{"id":19574,"plugin_id":"plugins_6a99cda269b0819180d65893e1de7811","kind":"skill","collection_source":null,"comparison_source":null,"observed_at":"2026-09-30T23:15:38.967Z","digest":"d72f972422ddfe1534dfa3e019520ca971b5009a6357f6875036c0037515a992","against":null,"payload":{"name":"story-spine","description":"Apply the Story Spine + Emotional Heat Map framework (MM-002) for narrative content. Use when writing origin stories, case slices, LinkedIn posts, founder essays, client wins, or any piece that must hold attention. Triggers on \"story spine,\" \"emotional heat map,\" \"establishing shot,\" \"inciting friction,\" \"line surgery,\" \"camera work,\" \"six beats,\" \"case slice narrative,\" or when content needs stronger hooks, sensory detail, or a clear narrative arc. Includes 6-beat structure, emotion mapping, LinkedIn patterns, revision checklists, and QA rubric.","included_files":[],"skill_md_contents":"---\nname: story-spine\ndescription: Apply the Story Spine + Emotional Heat Map framework (MM-002) for narrative content. Use when writing origin stories, case slices, LinkedIn posts, founder essays, client wins, or any piece that must hold attention. Triggers on \"story spine,\" \"emotional heat map,\" \"establishing shot,\" \"inciting friction,\" \"line surgery,\" \"camera work,\" \"six beats,\" \"case slice narrative,\" or when content needs stronger hooks, sensory detail, or a clear narrative arc. Includes 6-beat structure, emotion mapping, LinkedIn patterns, revision checklists, and QA rubric.\n---\n\n# Story Spine + Emotional Heat Map (MM-002)\n\nA fast, repeatable way to write stories that land. Start with a clear frame, raise stakes on purpose, choose under pressure, show the fallout, and end with meaning a stranger can use tomorrow.\n\n## When to Use\n\n- Origin stories, case slices, client wins, \"why we do it\" notes\n- LinkedIn posts, case-study intros, founder essays, short scripts\n- Any piece that must hold attention without fluff\n\n## When NOT to Use\n\n- Not for non-narrative content — framework posts, contrarian takes, and taxonomies run through `linkedin-authority`.\n- Not for de-AI-ing existing text — that's `humanize`.\n- Not for ideation or concept generation — get the idea with `creative-thinking-ai`, then spine the story.\n- Not for pieces with no real event behind them — the beats demand a true scene, choice, and cost. Don't fabricate one.\n\n## The Spine in One View\n\n```\n1. Establishing Shot → 2. Friction → 3. Close-ups → 4. Choice → 5. Consequence → 6. Meaning\n      where/when        what threatens    details+constraint   costly decision   immediate change   one-line lesson\n```\n\nKeep outcome unknown until the final 10–15%.\n\n## The Six Beats\n\n### 1) Establishing Shot\n**Goal:** Orient the reader in one line.\n**Formula:** Year, city, age or role, scene.\n**Example:** 1996, Portland. Age 21. Office manager in title, runner in reality.\n\n### 2) Inciting Friction\n**Goal:** Name the pressure that threatens something you care about.\n**Prompts:** What specific event kicked this off? What would you lose if you froze?\n**Example:** The boss walked in reeking of last night's whiskey. A client call had been missed. Rent was due Friday.\n\n### 3) Escalation in Close-ups\n**Goal:** Pull the camera in. Two sensory details. One constraint that tightens the screws.\n**Prompts:** What did you see, smell, hear, touch? What timer or limit made it worse?\n**Example:** Collar wilted. Eyes glassy. Phone lines blinking. Ninety-two applications already out. Silence.\n\n### 4) Decision Under Pressure\n**Goal:** Show the costly choice. State it clean.\n**Prompt:** What did you do that had a cost this week?\n**Example:** I slid my badge across the desk and said, \"I'm done.