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writing-beats

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Original

English
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Translation

Chinese
<what-to-do>
The user has passed (or will pass) a markdown file of raw material.
If the user did not say where to save the article, ask once and remember the path.
Then run a beat-by-beat journey:
  1. Write 2–3 candidate starting beats, drawn from the raw material. Each is a different entry point into the article. Show the user the beats before writing it to the article file. The user picks one.
  2. Once the user picks a starting beat, write only that beat to the article file. A beat may be one sentence or several paragraphs — whatever that beat naturally is. Stop there.
  3. Re-read the article file from disk. Then offer 2–3 candidate next beats — different directions the journey could pivot to from where the article now stands.
  4. Loop steps 2–4 until the article reaches a natural end.
</what-to-do> <supporting-info>
<what-to-do>
用户已提供（或即将提供）一份包含原始素材的markdown文件。
如果用户未说明文章的保存路径，请询问一次并记录该路径。
随后按节拍逐步推进创作旅程：
  1. 从原始素材中提炼2–3个候选起始beat，每个都是进入文章的不同切入点。在写入文章文件前先向用户展示这些beat，由用户选择其一。
  2. 用户选定起始beat后，仅将该beat内容写入文章文件。一个beat可以是一句话或几段文字——以该beat的自然呈现为准，到此为止。
  3. 重新读取磁盘中的文章文件，然后提供2–3个候选下一个beat——即文章当前节点可转向的不同方向。
  4. 重复步骤2–4，直到文章自然收尾。
</what-to-do> <supporting-info>

What is a beat

What is a beat

A beat is one move in the journey. It does one thing — sets a scene, lands a point, asks a question, tells a small story, drops an aside, twists the angle. Then it stops, leaving the reader at a place where the next beat can pivot.
A beat is sized by what it needs:
  • A single sentence if that's all the move is ("And then nothing happened for three weeks.").
  • A short paragraph if the move needs setup.
  • Multiple paragraphs if the beat is a self-contained vignette, argument, or example.
If a "beat" needs five paragraphs and three subheadings, it's not a beat — it's two beats glued together. Split it.
一个beat是旅程中的一个环节，只完成一件事——设定场景、阐述观点、提出问题、讲述小故事、补充题外话、转换视角。之后便停止，让读者处于一个可转向下一个beat的节点。
beat的篇幅按需而定：
  • 仅需完成简单动作时，一句话即可（例如："And then nothing happened for three weeks."）。
  • 需要铺垫时，用一小段文字。
  • 如果beat是独立的小片段、论点或示例，则可用多段文字。
如果一个"beat"需要五段文字和三个小标题，那它不是一个beat——而是两个beat的组合，需要拆分。

Offering candidate beats

Offering candidate beats

Each candidate should be genuinely different — different angle, different tone, different move. Not three flavours of the same paragraph. The user is choosing a direction, so the choices need to diverge.
Format the offer like a menu:
Where do you want to start?

1. **Open with the failure.** Drop the reader into the moment it broke —
   the bug, the silence, the wrong number on the dashboard. Hooks on shock.

2. **Open with the contradiction.** State the thing everyone believes,
   then state the thing that turns out to be true. Hooks on curiosity.

3. **Open with the small scene.** A specific morning, a specific
   conversation. Hooks on intimacy.
Sketch the move, not the prose. The user picks a direction; you write the prose afterward.
Always end the menu with your recommendation and a one-line reason. Don't sit on the fence — pick one. Example: "I'd go with 2 — the contradiction sets up the strongest through-line for what's in the pile." The user can override; they usually won't, but they need your read.
每个候选beat都应具有真正的差异性——不同的视角、语气或动作，而非同一内容的三种变体。用户是在选择方向，因此选项需要有明显区分。
将选项格式化为菜单样式：
Where do you want to start?

1. **Open with the failure.** Drop the reader into the moment it broke —
   the bug, the silence, the wrong number on the dashboard. Hooks on shock.

2. **Open with the contradiction.** State the thing everyone believes,
   then state the thing that turns out to be true. Hooks on curiosity.

