Organic book quality:
- write_chapter: strip key_events spoilers from character context so the writer
doesn't know planned future events when writing early chapters
- write_chapter: added next_chapter_hint — seeds anticipation for the next scene
in the final paragraphs of each chapter for natural story flow
- write_chapter: added DIALOGUE VOICE instruction referencing CHARACTER TRACKING
speech styles so every character sounds distinctly different
- Lowered SCORE_AUTO_ACCEPT 9→8 to stop over-refining already-professional drafts
Speed improvements:
- check_pacing: reduced from every chapter to every other chapter (~50% fewer calls)
- refine_persona: reduced from every 3 to every 5 chapters (~40% fewer calls)
- Resume summary rebuild: uses first + last-4 chapters instead of all chapters
to avoid massive prompts when resuming mid-book
- Summary context sent to writer capped at 8000 chars (most-recent events)
- update_tracking text cap lowered 500000→20000 (covers any realistic chapter)
Logging and progress bars:
- Progress bar updates at chapter START, not just after completion
- Chapter banner logged before each write so the log shows which chapter is active
- Word count logged after first draft (e.g. "Draft: 2,341 words (target: ~2200)")
- Word count added to chapter completion TIMING line
- Pacing check now logs "Pacing OK" with reason when no intervention needed
- utils: added log_banner() helper for phase separator lines
UI:
- run_details.html: log lines are now phase-coloured (WRITER=cyan, ARCHITECT=green,
TIMING=gray, SYSTEM=yellow, TRACKER=purple, RESUME=orange, etc.)
- Status bar shows current active phase (e.g. "Status: Running — WRITER")
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
story.py — create_chapter_plan():
- TARGET_CHAPTERS is now a guideline (±15%) not a hard constraint; the AI
can produce a count that fits the story rather than forcing a specific number
- Word scaling is now pacing-aware instead of uniform: Very Fast ≈ 60% of avg,
Fast ≈ 80%, Standard ≈ 100%, Slow ≈ 125%, Very Slow ≈ 150%
- Two-pass normalisation: pacing weights applied first, then the total is
nudged to the word target — natural variation preserved throughout
- Variance range tightened to ±8% (was ±10%) for more predictable totals
- Prompt now tells the AI that estimated_words should reflect pacing rhythm
story.py — expand():
- Added event ceiling (target_chapters × 1.5): if the outline already has
enough beats, the pass switches from "add events" to "enrich descriptions"
— prevents over-dense outlines for short stories and flash fiction
- Task instruction is dynamically chosen: add-events vs deepen-descriptions
- Clarified that original user beats must be preserved but new events must
each be distinct and spread evenly (not front-loaded)
story.py — refinement loop:
- Word count constraint softened from hard "do not condense" to
"~N words ±20% acceptable if the scene demands it" so action chapters
can run short and introspective chapters can run long naturally
main.py — bridge chapter insertion:
- Removed hardcoded 1500-word estimate for dynamically inserted bridge
chapters; now computes the average estimated_words from the current
chapter plan so bridge chapters match the book's natural chapter length
Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
