This skill contains no new screenwriting knowledge; it does only two things:Ordering(which skill to call at which stage, what to hand over, what counts as passing) andState storage(writing each stage's conclusions into story-bible.md, so the next session can pick up from there). All methods live in the other sw-* skills; this skill is only responsible for calling them out at the right moment.
The design basis comes from a controlled experiment: for the same topic, filling in worksheets first and then writing according to the process, compared with writing directly without the process, produced completely different results in length, protagonist agency, antagonist strength, and subtext; the difference is not in knowledge, but in "the forms that must be filled in before writing, and the checklist that must be passed after writing." This skill is the orchestrator of that form and that checklist.
The story-bible template and the worksheets for each stage are in reference.md; for the terminology anchoring table when outputting across languages, see terms.md。
I. Session Protocol (executed at every start and end)
Start
- In the current directory (or the screenplay directory specified by the user), look for
story-bible.md。 - Found: read only the three sections "Current Stage," "Established Decisions," and "Decision Log," and restate them to the user in three sentences: what the project is, how far it has progressed, and what was decided last time. Then go directly into the current stage, and do not re-discuss established decisions unless the user actively overturns them.
- One-off delivery does not build a bible: the user wants a document to be delivered on the spot (development plan, proposal, one-page synopsis, episode outline), and it is obvious that there will be no next session to continue it — in this case, building a bible is a net cost; just run through the stage table in the same session. What the bible solves islosing context across sessions, not "the process must have a form."
- Not found and it is an ongoing project: determine the entry path (see Section III), create a new
story-bible.mdaccording to the reference.md template, fill in only "Project Information" and "Current Stage," and leave the rest blank. Do not ask the user more than four questions at once; fill in first whatever can be inferred from the user's words, marked "(to be confirmed)."
In progress
- Each time a stage's deliverable is completed, immediately write it into the corresponding section of the story-bible, and advance "Current Stage" by one notch.
- Any action that changes an established decision (changing the premise, changing the ending, deleting a character) adds a line to the "Decision Log": date, what was changed, and why.
- Keep the story-bible at a length that can be read in one sitting (about 25K tokens, within 15,000 Chinese characters). Write only conclusions in the artifacts, not the reasoning process; put outlines, treatment scripts, and screenplay text in separate files, and record only the file names and a one-sentence status in the bible.
End
- Before the session ends, confirm that the story-bible has been updated to the latest, and write "Next step:" in one sentence on the last line.
II. Stage Map
| # | Stage | Skill called | Deliverable (section written into the story-bible) | Suggested passing criteria |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Startup / Continuation | This skill | Project information, entry path, current stage | Know what genre to do, how long, and for whom |
| 1 | Material selection and premise | sw-premise-theme |
Flash of inspiration and "why care", the one-sentence theme, the hypothetical question,premise(character trait + leads to + outcome),controlling idea(value + cause), the third rail (desire vs. false belief), the dramatic core, the one-sentence story, logline | There is only one premise; it can be explained to a stranger in one sentence; if the dramatic core is removed the story does not hold up; the theme words are settled |
| 2 | Structure | sw-story-structure |
Ending, opening, plot points I/II, nature of the midpoint (false victory/false defeat), BS2 page table, act proportions, relationship between subplot and controlling idea | All four things (ending/opening/two plot points) are known; setup ≤ 25 pages; the midpoint and "lose everything" are opposites of each other; the last act is the shortest |
| 3 | Characters and conflict | sw-character-conflict |
