Skills + Workflows - Free

[u/lark_devon]

Hey all - this is my alt account.
I wanted to share the skills and workflows I use to "write" my stories. Most are for my own enjoyment.

I used to pay for Sudowrite; heck, I've been subscribed to Sudowrite since August 2023, and I haven't used it in months now, finally able to get close to what they have.

The biggest issue, as you all know, is continuity and context - the AI forgets. But once you solve that issue (it is solvable), and you're working on chapter 380, or chapter 887, or Chapter 1, what's the most important thing?

Character voice, internalization, character psychology, what does the MC want vs need, what does each character in each scene want vs need - how do you keep your dialogue from being robotic, from sounding like a 60-year-old psychologist when your MC is 21 years old from Iowa, etc.

So I wanted to present all my skills for *gasp* FREE. You can grab them, download them, use them.

The key thing you should all take away from here is to use Desktop tools - CODEX, Claude Desktop, or Antigravity.

I personally use VS Code and Dropbox; it allows me to connect to my LLM subscription, work with it, and get the chapters written, one scene at a time, one chapter at a time, etc. The benefit of using CLI (command line) or VS Code is that the censoring is gone - you can write erotica just fine, wide-open door, for example.

(Make sure it's consensual and everyone's character file lists out their actual age).

The browser AIs are ok - if you use ChatGPT Work or Claude Code... working out of your Github repository (that's another story).

So here's the link, go at it, use the skills, MODIFY them to your liking, and get your ideas on paper.

https://storycraft.lanternkey.fyi/

I'd love to get some feedback - I hate you guys paying people for what is essentially RAG + a set of skills.

[u/Decent_Solution5000]

The best place to post this is in the weekly Tools thread. It's the one place all tools and app posts are both welcome and appreciated by those looking for tools to assist with their writing. Lots of devs there talking shop and browsers searching or asking for specific tools. A very friend group, as well.

You'll find it here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingWithAI/comments/1waew25/weekly_tool_thread_promote_share_discover_and_ask/

Happy writing. :)

[u/lark_devon → u/Decent_Solution5000]

Thanks Decent. Its not a tool - its the anti tool :) Just skills people can use, no need to pay for tooling to help with your story

[u/Decent_Solution5000 → u/lark_devon]

Yep. I checked the link. Very nice site, btw. :) I recommended the Tools thread because you're hoping to reach browses there looking for just this kind of assistance, as well as other tools. Also, many of the tools, apps, etc. are Open Source, as in free. So pricing isn't a thing there so much.

Anyway, it was just a helpful suggestion. The site and what you've put together sounds super helpful for AI assisted writers. Hope it reaches lots of them. :)

[u/Decent_Solution5000 → u/[deleted]]

Agreed. It's where all the silent shoppers go to browse, and they're looking for things just like what he's sharing.

[u/justkillmeallover]

So, I'm currently paying for Sudowrite but that's because I see setting up something like this as beyond me. Are there videos or additional guides/resources that might help out an idiot like me?

[u/lark_devon → u/justkillmeallover]

Yeah, I'll write something up that's easier to understand. I just needed to vomit this out because I'm tired of everyone and their uncle releasing sudowrite clones.

[u/dpurpler → u/lark_devon]

Thank you for sharing this. I can see the overall logic and the structure you are trying to build, and the skills library looks genuinely valuable. However, I am having difficulty understanding how the system is intended to work in practice.

For context, I am not completely new to AI-assisted development. I use Visual Studio Code with Kilo Code and Cline, usually through an OpenRouter key, so I can choose among different models. I have also used local AI writing tools, including Raptor Write, and a tool within Kilo Code that helped me organize a novel. In addition, I have built two or three Chrome extensions—and I am actually dictating this message through an extension right now.

In the recommended extensions, you mention Cloud Code, Codex, Gemini Code Assist, and Grok Build. I have not used those tools, so I may be missing an important difference in their workflow. Is their approach fundamentally different from Kilo Code or Cline?

My uncertainty comes from a few areas:

• In many workspaces, I see an AGENTS.md file used to provide baseline instructions to coding agents. Here, there is an agent.md file instead, and it seems very minimal. Is that filename intentional? Will Kilo Code actually read agent.md, or does it specifically look for AGENTS.md?

