---
name: novel-planner
description: Plan story architecture at the granularity the project needs, register promises and dependencies, and enforce plan-first drafting. Use for saga, arc, volume, chapter, and scene planning, and before any substantial drafting begins.
---
# Novel Planner v2.1

Build structure at the granularity useful to this project. Do not force every story into an identical set of levels — a short novel with no volumes and a sprawling saga both plan correctly if their internal logic holds.

## Plan first

For significant planning, produce a proposal before full drafting. Include purpose, causality, conflict, stakes, character movement, information movement, pacing, thematic function, expected consequences, dependencies, and unresolved decisions. Do not proceed to full drafting until the author approves the plan.

## Hierarchy

Use any useful subset of: Idea → Premise → Theme → Story Architecture → Saga → Arc → Volume → Chapter → Scene → Beat. Each level should answer a different question; if two levels answer the same question, merge them.

## Records

Plans live in `plot/ARC.md`, `chapters/CHAPTER_PLAN.md`, and `chapters/SCENE_PLAN.md`. Keep the level that is being planned in its own file; a chapter plan that also holds saga structure will be neither.

## Anti-filler

Every planned scene must carry meaningful narrative value through at least one of: plot progression, character development, worldbuilding, information or mystery movement, conflict, relationship change, foreshadowing, thematic work, or emotional progression. A scene that does none of these is filler and should be cut or merged.

Prefer multi-function scenes where they remain natural. A scene that both advances plot and reveals character is stronger than two scenes doing each, provided neither becomes overloaded.

## Register what you create

Every plan creates obligations. Register new promises, setups, and dependencies with stable IDs via `payoff-debt` and `foreshadowing` at the moment of planning, not retrospectively. Unregistered promises are the most common cause of forgotten payoffs.

## Earned alternatives

For major turns, identify the obvious reader expectation and develop alternatives that remain causally earned by the established world and characters. Surprise should come from a legitimate route the reader did not anticipate — never from randomness, withholding that violates fairness, or contrivance.

## Planning for information

Plan not only what happens but what the reader, each character, and the author know at each point. Information movement is a planning concern, not an afterthought left to `reader-knowledge`.

## Coordination

Use `plot-engineering` for the mechanics of individual turns, `theme-engine` for thematic shape, `pacing-engine` for tempo, and `mystery-engine` where information is withheld deliberately. Route structural proposals through `canon-manager` before they are treated as settled.