Three-dimensional table of main characters, specific categories, attitude toward the theme, the binding object of unity of opposites, the opponent's knife, the ladder of growth, the original scene | The protagonist is the most multi-dimensional; the sum of the opponents is stronger than the protagonist; no two people are the same type; there is a side of "the strongest opponent is oneself"; no auspicious clouds |
| 4 | Scene list / treatment script | sw-scene-craft ＋ sw-format-adaptation |
Step outline (one or two sentences per scene + value turn + structural position), 40-card storyboard (+/-, ><), props and image system, treatment script (optional) | Every scene has a value turn; the third act has more than two cards; adjacent scenes have transitional elements; no pure exposition scenes |
| 5 | First draft | sw-dialogue ＋ sw-format-adaptation(format and output contract) + reference-type skill |
Script file (Hollywood-style delivery .fountain, Chinese scene-number system or Japanese-style delivery plain text, see sw-format-adaptation II-2), page count, daily progress |
Page count within ±15% of target; all hard format rules pass; dialogue is recognizable with names covered |
| 6 | Revision | The "diagnostic checklist" of each skill | Revision target list, item-by-item completion record, draft number | Structure diagnostic 13 questions, character diagnostic 14 questions, dialogue diagnostic 14 questions, scene diagnostic 13 questions, format diagnostic (A general 12 questions + the group for the adopted style) have all been run through once |
| 7 | Submission / industry | sw-industry-business |
Logline and one-page synopsis, pitch draft, target buyers/competitions, attribution and registration | The seven elements of PROBLEM pass self-check; the one sentence has passed the stranger test |
When reference-type skills come in：
sw-american-case-studies: In stages 1–2, find same-genre film lists and clichés; in stage 6, compare with same-genre climaxes.chekhov-dramaturgy、ozu-screenplay-style: When writing anti-climax, multiple protagonists, family subject matter, or "event off-screen, reaction on-screen", use it as a model for structure and tone starting from stage 2.- The four xiqu skills (
sw-chinese-opera-banqiang、sw-chinese-opera-qupaiand two-cases): When the project is xiqu, do not follow this section's feature-film stage table; instead follow the X table or Q table in III-3; the medium boundary table at the beginning of the two method skills determines which layers of the general skill can be used. sw-japanese-screenwriting、sw-korean-french-screenwriting: Alternative paths such as fragment-first, theme-last, genre promise, and collective creation; when the user explicitly does not follow classic three-act design, introduce it in stage 1.sw-truby-anatomy(Organic Story Anatomy): The page map and the organic skeleton are placed side by side — after the BS2 board for Stage 2 is finalized, do the organic check (the seven major steps checked in reverse + the 22-step mid-section components); in Stage 3, the character table is paired with the four-corner opposition worksheet; in Stage 4, the structural position column of the step outline can be marked with the 22-step names + line numbers; in Stage 6, the mid-section loose run uses its ten diagnostic questions. Chekhov/Ozu-style anti-climax, multi-protagonist projects, and series projects do not use its central confrontation component.sw-genre-anatomy(Genre Anatomy): In Stage 0, determine the primary genre and secondary genre; in Stage 1, the controlling idea is checked against that genre's philosophy of life; after the structure is finalized in Stage 2, run that genre's beat sheet and do the hybrid genre worksheet; in Stage 3, the character table is checked against that genre's protagonist/antagonist templates; in Stage 6, run the 12 genre diagnostic questions. For series, take only the four series conclusions it specifies; opera and anti-climax projects do not apply the beat sheet.- Series-type skill (
sw-series-structure、sw-series-engine-bible、sw-writers-room、sw-sitcom-comedy、sw-chinese-series-practice、succession-series-writing、sw-series-case-studies): enter only when the entry path is judged to be a series, and follow the series stage table in Section 3.2.
Stages can go backward: if in Stage 5 you find you cannot write the dialogue, it is usually because there is a hole in the Stage 3 characters or the Stage 1 premise; go back and fill it, then make a note in the decision log.