\"\n\n### 5) Immediate Consequence\n**Goal:** Show what changed in the next day or week. A bruise or a win, not a life story.\n**Example:** Eight interviews. Same line each time: \"Come back with two years of experience.\" Then a one-inch ad offering on-the-job training.\n\n### 6) Meaning After the Dust\n**Goal:** One sentence a stranger can use.\n**Prompts:** What truth did the moment prove? How would someone act differently after reading this?\n**Example:** When the room you are in is shrinking you, step into the one where effort is the currency.\n\n## Emotional Heat Map\n\nTarget one primary emotion per paragraph. If a paragraph has no emotion, cut it.\n\n| Paragraph | Emotion Target | Signals |\n|-----------|---------------|---------|\n| 1 | Orientation with unease | Time, place, role, a small off note |\n| 2 | Tension rising | Named threat and what is at risk |\n| 3 | Anxiety or pressure | Sensory detail and hard constraint |\n| 4 | Resolve | Clear choice with a cost |\n| 5 | Aftershock | Immediate bruise or first win |\n| 6 | Relief or resolve | Useful lesson without preaching |\n\n## Camera Work on the Page\n\n- Start wide. One line.\n- Move tighter each beat.\n- If you jump tight too early, readers don't know where they are.\n- If you stay wide, nobody cares.\n\n## Line Surgery: Generic → Specific\n\n- \"I quit my job.\" → \"On a Tuesday before rent was due, I slid my badge across a sticky laminate desk.\"\n- \"He was an alcoholic.\" → \"He arrived at 8:12 a.m., breath sweet with whiskey, collar wilted, eyes glassy.\"\n- \"An ad promised opportunity.\" → \"A one-inch classified offered sales, on-the-job training, and a phone that would not stop ringing.\"\n\n## 200-Word LinkedIn Pattern\n\n**[Line 1: Establishing shot.]** Year, city, role. One honest detail.\n\n**[Lines 2–4: Friction.]** Name the threat and the stake. Keep verbs active.\n\n**[Lines 5–7: Close-ups.]** Two sensory details. One constraint that hurts.\n\n**[Line 8: Choice.]** Write the decision in a single sentence.\n\n**[Lines 9–11: Consequence.]** Show what changed that week. A bruise or a win.\n\n**[Final line: Meaning.]** One sentence a stranger can act on tomorrow.\n\n## Fill-In Template\n\n- Title\n- Hook line\n- Purpose emotion\n- Establishing shot: time, place, role\n- Sensory detail 1\n- Sensory detail 2\n- Constraint or timer\n- Choice line\n- Consequence week-one\n- Lesson in one sentence\n- CTA\n- Channel\n- Thumbnail concept\n\n## Five-Minute Revision Checklist\n\n- Cut abstractions: opportunity, journey, growth. Replace with what was seen or said.\n- Keep relief to the end.\n- Paragraphs under three lines. Sentences under 20 words unless rhythm needs one longer.\n- Verbs with spine: slid, reeked, tallied, flinched, stayed.\n- Read aloud. Where you stumble, cut or split.\n- Outcome unknown until the last lines.\n\n## QA Rubric (Score 0–5 Each)\n\n- Hook clarity\n- Stakes clarity\n- Sensory proof\n- Costly choice stated\n- Consequence shown within a week\n- One-line meaning that is useful\n\nShip at 20+. Rework if under 18.\n\n## Common Failure Modes\n\n- **All summary, no scene.** Fix: Add two sensory details and a constraint in paragraph 3.\n- **Relief too early.** Fix: Move the lesson to final paragraph. Raise stakes in the middle.\n- **Vague verbs.** Fix: Replace \"was,\" \"went,\" \"had\" with concrete actions.\n- **No cost.** Fix: State what you risked that week. Money, time, status.\n\n## Variants\n\n- **Micro-post (under 120 words):** Beats 1, 2, 4, 6 only.\n- **Carousel:** One beat per slide. Final slide is the lesson.\n- **Short video:** VO lines mirror beats. B-roll matches the sensory details.\n"},"changes":[],"summary":"First saved snapshot. No earlier version is available for comparison.","summary_kind":"deterministic","summary_metadata":{}}