https://github.com/psylsph/novel-team
Complete professional novel development system — 8 editorial personas, 10-stage workflow, templates, and structured knowledge repository for AI-assisted fiction writing.
https://github.com/psylsph/novel-team
ai-writing creative-writing editorial fiction hermes-agent novel novel-writing story-development writing-tool writing-workflow
Last synced: 19 days ago
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Complete professional novel development system — 8 editorial personas, 10-stage workflow, templates, and structured knowledge repository for AI-assisted fiction writing.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/psylsph/novel-team
- Owner: psylsph
- License: mit
- Created: 2026-05-07T21:54:48.000Z (about 1 month ago)
- Default Branch: master
- Last Pushed: 2026-05-16T16:20:24.000Z (about 1 month ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-05-16T18:33:14.376Z (about 1 month ago)
- Topics: ai-writing, creative-writing, editorial, fiction, hermes-agent, novel, novel-writing, story-development, writing-tool, writing-workflow
- Homepage: https://github.com/psylsph/novel-team
- Size: 135 KB
- Stars: 0
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# Novel Team — Complete Professional Novel Development System
[](SKILL.md)
[](.)
**A full professional editorial team and 10-stage development pipeline, delivered as a structured knowledge system for AI-assisted novel writing.**
This repository contains the SKILL.md, persona files, templates, and reference material that power the novel-team workflow. Designed for use with AI agents (Hermes, Claude, or compatible systems), it gives you a dedicated team of eight publishing professionals with distinct personalities, clear expertise boundaries, and a rigorous stage-based development process.
> **Looking for the best LLM for creative writing?** Check the [EQ-Bench Creative Writing leaderboard](https://eqbench.com/creative_writing.html) for model recommendations ranked on prose quality, dialogue, and narrative — so you can pair the right model with this team.
---
## What's Inside
### 🎭 The Team (8 Professional Personas)
| Role | Name | Expertise |
|------|------|-----------|
| **Developmental Editor** | Alex | Story structure, character arcs, pacing, plot logic |
| **Line Editor** | Jordan | Prose flow, word choice, rhythm, voice consistency |
| **Copyeditor** | Taylor | Grammar, punctuation, style guide, technical polish |
| **Proofreader / Beta Reader** | Morgan | Final error check, formatting, fresh-eyes read |
| **Research Assistant** | Riley | Historical/technical research, setting authenticity |
| **Continuity Editor** | Casey | Timeline, character tracking, world-building consistency |
| **Fact Checker** | Quinn | Factual accuracy, technical detail verification |
| **Writing Coach** | Sam | Goal setting, accountability, overcoming blocks |
Each persona lives in `team/` with a full profile — distinct voice, style, knowledge boundaries, and communication approach.
### 📋 The 10-Stage Workflow
| # | Stage | Lead | Deliverable |
|---|-------|------|-------------|
| 0 | Initial Seed | Author | Raw concept captured |
| 1 | Concept Development | Alex + Riley + Sam | Concept clarification document |
| 2 | Character Development | Alex + Casey + Riley | Complete character profiles |
| 3 | Story Structure | Alex + Casey | Chapter plan + scene breakdown |
| 3c | Planning Approval | All team + Author | Green light to write |
| 4 | Research Deep Dive | Riley + Quinn | Research repository |
| 4.5 | World Outline | Riley + Alex + Casey | World outline document |
| 5 | First Draft | Author + Sam | Complete manuscript |
| 5b | Cross-Chapter Continuity | Casey | Consistency verified every 5-10 ch |
| 5c | Act Break Full-Stack Review | All team | Comprehensive quality gate |
| 6 | Developmental Edit | Alex + Casey + Riley | Revised draft |
| 7 | Line Editing | Jordan + Taylor | Line-edited draft |
| 8 | Copyediting | Taylor + Quinn + Casey | Copyedited draft |
| 9 | Proofreading | Morgan | Final error-free draft |
| 10 | Final Review | Author | Approved manuscript |
### 📁 Documentation
| File | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `SKILL.md` | Complete system documentation (workflow, templates, rules) |
| `QUICKSTART.md` | Quick reference — team members, usage patterns |
| `WORKFLOW.md` | Detailed walkthrough of all stages with checklists |
| `EXAMPLES.md` | Real scenarios showing the team in action |
| `team/ROSTER.md` | Full team member directory |
| `references/` | Research methodology, workflow examples |
| `templates/` | Reusable templates (chapter brief, character profile, etc.) |
| `CHANGELOG.md` | Version history and release notes |
| `CONTRIBUTING.md` | How to contribute — personas, workflows, templates |
| `LICENSE` | MIT License — free to use, modify, share |
---
## How to Use
### Option 1: Start a New Novel
```
"I have a book seed. Let's start with Stage 1: Concept Development."