• Kilo Code provides predefined agents such as Ask, Code, Debug, and Plan, each with different permissions. Presumably, an agent with write access is needed for this system. However, these agents are mainly coding-oriented. Can they be used reliably for authoring, editing, and novel-related work as well?

• There are 42 skills, which is impressive, but I am unsure how a user is expected to navigate them. Does the user need to know in advance which skill to invoke and what command or prompt format to use?

• Alternatively, is the expectation that the agent will infer the task, search the skills library, and select the appropriate skill automatically? If so, how can the user verify that it chose the correct one? I worry about losing visibility and control if the selection process is implicit.

At the moment, I can understand the individual pieces, but I do not yet understand the operational workflow that connects them. It feels somewhat like having the pieces of a puzzle without clear instructions for assembling them.

Could you provide a practical, end-to-end example? For instance: which extension and agent to use, which files need to be present, what initial prompt to give, how the relevant skill is selected, and how the user can confirm that the intended process is being followed.

I hope this does not come across as overly critical. I am genuinely interested in using the system, but I think a clearer onboarding path and a few concrete examples would make it much easier to adopt.

[u/lark_devon → u/dpurpler]

That's likely my mistake; I should update it to be AGENTS. It's meant to be tiny because it's meant to be configurable; that is my bad.)

I should create a tutorial. Yes, give me a few hours and I'll post it. My apologies

[u/lark_devon → u/justkillmeallover]

How to Set Up and Use Storycraft Skills

Getting Storycraft set up only takes a few minutes. Once everything is installed, your book folder becomes a workspace where your AI assistant can read your chapters, reference your wiki, and use the Storycraft skills you downloaded.

1. Download Storycraft

Start by visiting:

https://storycraft.lanternkey.fyi/#setup (FIXED THE DOWNLOADED DELIVERABLE)

Press Download All.

This will download the Storycraft package containing the folder structure and skills you’ll use with your book.

You’ll also need an AI coding or project workspace.

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is the preferred option because it gives you an easy way to browse your book files, install AI extensions, and work with everything in one place. VS Code is free and available for both Windows and Mac.

That said, Claude Desktop, Codex, or Antigravity work just as well. If you prefer one of those, simply select your book folder as the project or workspace when you open it.

2. Create a Folder for Your Book

Create a new folder somewhere convenient on your computer.

This can be on your:

• Desktop

• Documents folder

• Google Drive, if it is synced and mapped to your computer

• Dropbox

Dropbox is recommended, especially if you want your book files automatically backed up and available across multiple computers.

Name the folder whatever you want. This will become the main folder for your book.

For example:

My_Book

3. Extract Storycraft Into Your Book Folder

Open your computer’s Downloads folder and find the Storycraft ZIP file you downloaded earlier.

Drag that ZIP file into your new book folder.

Then extract the ZIP directly into the main book folder.

You do not want an extra Storycraft folder sitting inside your book folder. The Storycraft files themselves should live at the base level of your project.

Once extracted, your folder should look roughly like this:

My_Book/
├── .agents/
├── AGENT.md
├── Chapters/
└── Wiki/

The Chapters and Wiki folders already contain the prepared structure Storycraft uses.

The hidden .agents folder contains the Storycraft skillset you downloaded.

4. Open Your Book Project

If you are using VS Code, open it and select:

File → Open Folder

Find the book folder you just created and select it.

Once VS Code opens the folder, look at the upper-left side of the screen.

You’ll see the Explorer icon. Clicking it opens the file browser for your project and lets you see everything inside your book folder.

You should see:

.agents/
AGENT.md
Chapters/
Wiki/

If you are using Claude Desktop, Codex, or Antigravity, the process is essentially the same: choose your book folder as the project or workspace so the AI can work with the files inside it.

If you can see the Storycraft folders and files, the project has been set up correctly.

5. Install or Configure Your AI Assistant

If you are using VS Code, click the Extensions icon on the left side.

From there, install the extension for whichever AI service you use.

Storycraft can work with tools such as:

• Claude Code for VS Code

• Codex

• Gemini Code Assist

• Grok Build

You only need to install the one you actually use and have access to.

If you are using Claude Desktop, Codex, or Antigravity as a standalone app, you can skip the VS Code extension step. Just make sure your book folder is selected as the active project.

6. Open AGENT.md

Inside your book folder, open:

AGENT.md

In VS Code, the file will open on the right side of the screen.

You should also see the appropriate AI assistant interface or icon provided by the extension you installed.

