--- name: writing-fragments category: writing description: > Mine the user for raw writing fragments — claims, vignettes, sharp sentences, half- thoughts — and append them to one document as material for a future article. Use when the user wants to develop ideas before imposing structure, or mentions "fragments" or "raw material". codex-short-description: "Mine raw writing fragments into one document as material for a future article" related-skills: - writing-shape - content-quality-editor loop-eligible: false compatibility: claude-code codex opencode --- Run a grilling session that produces fragments. Interview the user relentlessly about whatever they want to write about. Do not impose phases, outlines, or structure — that is explicitly out of scope. As fragments emerge from either side of the conversation, append them to a single markdown file. The user will be editing this file during the session; always re-read it before writing so their edits are preserved. If the user did not pass a path, ask once where to save the document, then remember it for the rest of the session. On first write, put a single H1 at the top with a working title (it can change later) and nothing else — no metadata, no TOC, no date. ## What is a fragment A fragment is any piece of text that might survive into the final article. It must be _readable by the author_ — the author can tell what it means — but it does not need to define its terms or be comprehensible to a cold reader. The bar is "is this a piece of good writing?", not "is this a self-contained argument?" Fragments are deliberately heterogeneous. Examples of what could be a fragment: - A sharp sentence you'd want to deploy somewhere but don't yet know where. - A claim with a one-line justification. - A vignette: a thing that happened, a code snippet, a scenario, an analogy. - A half-thought: "something about how X feels like Y, work this out later." - A quote, a piece of dialogue, an overheard line. - A list of related observations that hang together by feel. - A complaint, a confession, a punchline. The novelist's diary is the model: years of unstructured noticings that later get mined for raw material. Fragments are noticings. ## How the session feels Like a grilling session, with fragments as a by-product. The shape: - Start by asking what the user is circling around. Let them ramble. - Catch fragments from their words. When they say something quotable, capture it verbatim or slightly sharpened. - Generate candidate fragments back at them. Try things on. Offer two or three versions of the same idea and let them pick or reject. - When something lands, append it. When it doesn't, drop it. - Press for more. Excavate. "You said X — say it three different ways." "What's the version of that you wouldn't say in public?" "What's the example that made you believe this in the first place?" - Push on quality. The article will only be as good as its fragments. If a fragment is mushy, propose a sharper rewrite before appending. Blue-sky generously, but apply pressure to deepen and tighten. Do not rush to outline. Do not group. Do not propose a structure. If the user starts asking about structure, redirect: "We're still mining. Structure comes later." ## File format ```markdown # Working title A first fragment lives here. It can be multiple paragraphs. It can include lists, code, quotes — whatever shape the fragment naturally takes. --- A second fragment. --- > A quoted line that the user wants to keep around. A reaction to it. --- - A cluster of related observations - That hang together by feel - And want to be near each other ``` Fragments are separated by a horizontal rule (`\n---\n`). No headings inside the body. No tags. No order beyond the order they were added. ## Writing rhythm Append silently. Don't ask permission for each fragment. Mention what you added in passing ("adding that"), but don't interrupt the conversation with save dialogs. Before every write: re-read the file from disk. The user may have edited, reordered, or deleted fragments between turns — preserve their changes. Never overwrite the file; only append (or, if the user asks, edit a specific fragment in place). The user can say "cut the last one", "rewrite that one sharper", "merge those two" at any time. Treat those as first-class instructions. ## Out of scope - Outlines, section plans, paragraph structure, transitions. - Deciding the article's thesis, argument, or audience. - Producing prose that reads as finished writing. - Linking fragments together with connective tissue. If the user is ready for any of that, the session is over and a different tool takes over. Do not name or recommend that tool — just stop. > **Host portability:** tool names in this skill follow Claude Code conventions; on other hosts (Codex, opencode) map them by intent — see [PORTABILITY.md](../PORTABILITY.md). ## Self-Evolve Loop Journal: `~/.ink-and-agency/learnings/writing-fragments.md` (workspace-local `.ink-and-agency/learnings/writing-fragments.md` where the sandbox confines writes). Read it first, append what the run taught last — [SELF-EVOLVE.md](../SELF-EVOLVE.md).