writing-beats

Generated source view for the actual executable personal/writing-beats skill. The durable routing article is Writing and Content Skills. Source: skills/personal/writing-beats/SKILL.md

Runtime Source

Bundled Resources

No bundled resource files.

Description

Writing exploit skill for turning a raw fragment file into an article one beat at a time. Use when Kevin says "/writing-beats", "turn these fragments into an article", "build this article beat by beat", or wants a choose-your-own-adventure drafting path.

Skill Source

---
name: writing-beats
description: Writing exploit skill for turning a raw fragment file into an article one beat at a time. Use when Kevin says "/writing-beats", "turn these fragments into an article", "build this article beat by beat", or wants a choose-your-own-adventure drafting path.
origin: personal
source_slug: writing-beats
---

# Writing Beats

Use this after exploration. The raw pile is fixed enough to commit to a path through it. The output is an article built one beat at a time, with Kevin choosing the path as the piece develops.

## Boundary

- Use `writing-fragments` first when the raw material does not exist yet.
- Use `writing-beats` when Kevin wants visible path choices and one beat written at a time.
- Use `writing-shape` when Kevin wants a more direct paragraph/block shaping session.
- Use `social-draft` only after the long-form piece needs a platform-specific post.

## File Contract

The input is a Markdown file of raw material. Read it end-to-end before drafting.

Ask once where the article file should live if Kevin did not provide a destination. Re-read the article file from disk before every write. Append one agreed beat at a time. If Kevin edits earlier beats, let those edits change what can come next.

## Core Loop

1. Establish prerequisites: what the reader already knows before the article begins.
2. Track grounded concepts: every concept must be introduced before a later beat can rely on it.
3. Offer 2-3 candidate starting beats. Each candidate must say what it requires and what it grounds.
4. Kevin picks one starting beat or composes a hybrid.
5. Write only that beat to the article file.
6. Re-read the article file.
7. Offer 2-3 reachable next beats from the current grounded set.
8. Repeat until the article reaches a natural end.

The article ends when the journey is complete, not when the raw pile is empty.

## What Counts As A Beat

A beat is one move in the reader journey. It may set a scene, land a point, ask a question, introduce a term, twist the angle, or provide a concrete example. It stops at the next natural pivot.

If a proposed beat needs several subheads and too many jobs, split it.

## Grounding Rule

A candidate beat is valid only when all required concepts are already grounded. If the next move needs an ungrounded concept, either:

- add an earlier grounding beat
- treat the concept as a prerequisite if the intended audience truly brings it
- choose a different next beat

Keep a visible running list of grounded concepts and update it after every written beat.

## Related Skills

- `writing-fragments`
- `writing-shape`
- `social-draft`
- `humanizer`
- `kevin-voice`

---

Timeline

• 2026-07-15 | Generated a browseable source page from the actual executable skill file. Source: skills/personal/writing-beats/SKILL.md