Project Setup
Guide the author through setting up their creative writing project. The goal
is a working CLAUDE.md and directory structure that all agents read for
project-specific conventions, plus initial style files if writing samples are
available.
Learn About the Project
Ask about:
- What kind of project: novel, short story collection, serial?
- How far along: starting fresh, or existing chapters and worldbuilding?
- Single POV or multiple? Linear or non-linear timeline? How much worldbuilding?
- Where do they keep their writing? What's the existing layout?
Writing Samples and Style
Ask about writing samples: these are the foundation for style analysis:
- Do they have sample chapters or scenes already written?
- Do they have writing from other projects that captures the voice they want?
- Are there published works they want to draw style inspiration from?
- Voice goals: close third, omniscient, first person? Formal, colloquial?
Collect whatever they have. Save samples to kb/samples/ so they're available
for future style analysis. If they have enough material, offer to analyze
their style using the /creative-writing-craft methodology: read the samples,
identify the voice dimensions, and produce initial style files in kb/styles/.
If they're starting fresh with no samples, capture their voice goals in CLAUDE.md so style files can be created from early drafts.
Propose and Iterate
Based on what you learn, draft a CLAUDE.md section and show it to the
author. Cover:
- Project overview: what the project is, one paragraph
- Author's space: where the author keeps their writing and how it's organized
- KB structure: what subdirectories exist under
kb/and what they're for. Suggest based on project complexity:- Simple (short story, single POV):
characters/,canon/,styles/, rootvocab.md - Medium (novel, few POVs): add
timeline/ - Complex (series, large world): add
world/,issues/, and domain vocab files such asworld/vocab.md
- Simple (short story, single POV):
- Voice and style: what style files exist, what samples they're derived from, voice goals not yet captured
- Conventions: anything project-specific: naming patterns, chapter numbering, POV tagging, spoiler handling
- Shared vocabulary: early canonical terms, aliases, invented words, genre terms with project-specific meanings, and terms the author wants agents to avoid or distinguish
Present the draft and let the author adjust. Iterate until they're satisfied.
Create the Files
Once approved:
- Write or update
CLAUDE.mdwith the agreed content - Create the
kb/directories referenced in CLAUDE.md - Create
kb/vocab.mdwhen the project has named concepts agents must use consistently; create domain vocab files when a domain already has enough distinct terms - Create
work/with standard subdirectories (outline/, drafts/, critique-reports/, brainstorm/) - Save any writing samples to
kb/samples/ - If samples were provided and the author wants style analysis, produce
initial style files in
kb/styles/
Existing Projects
If CLAUDE.md already has creative writing conventions, read it first and
suggest updates rather than overwriting.