Then share your concept, character, setting, or scene.
```
### Option 2: Consult a Team Member
```
"As Jordan, review this passage and improve the prose..."
"Riley, I need research on submarine operations..."
"Casey, check if this detail matches what we established earlier..."
```
### Option 3: Hold a Team Meeting
```
"Team meeting: Alex, Casey, and Riley to discuss this scene..."
```
### Option 4: Progressive Refinement
```
1. Alex: "Does this scene work structurally?"
2. Riley: "How can I make the details more authentic?"
3. Jordan: "Now improve the prose flow..."
4. Taylor: "Finally, polish the technical details..."
```
---
## Key Principles
### 🔴 The Review Gate (Highest Priority)
Every deliverable must go through full team review before being presented to the author:
```
CREATE → REVIEW → FIX → PRESENT TO AUTHOR → WAIT FOR CONFIRMATION
```
This is non-negotiable. No skipping, no rubber-stamping, no "just a draft" exceptions.
### 🔍 The Perception Phase
Each reviewer must actually read the work critically — quote specific lines, raise minimum 5 hard questions, flag continuity issues with references. Superficial reviews are rejected.
### 🎯 Quality Over Word Count
Word targets are guides, not gates. A tight 2,200-word chapter that earns every sentence beats a padded 3,000-word chapter with filler.
### 🚦 Author Control at Every Stage
The team advises. The author decides. No gate passes without author confirmation.
---
## Repository Structure
```
novel-team/
├── README.md # This file
├── SKILL.md # Complete system (workflow, templates, rules)
├── QUICKSTART.md # Quick reference guide
├── WORKFLOW.md # Detailed stage walkthrough
├── EXAMPLES.md # Real team-in-action scenarios
├── team/
│ ├── ROSTER.md # Team directory
│ ├── editorial/ # Alex, Jordan, Taylor, Morgan
│ ├── specialists/ # Riley, Casey, Quinn
│ └── support/ # Sam
├── references/ # Research methodology, examples
└── templates/ # Chapter brief, character profile, etc.
```
For book projects, the skill goes in the agent's skills directory and project files go in a separate book project directory:
```
SKILL: ~/.hermes/skills/creative/novel-team/ ← templates, personas, workflows
PROJECT: ~/writing/your-novel/ ← chapters, characters, settings
```
---
## Installation
### For Hermes Agent
```bash
# The skill is available as part of the Hermes skill registry
hermes skills download novel-team
```
### For Direct Use
Clone or copy this repository, then load `SKILL.md` as your agent's context or instruction file.
---
## Requirements
- An AI agent system capable of persona adoption (Hermes, Claude, or compatible)
- For the full workflow: ability to create and manage project files
- 8 team persona files (included) for distinct reviewer voices
---
## Quick Start
```
"Alex, review this chapter outline and tell me if the pacing works."
"I have a thriller concept: burned spy discovers his agency is hunting him."
"Team meeting: Alex, Casey, and Riley — let's plan the opening scene."
```
See `QUICKSTART.md` for full usage patterns and team member reference.
---
## Related Projects
Other writing tools from the same author:
| Project | Description |
|---------|-------------|
| [autonomous-booksmith](https://github.com/psylsph/autonomous-booksmith) | Autonomous multi-agent novel writing pipeline |
| [ai-book-writer](https://github.com/psylsph/ai-book-writer) | Experiment: full novel generation via AutoGen agents |
| [novel-writer](https://github.com/psylsph/novel-writer) | Novel writing tool |
| [BookAgent](https://github.com/psylsph/BookAgent) | Book-oriented AI agent system |
| [StoryFoundry](https://github.com/psylsph/StoryFoundry) | Story creation and development framework |
| [prosewrite](https://github.com/psylsph/prosewrite) | Prose writing assistant |
### Model Evaluation & Benchmarking
| Resource | Description |
|----------|-------------|
| [EQ-Bench Creative Writing](https://eqbench.com/creative_writing.html) | Creative writing model evaluation leaderboard — see how LLMs rank on prose, dialogue, and narrative quality |
| [EQ-Bench](https://github.com/EQ-bench) | Open-source model evaluation suite — emotional intelligence and creative writing benchmarks for LLMs |
---
## License
Part of the psylsph/novel-team project. See repository metadata for details.
---
Your Novel Team awaits. 🎭✨