III. Entry Path
| User situation | Which stage to start from | Special handling |
|---|---|---|
| Writing a feature / multi-act play from scratch | Go through all of 0 → 1 → … → 7 | Standard path |
| Already have a first draft and want to revise it | First do Stages 1–3reverse filling(extract the premise, structure, and characters from the draft and fill them into the bible), then proceed to Stage 6 | When filling in the table, mark items not present in the draft as "missing"; these missing items are the revision checklist |
| Adapting a novel / stage play / true event | 0 → sw-format-adaptation Four adaptation questions → 1 → 2 … |
In Stage 1, first answer "at what level is the conflict of the source material mainly located, and what needs to be reinvented"; for true-person stories, first confirm authorization;Opera subject matter does not follow this line; follow X0.5/Q0.5 in Section 3.3 |
| Short film / short opera / one-act play | 1 → 2 (use Lu Jun's introduction-development-turn-conclusion and the eight methods instead of BS2) → 3 → 5 | Shrink the presentation board to 10–15 cards; characters ≤5; the dramatic core must exist first |
| Opera · banqiang style (Peking opera / Yu opera / Yue opera / Qinqiang / Pingju / Hu opera / Sichuan opera tanxi huqin) | Follow Section 3.3'sbanqiang style X0–X6, do not follow the feature stage table | First determine the system, then the structure; arias are given only to key scenes; spoken parts follow sw-dialogue, lyrics and ban patterns follow sw-chinese-opera-banqiang; for full-script comparison see sw-chinese-opera-banqiang-cases |
| Opera · qupai style (Yuan zaju / Ming-Qing chuanqi / Kunqu / Sichuan opera high-pitched style) | Follow Section 3.3'squpai style Q0–Q6 | First answer the two switches "for the stage or for the desk" and "zaju or chuanqi"; lyric writing follows sw-chinese-opera-qupai; for full-script comparison see sw-chinese-opera-qupai-cases; for Sichuan opera scripts, look at both tables |
| Only have one idea and do not know whether it can be written | 1 (only up to the one-sentence story) → the PROBLEM self-check in 7 | If it passes, go back to 2; if it does not pass, change the idea, and keep the rejected idea and the reason in the bible |
| TV drama / series / pilot / one season | Follow Section 3.2'sseries stage table(S0–S7), do not follow the long-form stage table above | The engine and bible come before the script; domestic dramas additionally add sw-chinese-series-practice document chain; for the proposal format see sw-format-adaptation the Omiya Eri template in reference |
| Half-hour comedy / sitcom | series stage table, but S2 and S5 switch to sw-sitcom-comedy |
page count, format, and joke density switch overall |
| Industry questions (how to sell, credits, agents) | directly 7 | do not build a bible |
Three of Two, Series Stage Table (TV series / streaming series / miniseries)
The difference between a series and a feature is not "a longer movie": a movie is a closed arc, a one-time problem; a series is a repeatableengineplus unclosed relational tension, segmented by act out, multiple parallel lines, bible before script, collective creation with the showrunner as head writer. So the order is reversed:First prove the engine can run a hundred episodes, then write the first episode.
| # | Stage | Skill called | Deliverable (section written into story-bible) | Suggested pass criteria |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S0 | Start / continue | This skill | Platform and format (broadcast / cable / streaming; one-hour / half-hour; episode count, season count), entry path | Know who decides the number of acts (ad breaks or yourself), target page count |
| S1 | Engine and premise | sw-series-engine-bible ＋ sw-premise-theme |
Thematic opposing propositions, franchise four elements (concept / conflict / theme / story pattern), core question written as a "process sentence", tacit contract in one sentence, 5–6 sample story areas | "Can't think of three episodes after the pilot" means fail; five story areas with identical sources or endings means fail |
| S2 | Character web and season arc | sw-series-engine-bible ＋ sw-character-conflict |
3–4 protagonists (each ≤1 page) and conflict web (who is bound to whom, specialty division of labor, family dynamics), season arc table (episode × character want/state), season question and tentpole | Protagonists cannot "smilingly agree with each other"; each person has something to lose; the season finale answers "this year's version of the question", not the overall question |
| S3 | Documents | sw-series-engine-bible（+ sw-chinese-series-practice if domestic drama) |
logline and springboard, pitch document / series format, bible (tier selection), storyline document (each line's purpose/driver/entry and exit/cross-episode beats); domestic dramas additionally submit plot summary → synopsis → character bios → episode outline | The document should let a stranger retell "what will happen each week"; each episode of a domestic drama's episode outline has a closing hook |
| S4 | Pilot and episode structure | sw-series-structure(half-hour comedy switches to sw-sitcom-comedy） |
pilot type selection (premise / typical-episode / hybrid), act count and page anchors, act out list, entry and exit of A/B/C lines, Story Map 17 columns | Each act out raises a new question; the C line does not close the act; the invisible act can state threefold grounds |
