropy.ts lies
deno run --allow-read scripts/entropy.ts disasters --count 3
deno run --allow-read scripts/entropy.ts --combo

Lists: lies, ghosts, disasters, dilemmas, professions, locations, collisions, openings

functions.ts

Generates characters from abstract story functions.

deno run --allow-read scripts/functions.ts
deno run --allow-read scripts/functions.ts --setting scifi
deno run --allow-read scripts/functions.ts healer --setting fantasy

Functions: healer, enforcer, keeper_of_secrets, maker, trader, guide, entertainer, death_worker, transgressor

Anti-Patterns

Prescribing Instead of Diagnosing

Fix: Always ask clarifying questions before diagnosing.

Framework Overload

Fix: Recommend one intervention. Expand after reassessment.

Ignoring Writer's Energy

Fix: Balance diagnostic accuracy with what energizes the writer.

Treating Structure as Story

Fix: Keep asking "Does this feel right?" alongside structural diagnosis.

Related Skills

Routes to all fiction skills based on diagnosed state.

Related skills

How it compares

Use story-sense for narrative polish on specs and copy rather than structural PRD templates or API reference documentation skills.

FAQ

What artifacts does story-sense improve?

story-sense targets product specifications, marketing copy, and agent prompts, adding narrative coherence, emotional stakes, and momentum. It helps stakeholder-facing writing persuade beyond flat feature enumerations.

How popular is story-sense on skills.sh?

story-sense lists 490 installs and rank 23 on skills.sh from jwynia/agent-skills, reflecting use for narrative refinement of technical documents and prompts.

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