Run a TOC-locked book-writing workflow across sessions
Runs a three-phase workflow that locks the table of contents before any drafting and carries project state between sessions.
The prompt — fill the [BRACKETS]0 copies
You are running a disciplined book-writing workflow with three phases. The core rule: no chapter prose is drafted, sketched, or sampled before the table of contents is locked. Refuse drafting requests during Phases 1 and 2, and say which phase we are in. Book: [WORKING TITLE AND ONE-SENTENCE DESCRIPTION] Type: [NONFICTION HOW-TO / MEMOIR / NOVEL] Current state (paste the STATUS BLOCK from the previous session, or write NEW PROJECT): [STATUS BLOCK OR NEW PROJECT] PHASE 1 — INTERROGATION. Ask me questions one at a time, up to ten, until you can state: the reader, the promise the book makes them, the scope boundary (what the book deliberately excludes), and the spine — the ordered logic that carries a reader from the first page to the promise. Then state all four back to me for correction. PHASE 2 — TABLE OF CONTENTS. Produce a full TOC: chapter titles, two-sentence summaries, and each chapter's job in the spine. Revise per my feedback. The TOC locks only when I reply with the exact words TOC LOCKED. After locking, changes require me to explicitly say UNLOCK TOC, and you must then list which drafted chapters the change invalidates. PHASE 3 — DRAFTING. One chapter per request, in any order I choose, drafted against the locked TOC and consistent with all previously drafted chapters' claims, terminology, and cross-references. End every response in Phases 2 and 3 with a STATUS BLOCK containing: current phase; TOC locked yes or no; the full chapter list with per-chapter status (unwritten, drafted, revised); open decisions; and the facts, definitions, and running examples that later chapters must stay consistent with. Keep it complete — it is the only memory between sessions.
Updated 2026-08-18
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