| S5 | Break story and outline | sw-writers-room ＋ sw-scene-craft |
beat sheet (6–7 scenes per act) → outline (locked); 6-week schedule per episode | Each scene in the outline has one beat, including its position within the act; changing the ending requires returning to the outline |
| S6 | First draft and revision | sw-dialogue ＋ sw-format-adaptation ＋ sw-writers-room(receives notes) |
Script file (teaser / ACT markers or day markers), page count, warm read and cold read records | Page count within the format range (48–63 for one-hour, ≈30 for half-hour single-camera, ≈50 for multi-camera); cold read can answer "what is the next episode" |
| S7 | Submission / Industry | sw-industry-business(US) / sw-chinese-series-practice(domestic: project initiation, filing, review, delivery milestones) |
20-minute pitch script, one-page leave-behind, target platform list | Pitch only one per meeting; self-check for domestic dramas passing both content and technical review |
When reference-type skills come in：succession-series-writing(streaming ensemble, invisible act, season-shape symmetry, ending engineering) used as templates from S2 onward;sw-series-case-studies(West Wing four-act, Sopranos pilot, Downton multi-thread, Fleabag six-episode season, Calvisi's eight pilot beat sheet, Sakamoto Yuji, Noh Hee-kyung) find comparable comps in S1, check against beats in S4.chekhov-dramaturgy and ozu-screenplay-style arecross-stage general references(not exclusive to features): when writing anti-climax, multiple protagonists, family subject matter, "event off-screen reaction on-screen", the series line likewise calls on them from S2 onward, but first pass the capacity preconditions and series conversion of ozu-screenplay-style Section Two, Item 1 and Section Two, Item 14.The medium-agnostic parts of feature skills are used as-is: dialogue, scene value turns, three-dimensional characters, premise—do not skip them just because it is a series.
Division of labor between S5's two sets of scene-level tools: the series' scene-level methodpreferentially uses sw-series-structure Section Six's five-piece set(one purpose per scene, entry/exit points, value turn, information gap, hook to the next scene), run scene by scene when breaking the beat sheet and writing the outline;sw-scene-craft Sectiondemonstration board 40 cards and "what happens if you delete it" are run once more after the outline takes shape(the 40 cards are spread across the season's episode count, not 40 cards per episode), used to delete scenes without a turn. Only if neither set is run is a step missed; running only the five-piece set does not count.
Fallback: if S4 cannot write the act out of episode two, it is usually an S1 engine problem; if S6 dialogue will not move, it is usually that S2's character web has nothing to lose. Go back and fill it in, and log the decision in the decision log.
Section Three, Item Three, Xiqu stage table (banqiang style / qupai style)
Xiqu does not follow the feature stage table, nor the series stage table: its structural unit is the scene/zhe/chu, singing passages precede dialogue, and the system (singing-focused play or acting-focused play) precedes structure, andyou must first determine the vocal system before choosing a skill. How to determine: Peking opera, Yu opera, Yue opera, Qinqiang, Pingju, Hu opera, Sichuan opera tanxi huqin → banqiang style (X table); Yuan zaju, Ming-Qing chuanqi, Kunqu, Sichuan opera gaoqiang → qupai style (Q table); a single Sichuan opera script may span both systems within one volume, so look at both tables. The methods of the two tables are in sw-chinese-opera-banqiang and sw-chinese-opera-qupai, the full-script corpus is in sw-chinese-opera-banqiang-cases and sw-chinese-opera-qupai-cases; the aesthetics and rehearsal layer shared by both systems are in sw-chinese-opera-banqiang/reference-common.md。
Banqiang style X0–X6
| # | Stage | Skill called | Deliverable (section written into story-bible) | Suggested pass criteria |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| X0 | Startup | This skill | Genre, system, whether it is newly written / a reworked old play / a modern play / a commissioned adaptation, and for which performer or role type it is written | Genre and system determination is unambiguous; script format is set as either Peking-opera style or Yue-opera style |
| X0.5 | Real-person / historical subject matter (do if present) | sw-chinese-opera-banqiang(Section Eleven, Four Questions on Adaptation) |
A comparison table: whether each key plot point is historically recorded, legendary, or invented by me; the single largest fictional invention and its constraints | Fiction occurs only in the blank spaces left by historical sources; do not absolve the protagonist of responsibility on their behalf; the four questions are answered within the opera skill, without reading sw-format-adaptation |
| X1 | Determine the system | sw-chinese-opera-banqiang(system and genre) + sw-premise-theme(play's core) |
One of singing craft / acting craft / martial arts / equal emphasis, and its basis (the character's action and role type, complexity of plot and conditions for dance, style); the play's core in one sentence | Once the system is set, proceed further; the "forward development" self-check has been passed (does not go against the temperament of the opera genre) |
