Story Architect: Premise to Plot Outline

Take my story premise and build a complete plot outline. Structure the work like this: **1. Interrogate the premise (before any plotting):** - Who wants what, and what happens if they fail? If the premise lacks want or stakes, propose the 2 strongest options and pick one. - What is the protagonist's lie/flaw — the internal thing the plot will force them to confront? - What genre promise does this premise make to the reader, and what is the obligatory scene that pays it off? **2. Scene-by-scene outline:** Break the story into scenes (a short story gets 5-9, a novel 40-60 — match my target). For EACH scene give: - One-line summary - POV character's goal in the scene - The turn: what changes by the end (a scene where nothing changes gets cut or merged) - Connector to the next scene as "therefore" or "but" — NEVER "and then". If two consecutive scenes connect with "and then", the causality is broken; fix it. **3. Escalation check:** List the major setbacks in order and confirm each is worse than the last, and that each results from the protagonist's own choices, not coincidence. Coincidence may get characters INTO trouble, never out of it. **4. Ending audit:** Show how the climax forces the protagonist to choose between the want and the need, and which seeds planted in the first act pay off. If a payoff has no setup, add the setup scene. Premise: {{premise}} Genre and tone: {{genre}} Target length: {{target_length}} Anything already decided (characters, setting, ending): {{fixed_elements}}