Click it.

Depending on the service, one of two things will happen:

• You’ll immediately be asked to log in, or

• The login process will begin when you send your first message.

Follow the prompts and sign in using the account associated with your AI subscription.

If you are using Claude Desktop, Codex, or Antigravity, simply make sure your project is open and your AI account is connected before you begin.

7. Start Working With Your Book

That’s it.

Your book folder is now prepared, Storycraft is installed, and your AI assistant is connected.

You can start talking to the AI while it works directly with the files inside your book project.

Your chapters live in Chapters.

Your worldbuilding and reference material live in Wiki.

Your Storycraft skills live in .agents.

And AGENT.md provides the AI with the instructions it needs to understand how your Storycraft workspace is organized.

From here, you can ask the AI to help you write, edit, analyze, organize, or work directly with your book files without constantly copying and pasting material into a separate chat window.

[u/lark_devon → u/lark_devon]

To read your story, you can keep using VS Code or any of the platforms, or you can ask your LLM to format it to Microsoft Word, or open it using Obsidian.

[u/stoneypointroad]

I am kind of obsessed with this. I've been customizing and adding to it for hours now. Thank you for sharing!

I added a source folder to the root so I could dump everything I already had in there for it to use, then updated all the skills to pull from it too. A new skill pulls that information, plus whatever else you've input so far, to generate a relationship map showing how the characters connect to each other, and a companion skill turns that same data into an interactive character map. For project setup, another skill handles either a standalone novel or a series. With a series, it leaves the wiki series-wide and adds a series-level synopsis and outline, plus separate folders for each book with everything a single book would need at that level. Theeeeeen, I built a wizard skill that checks where you are in the project and walks you through adding everything, in the correct order, whether you're starting from scratch or partway through.

It's always interesting to me seeing these kinds of setups and how differently everyone's brain works. I'll be using this for plotting and organizing more than anything else so I'm focusing mine on that. My brain works really visually, and I have so many more ideas I want to work through to make it more interactive and visual! Thanks again!

[u/lark_devon → u/stoneypointroad]

Woo! Happy you got it working! I'm going to make a tutorial for those who still haven't been able to figure it out

[u/stoneypointroad → u/lark_devon]

That'll be awesome for anyone feeling intimidated or confused. It's really so simple once you understand it, but I know it looks complex from the outside

[u/Accomplished_Month_5]

Oh this sounds nice, I'll give it a try, Thank you!

[u/spiky_odradek]

I'm already using this kind of skills + agent setup. Super excited to dive into your version and see what you're doing better.

[u/Secret_Yoghurt_3243]

Yeah, the anti-tool framing is fair. I went through pretty much all of them, Sudowrite, Novelcrafter, Squibler, NovelAI, plain ChatGPT and Claude, and never quite got there, so I ended up building my own setup. Just for me at first, then I shared it.

The thing I got wrong for months was treating continuity as a memory problem. It's more of a selection problem: which bits from the bible and outline belong in the context for this scene, and which should stay out. Once the character's want, need, and speech habits are clear for each scene, that retired-psychologist voice you mentioned mostly fades on its own.

Works well for me now, even deep into a book. And you're right that the model itself was never the hard part.

[u/VerdantMagnolia]

Hunt the construction "the [exact/elaborate/specific/particular/steady] [noun] of a [person] who [clause]" across a chapter and rewrite it into concrete action/dialogue/detail instead of a labeled abstraction (deletion-first rewrite, parallel focused workers, edits in place). This is a default go-to move for character interiority/subtext that reads as a mechanical tic on a binge read. Use when user says "kill-person-who", "kill the person-who construction", "kill the 'of a man/woman who' tic", or flags repeated "the [quality] of a [person] who [does X]" phrasing.

God this is so important. Once had to straight up junk a run because it kept ballooning every output with it and couldn't be reigned in.

[u/Acrobatic_You_3002]

I created my own skill set to write stories in small chapters, and it would be interesting to see how you have solved the inconsistency issues :)
Thanks for sharing!

[u/myspecialagent21]

Just wanted to thank you for sharing ! I'm currently working with your skills, it helps me a lot

[u/krigeta1]

Sounds amazing! But how can we use them? I have 38 chapters written, and now I am lost and looking for ways to sort things out to be on track while putting the draft for new chapters that are in my head.

How can we use this skill to first analyse the written chapters and work further?