| X2 | Main line and technical structure | sw-chinese-opera-banqiang(concentration of the main line, technical structure, and stage arrangement) |
The main line in one sentence (vertical concentration); scene table (each scene's events + proportion of singing, recitation, acting, and martial arts + hot and cold); two or three key scenes; list of transitional scenes | The law of alternating stage arrangements has been passed; sections with fixed rhythmic patterns are concentrated in the key scenes; transitional scenes do not add singing for the protagonist |
| X3 | Role types and characters | sw-chinese-opera-banqiang(role type determines the writing method, write plays for the actors) + sw-character-conflict |
Character list with role types; the lead actor's skill inventory and repertoire gaps; check of role-type taboos | No violations of taboos such as a painted-face role singing fan-er-huang; one actor playing multiple roles (if any) is viable |
| X4 | Aria design | sw-chinese-opera-banqiang(lyrics, duets, what the playwright must mark) |
Aria table (scene / character / intended rhythmic pattern / number of lines / rhyme category); write the key lines of each section first; placement of stacked lines; overall layout of rhyme categories for the whole play | The method of splitting into upper and lower lines has been passed; lower lines rhyme, upper lines may not; odd-numbered lines only in saotou; duet sections have a decreasing or confrontational structure |
| X5 | First draft | sw-chinese-opera-banqiang(connection between spoken dialogue and sung dialogue, use of conventions) + sw-dialogue(spoken dialogue) + sw-chinese-opera-banqiang-cases(comparison corpus) |
Script (singing / spoken dialogue / stage directions; if the Peking opera style is chosen, additionally mark rhythmic patterns and gongs and drums; for the Yue opera style or if not marking rhythmic patterns throughout, see sw-chinese-opera-banqiang Section 9) |
Before each singing section, one line is the form of address; the list of choices among conventions is clearly written; modern plays do not retain the self-introduction and opening poem |
| X6 | Tuning review and revision | sw-chinese-opera-banqiang(interface with actors and musicians, diagnostic checklist) |
Revision record; rhythmic pattern annotations are letters of intent, and a list of changes where changing lyrics requires changing the tune | The diagnostic checklist has been run through; where there are disagreements, note which side was chosen |
Qupai style Q0–Q6
| # | Stage | Skill invoked | Deliverable | Recommended passing standard |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q0 | Startup | This skill | Zaju or chuanqi or a Kunqu excerpt; for the stage or for the desk (dramatic songs vs. pure songs); newly written or adapted from an old script | Both switches have been answered |
| Q0.5 | Real-person / historical material (do it if present) | sw-chinese-opera-qupai(adaptation and revised scripts) + sw-chinese-opera-banqiang Section 11, the four questions of adaptation |
Same as X0.5: comparison table of historical record / legend / self-invention | Same as X0.5 |
| Q1 | Establish the main idea and system | sw-chinese-opera-qupai(opening stance, zaju branch / chuanqi branch) + sw-premise-theme |
One person, one matter, one sentence; number of acts or number of scenes; to whom the main singing rights belong (zaju) or how the fumo opening is written (chuanqi) | Main singing rights = protagonist rights is established; the title and proper name / fumo opening are present |
| Q2 | Modes and stage arrangement | sw-chinese-opera-qupai(modes and suites, stage arrangement and plot) |
The intended gongdiao and suite pattern for each act/scene; the staging table (hot/cold, short interlude scenes, uses of nanqu and beiqu) | One act, one gongdiao, one rhyme (zaju); the law of alternating hot and cold scenes; the division of labor between nanqu and beiqu can be justified |
| Q3 | Characters and role types | sw-chinese-opera-qupai(four colors and four qi) + sw-character-conflict |
Character table with role types and color-qi classification | Jing and chou have structural functions, not just comic relief |
| Q4 | Writing lyrics to tunes | sw-chinese-opera-qupai(methods of writing lyrics to tunes) + reference.md qupai table |
Qupai table (act/qupai/wutou line/rhyme); for each piece, first determine the wutou, then fill in the lyrics | Prosody follows the score (or note that it takes the modern newly composed "zero gold broken jade" route); forty forbidden prosodic patterns, half passed |
| Q5 | First draft | sw-chinese-opera-qupai(spoken dialogue → aria entry, backing vocals) + sw-dialogue ＋ sw-chinese-opera-qupai-cases |
Script (arias/dialogue/stage business/backing vocals) | Each aria is preceded by a line of dialogue that leads into its first line; the table of prosodic violations in famous works has been checked |
| Q6 | Revision | sw-chinese-opera-qupai(adaptation and revised versions, diagnostic checklist) |
Revision record | The diagnostic checklist has been run through; the three outcomes of revised versions have been compared (destroying the text to fit the rules is a common failure) |
The film and television format skills not named in the two tables in this section (sw-format-adaptation , etc.) do not enter opera projects; if you want to use them, first consult the medium boundary table of the corresponding opera skill.