3. **Open with the small scene.** A specific morning, a specific
   conversation. Hooks on intimacy.
只需勾勒方向，无需撰写完整文字。用户选定方向后，你再撰写具体内容。
菜单末尾务必附上你的推荐及一句理由，不要模棱两可——明确选择一个。示例："我推荐选择2——这种矛盾的切入点能为素材中的内容搭建最清晰的主线。" 用户可以推翻你的推荐，但他们需要你的专业判断。

Writing one beat

Writing one beat

Once a beat is picked, write that beat only to the article file. Do not write the next beat. Do not foreshadow the next beat. Do not write transitions out of the beat — the next beat will pivot, and pivots are written when their beat is written.
Pull material from the raw pile to populate the beat. You can paraphrase, split, recombine, or quote. The pile is a quarry.
If the beat needs something the pile doesn't have, name the gap before writing: "this beat wants a concrete example and the pile doesn't have one — give me one or pick a different beat."
选定beat后，仅将该beat内容写入文章文件。不要提前写下一个beat，不要铺垫下一个beat，也不要撰写该beat的过渡内容——下一个beat的转向内容会在撰写该beat时完成。
从原始素材中提取内容来填充beat，你可以改写、拆分、重组或引用素材。素材就像一座采石场。
如果该beat需要的内容在素材中缺失，撰写前需说明："这个beat需要一个具体示例，但素材中没有——请提供一个示例或选择其他beat。"

Pivoting to the next beat

Pivoting to the next beat

After the user has edited, re-read the article file. The article may have changed in ways that change what the next beat should be. Then offer 2–3 candidates again.
The candidates should respect the article so far. Useful pivot moves:
  • Continue — push further in the same direction, deepen what's there.
  • Contrast — introduce the opposite, the counterexample, the doubt.
  • Zoom in — narrow to a specific case, scene, or detail.
  • Zoom out — widen to the broader implication or pattern.
  • Aside — break the fourth wall, drop a tip, add a footnote-shaped paragraph.
  • Pivot hard — deliberately change subject, trusting the connection will land later.
Mix the candidates. If you've offered three "continue" options in a row, force a contrast or zoom into the next menu.
用户编辑后，重新读取文章文件。文章可能已发生变化，这会影响下一个beat的选择。之后再次提供2–3个候选beat。
候选beat应与当前文章内容契合。实用的转向方式包括：
  • 延续——沿同一方向深入，深化现有内容。
  • 对比——引入相反观点、反例或质疑。
  • 聚焦——缩小到特定案例、场景或细节。
  • 拓展——拓宽到更广泛的意义或模式。
  • 题外话——打破第四面墙，提供提示，添加类似脚注的段落。
  • 大幅转向——刻意切换主题，相信后续能建立关联。
混合不同类型的候选选项。如果连续三次提供「延续」类选项，下一次菜单中需加入对比或聚焦类选项。

Ending the journey

Ending the journey

The article ends when the journey is complete — not when the pile is empty. Most piles will have leftover fragments that don't make it in. That is fine; that is the point of having more raw material than you need.
When you sense an ending is near, say so: "we could end on the last beat, or add one more that lands the takeaway — which?" Let the user decide.
当旅程完成时，文章即收尾——而非素材用尽时。大多数素材会有未被使用的片段，这很正常；拥有超出需求的原始素材正是为了这个目的。
当你感觉接近收尾时，告知用户："我们可以在最后一个beat结束，或者再加一个beat来点明核心观点——你选哪个？" 由用户决定。

Writing rhythm

Writing rhythm

  • Append one beat at a time. Never write ahead.
  • Re-read the article file from disk before every write. Preserve user edits absolutely.
  • If the user edits a previous beat substantially, let it change what comes next. The journey is alive.
  • If the user says "rewrite that beat" or "go back and try a different beat 3", do it — edit in place, leave the rest alone.
  • 每次仅追加一个beat，切勿提前撰写后续内容。
  • 每次撰写前务必重新读取磁盘中的文章文件，完全保留用户的编辑内容。
  • 如果用户大幅修改了之前的beat，需根据修改内容调整后续方向。创作旅程是动态的。
  • 如果用户要求「重写那个beat」或「回到之前的步骤，尝试另一个beat3」，照做即可——原地修改，保留其他内容。

Out of scope

Out of scope

  • Outlining the whole article up front.
  • Writing multiple beats in a single turn.
  • Editing the raw material file.
  • Imposing a fixed structure (intro/body/conclusion). The structure is whatever the journey turns out to be.
</supporting-info>
  • 预先勾勒整篇文章的大纲。
  • 单次撰写多个beat。
  • 编辑原始素材文件。
  • 强加固定结构（引言/正文/结论）。文章结构由创作旅程自然形成。
</supporting-info>