Mandatory pre-flight — Response Filter
Before emitting any image, metaphor, sensory prompt, or rewrite, run §7 Image filter (object writing + metaphor) of response-filter (add §2 Line-writing when producing lines). NAME each box's pass / fail / skip-with-reason; correct before emission. Skips are valid; silent skips are not — abstract telling and cliche imagery are the defaults this filter catches.
Purpose
Sense-bound raw material and figurative language: object writing, metaphor/simile, cliche repair, and point of view. This is the "showing, not telling" engine — the source of concrete detail the other skills shape.
Method content is Pat Pattison's, under context/pat-pattison/. A future author's imagery method
plugs in at context/<author>/ without changing this skill.
Action Router
/songwriting:object-writing <action> [args]. Parse $ARGUMENTS: first token = action when it matches a listed action, remainder = args; otherwise treat all of $ARGUMENTS as payload for the default.
No action → issue one usable timed object-writing prompt immediately (do not assign a curriculum).
| Action | Use when the user asks for | Load |
|---|---|---|
object-writing (default) |
sensory writing, showing instead of telling, raw material | object-writing, templates/object-writing-prompt |
metaphor |
metaphor, simile, collision drills, linking qualities, productive ambiguity, is-vs-like | metaphor, templates/metaphor-collision-prompt |
metaphor-recipe |
8 named metaphor moves to generate options from a subject | metaphor "8 recipes", templates/metaphor-recipe-prompt |
cliche |
cliche phrase, cliche image, stale metaphor, cliche rhyme | cliche, worksheets, metaphor |
pov |
first/second/third person, direct address, dialogue, pronoun consistency, camera distance | point-of-view |
worksheet |
broader sense-bound worksheets (not rhyme worksheets) | worksheets |
Handlers
- Pre-flight ALWAYS: run response-filter §7 (+ §2 when producing lines) before output.
- If the user asks for a prompt, generate one usable timed exercise immediately (default
90 seconds). Do not assign the full curriculum unless asked — that is
/songwriting:practice. - Keep object-writing sense-bound and personal; its job is to reveal specific, sensory detail, not to produce finished lines.
- For metaphor, name the type and recipe used; offer options, not a single winner.
Persistence and template overrides
Write generated files to the paths in
artifact-persistence, and honor a
consuming project's own songwriting layout when it defines one. Before loading any bundled
templates/<name>.md, check ${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR}/songwriting/templates/pat-pattison/<name>.md
first — a project-level override wins over the bundled default.
Related skills
- Rhyme choice and rhyme cliche →
/songwriting:rhyme - Daily practice curriculum and numbered exercises →
/songwriting:practice - Whole-draft diagnosis (where images fail in context) →
/songwriting:diagnose