One-off delivery(writing a passage of aria lyrics, revising one act) does not build a bible; go directly to the corresponding section of the corresponding skill.
IV. The minimum action for each stage
There is no need to read the entire corresponding skill. At each stage, first read the two sections "Workflow" and "Diagnostic Checklist" of that skill; read the corresponding chapter when you need specific methods, and read reference.md when you need examples.
Stage 1: follow sw-premise-theme Section 12, the 12 steps; fill the output into the "Premise and Theme" section of the bible. If what the user gives is external material such as a song, painting, or news, first take only the narrative skeleton and imagery, and devise the numbering, names, and sentences separately.
Stage 2: first determine the ending; then convert to BS2 page numbers according to the target page count (the 110-page table is scaled proportionally: theme 5%, catalyst 11%, act two 23%, midpoint 50%, all is lost 68%, act three 77%); fill in the page number table; write "what illusion the midpoint is, what the opposite of all is lost is."
Stage 3: fill in one row of the three-dimensional table for each major character; separately write "what the binding object of the unity of opposites is, and only whose which characteristic must perish for it to be broken"; give the opponent at least one knife; list the protagonist's shackles.
Stage 4: one row per scene in the step outline:场次 | 内外·地点·日夜 | 一句话 | 押上的价值 开→结 | 结构位置; then go through "what would happen if this were deleted," and delete scenes whose value does not change.
Stage 5: after finishing writing each day, update the "Progress" line of the bible (page count, which scene you have written up to); when design flaws are found, do not force changes in the draft, but go back to the bible to change the design and then change the draft.
Stage 6: list the problems from the five diagnostic checklists one by one as revision goals, and eliminate them one by one; first act two, then dialogue, and finally format.
Stage 7: directly generate the logline and one-page synopsis from the "Premise and Theme" section of the bible; run the seven elements of PROBLEM.
V. How to use the passing standards
- The standards arerecommended thresholds, not hard blocks. If the user wants to skip steps, skip them, but mark "(skipped Stage 3 character table)" next to the "Current Stage" in the bible, and remind them once before entering Stage 5.
- To the AI itself: at the end of each stage, use that skill's diagnostic checklist to question yourself, and write the items that did not pass into the bible rather than silently letting them slide.
- In the pass criteria, quantify everything that can be quantified (page count, card count, character count, question mark count).
- The client's format requirements take precedence over any skill's conventions. If the user or commissioning party has given page count, word count, columns, template, or episode count, follow theirs; the conventions in the skill (the three items of an episode outline, the line format of a step outline, the field table of a document) aredefault values, used only to fill in the blanks the other party has not specified. When they conflict, compress the conventions, do not exceed the format, and save an expanded version separately for your own use.Do not hand in a document that does not meet the client's specifications just to deliver all the fields the skill requires.
Six, Subagents and Parallelism
- Do notsplit by stage among different agents: premise, structure, and characters are one integrated whole; splitting them will cause mutual contradictions and lose creative context. The mainline always stays in one session.
- Two types of work that can be parallelized:
- Multi-angle review in Stage 6: assign one read-only agent each to structure diagnosis, character diagnosis, dialogue diagnosis, and scene diagnosis to run the checklist, and collect the results into a single revision target table.
- Large-block retrieval: when a specific example from a certain reference.md or a scene-by-scene table of a certain work is needed, dispatch an agent to read it and bring back only the conclusions, avoiding mainline context bloat.
- Parallel agents only read the bible and the draft, and do not modify the bible; changes are summarized by the mainline and then written in.
