md2hd

Writing

Keep character knowledge and plot timing aligned.

A story bible is a network of characters, motives, places, objects, and turning points. Map them to see who knows a secret, when it surfaces, and which later scene depends on it.

What belongs in the map

Keep the subjects separate. Name what connects them.

Use the vocabulary already present in the work. Card types identify the subjects; relationship labels state what one subject does to another.

Cards

Characters
Point-of-view characters, allies, rivals, witnesses, and hidden identities.
Knowledge
Secrets, beliefs, lies, discoveries, and facts revealed at a specific time.
Places and objects
Locations, evidence, possessions, and recurring physical anchors.
Story beats
Scenes, chapters, reversals, reveals, and the events that depend on them.

Connections

A label should read as a plain statement between two cards. These verbs fit this map:

  • knows
  • lies to
  • wants
  • owns
  • discovers
  • appears in

Questions the map can answer

Open one card and inspect its immediate context.

  • What does this character know at the start of the chapter?
  • Which reveal changes two or more relationships?
  • Where does an object move between characters or places?
  • Which later beat depends on a fact the reader has not seen yet?

Build it from the record

Give your agent the notes and the question.

The included skill defines the markdown format. Your prompt defines which subjects and relationships matter in this map.

Prompt

Map my story bible. Include characters, places, objects, secrets, chapter beats, and who knows, wants, owns, discovers, or lies about each important thing.

  1. 01

    Gather the bible

    Use character notes, outlines, location files, object histories, and chapter summaries.

  2. 02

    Map knowledge

    Connect characters to what they know, want, hide, discover, and misunderstand.

  3. 03

    Check the chapter

    Focus its point-of-view character and verify that knowledge, objects, and prior beats line up.

Then follow the map. Open a character before writing their chapter. What they know, want, and hide stays in one view.

Turn the notes into a map you can follow.

Start with this prompt, revise the markdown in your own words, and keep the file as the record.