Scientific Writing — Stage 3: Draft

Overview

Turn the approved outline.md into full prose, then enforce the style guide in a separate pass. Two phases:

1. Draft — section-by-section prose from the outline, in the user's voice. Content fidelity is the priority.
2. Style correction — a dedicated subagent re-reads the full style guide with fresh context and corrects the whole draft.

Why split them: during a long drafting conversation the style guide drifts out of context and its rules stop being applied. A final subagent whose only context is the style guide + the draft applies the guide cleanly.

Every sentence traces to an outline bullet — drafting does not introduce new claims.

Method backbone — Steps 13–15

Drafting is Steps 13–15 of the fifteen steps: turn each planned paragraph (its Step-11 purpose statement) into one paragraph of three parts (detail: scientific-writing/fifteen-steps.md):

• Topic sentence (Step 13). Often the paragraph's purpose statement itself; or a question, a turning point ("Having established X, we turn to Y"), a complication ("…but it fails to account for…"), or a development ("This can be made concrete with a model"). If the paragraph doesn't support the paper's main point, rewrite or cut it.
• Supporting sentences (Step 15). Typically 3–6. For Methods/Results/Discussion responses, lift them from the outline's method/result/response lists. Equations, algorithms, and code count as supporting sentences. Strike any sentence that doesn't advance the paragraph's purpose.
• Concluding sentence (Step 14). Closes the theme the topic sentence opened (a declaration → develops/summarizes it; a question → answers it) and segues to the next paragraph in logic if not syntax. If the topic and concluding sentences are disconnected, rewrite both.

This is the phrasing stage; the thinking is already fixed in the outline. Style polish is deferred entirely to Phase 2.

Load context first

Read: story.md, outline.md, references.md, and the selected style guide. Default style: styles/dlaub-style.md (this skill's directory). If multiple styles exist in styles/, ask the user which to use. Record the chosen guide's path — Phase 2 needs it.

Phase 1 — Draft (per section)

1. Write prose for the section from its outline.md bullets, one paragraph per Step-11 purpose statement using the topic→supporting→concluding contract above, in the voice of the selected style guide.
2. Fidelity review — every claim still traces to an outline.md bullet and its backing pointer/references.md entry. No new unbacked claims, no dropped figure callouts, no altered numbers.
3. Next section.

Write draft.md in the story dir. Do not run the full style checklist here — that is Phase 2's job. A rough-but-faithful draft is the correct Phase 1 output.

Phase 2 — Style correction (dedicated subagent)

After the complete draft exists, dispatch ONE subagent whose only context is the style guide and the draft. This is required, not optional: do not hand-polish style inline in this conversation, because the guide has already drifted out of context here.

Dispatch a subagent with this task:

Read <path-to-selected-style-guide> in full, then read <story-dir>/draft.md.
Apply every rule in the style guide to the entire draft, working its end-of-guide checklist paragraph by paragraph.
Make style-only edits, in place in draft.md:
- Do NOT add, remove, or alter any claim.
- Do NOT change any number, citation marker, or figure callout (text or position).
- Do NOT change section structure or headings.
Return a short list of the categories of change you made (e.g. "removed 6 em-dashes, de-hedged 4 sentences, fixed 2 repeated figure callouts").

When the subagent returns, skim its change list and spot-check that no numbers or callouts moved.

Output

• draft.md with citation markers and figure callouts preserved exactly as in the outline.
• After Phase 2: a short handoff noting any spots where the outline was thin and prose had to stretch, plus the subagent's style-change summary.

Red flags — STOP

• A sentence with a claim not in outline.md → remove it or send the claim back to Stage 2.
• A number changed from the outline → revert; outline numbers are the source of truth.
• Skipping the Phase 2 subagent and hand-styling inline → the style guide has drifted out of context; dispatch the subagent.
• The style subagent changed a number, citation, or figure callout → revert that edit; the pass is style-only.

Done

Hand draft.md to the user for review.