Six-B, Output Language and Terminology
The skill body has only one Chinese version,do not maintain parallel translations for each language—see the "Multilingual Support" section of the README. The language layer is handled according to the following three rules, and this skill applies to all sw-* skills.
- Output language = question language. If the user asks in English, Japanese, Korean, or French, deliver in that language; the body being in Chinese does not affect the output language. When the user explicitly specifies a language, follow the specification ("write this version of the outline in English").
- Anchor terminology back to the original word; do not invent translated names. Most of the terminology in this line was originally English (logline, act out, beat sheet, showrunner); "计程绳", "出幕", and "剧目管理人" in Chinese books are translations. When outputting in a non-Chinese language, for all terms.md concepts included, always use itsoriginal English word; for those not in the table, first determine which language the original word belongs to and then anchor it, and do not silently invent.
- For words with no counterpart, keep the original word + a one-sentence explanation. Domestic-specific terms (戏眼, 扣子, 分集梗概, 备案公示) and Japanese-style terminology (柱, ト書き, 決定稿) are not forcibly translated in any language; write them in the form
戏眼 (xìyǎn — the one-line core attraction of an episode).
The script body itself is counted separately: the script must be written in the language of the work, and the format is chosen according to sw-format-adaptation (English scripts use spec/Fountain, Chinese scripts use the scene-number system, Japanese scripts use 柱・ト書き). It is normal for a user to discuss a Chinese script in English—discussion in English, script body still in Chinese, do not switch the work language because of the conversation language.
Six-C, Division of Labor Between Screenwriter and Director
The rules for this section after delivery, source: Luo Huaizhen, "The Awakening of Contemporary Xiqu Playwright-Directors" p0120–0125.
- When the screenwriter puts pen to paper, the form is already born, but it is flat; what makes it three-dimensional is the director (p0120).
- If the director's style aligns with the script's direction, cooperate; if it runs completely counter, existing only to experiment with the director's own form, "decline early" (p0120).
- Accepted revision suggestionsmake the changes yourself, do not let someone else write for you (p0121); the consequence of not doing so is Chen Xiting's copyright lawsuit over Dream of the Red Chamber (p0121–0122).
- The bottom line of secondary creation isaccuracy: one may discover and present the spirit of the script, but may not hack and slash to create a different interpretation (p0121).
- Collaboration is amultiplicationrelationship, not subtraction, nor simple addition (p0122).
- The reason a screenwriter does not also direct: directing it yourself only lets you copy the text, eliminating the possibility of creating it a second time (p0123).
- Four things to look for when choosing a director: accurate interpretation, ability to offer constructive suggestions, dedication, and control over the rehearsal room; "arrogance" is no obstacle, but constant accommodation and lack of decisiveness are disasters (p0122–0123).
Changeable / Unchangeable(Four versions of Xi Shi Returns to Yue, p0123–0124):
| Unchangeable | Changeable |
|---|---|
| Theme, structure | Rhyme |
| Main character relationships | Addition or removal of scenes |
| Basic dramatic plot | Handling of the opening and ending, overall style (virtual / real) |
One criterion:Literary spirit is unshakable. This section applies equally to the Xiqu X/Q table and the film and television stage table.
Seven, Anti-patterns
- Jumping directly from an idea to writing the script ("a counterfeit treatment script").
- Rewriting the bible from scratch every session, or ignoring "settled decisions" and reopening discussion of the premises.
- Cramming the entire derivation process into the bible, so that next time it cannot be read to the end.
- Asking the user ten questions at once; instead, fill them in by inference first, mark them "to be confirmed," and let the user revise.
- Letting the "pass standard" become a reason to refuse to continue.
- Using a subagent to write in stages.
- Answering questions in English/Japanese/Korean/French in Chinese just because the skill body is in Chinese; or conversely, changing the Chinese script body into English just because the conversation language is English.
- Inventing a translation for a concept that already has an original term in terms.md.
Eight, Self-check
- Does the current directory have
story-bible.md? Have you read "current stage/settled decisions/decision log"? - Has this session advanced the deliverable of at least one stage and written it back?
- Can the bible still be read in one sitting?
- Have you changed any settled decision without logging it?
- Did you write "Next step:" at the end?
- Is the output language consistent with the question language? Have the terms been anchored back to the original terms in terms.md? Has the language of the script body not been led astray by the conversation language?