How to Turn an Idea into a Complete Short Story

Example

ORIGINAL PLANNING EXAMPLE: an editorial plan and excerpts written for this guide.

Working title: The Last Repair Ticket Premise: On the day she closes her repair shop and moves away, Xu He must quote her mother a real price and deadline and turn down another free rush job. Reader promise: relief mixed with lingering discomfort when a familiar obligation becomes a choice both people can see. Approved facts: the moving van arrives at 17:00; the sewing machine is already packed; her mother's work jacket needs a cuff alteration. The machine is moving with her, and she can finish this one repair at her new home in time to dispatch it on Wednesday. Xu He has previously repaired family clothes without charging but never clearly distinguished a gift from an obligation. Her mother is alive, is not hiding a dramatic secret, and is allowed to decline the offer. Do not make either woman a caricature. Central question: can Xu He turn an assumed free rush job into a paid repair with a deadline she can keep, then leave?

Six-section plan for this story, recording actions and changed conditions: 1. Her mother lays the jacket over the price list and asks for “just two stitches before you go.” Xu He now has to answer a request she usually accepts without discussion. 2. Xu He says she is leaving soon. Her mother puts down the lunch she brought and waits, hearing it as a delay. Hinting has not changed the assumed agreement. 3. Xu He notices an old family repair ticket with the price left blank. She recognizes that she has helped keep the terms invisible; a list of past grievances would not fix today's agreement. 4. She writes a price and a Wednesday dispatch date on a new ticket. She will take the jacket only on those terms, not finish it before the van arrives. Her mother may take it elsewhere. The cost is the uncomfortable possibility of refusal, and that is cost enough. 5. Her mother asks whether she really needs a ticket too. Xu He keeps the offer and the right to refuse intact. After a pause, her mother pays the agreed deposit. Neither makes a speech claiming that all past hurt is healed. 6. Her mother puts the receipt in her wallet and asks, “Wednesday?” Xu He confirms and carries the packed machine to the van. She does not add a promise to finish that night. The repair is still pending; the central agreement is settled.

What we leave out: a terminal-illness reveal, a hostile neighbor, a surprise inheritance and a second romance. None is needed to make this decision costly or visible.

From the plan to prose: three separate editorial excerpts These are three original first-person samples from Xu He's viewpoint, written for this guide and taken from moments in sections 1–2, 3–5 and 6. The development between them belongs to the full draft, which covers all six sections at 3,500–5,000 Chinese characters.

Opening sample — the hint does not settle the terms: Mother laid her work jacket over the price list. “Just two stitches before you go.” “The moving van comes at five,” I said. “The machine's already packed.” She set down the lunch she had brought and pulled up a chair. “Have something to eat first. Then do it.” The price list was still under the jacket. I did not reach for the jacket.

Negotiation sample — a visible offer, then an actual choice: The price space on the old family repair ticket was still empty. I turned to a new ticket, filled in the price, then wrote “Dispatch Wednesday” and set it beside the jacket. “I need a ticket too?” Mother asked. “I'll do this one after I move. I'll send it on Wednesday.” I pointed to the price. “If you don't want it on those terms, you can take it somewhere else.” Mother said nothing. I left the price on the ticket; the jacket stayed on the table. After a while she paid the agreed deposit.

Ending sample — keep the agreement when leaving: Mother put the receipt into her wallet. Before closing it, she asked, “Wednesday?” “I’ll send it Wednesday.” She closed the wallet. I took the work jacket and the packed machine with me and got into the van.

What earns the quiet ending: - In the opening, “I'm leaving” meets “eat first, then do it”: the old assumption survives the hint. The clothes cover the price list, and even an uncovered list would leave the terms unspoken. Xu He has to say what she is offering. - The blank price on the old ticket matters between opening and negotiation. It connects today's discomfort to terms Xu He herself has left unstated; the tension grows from her own habit, and her mother's motives are left for the reader to see. Write that bridge so the receipt at the end has something to carry. - The negotiation keeps price, Wednesday dispatch and refusal on the table at the same time. While the mother stays silent, she has not yet agreed; in this plan, paying the deposit is her acceptance. Why she accepts, whether she is pleased and whether the relationship is mended for good all remain off the page. - The ending repeats the date with a changed function: it is now the agreed commitment, with nothing left to guess. Wednesday is the dispatch date. The clothes and machine leave with Xu He; the alteration remains work she will do after unpacking at her new home.

A warmer-sounding line can undo this chosen ending: Adding “Never mind, I'll do it free tonight” would restore the very rush-and-price assumption this plan chose to change. A free repair for family can make a good ending too. That is a different choice, and it needs its own planned payoff; a sweet extra line slipped into this ending cannot supply it. Likewise, if the author has the mother refuse, plan the consequences of that refusal and cut the payment scene.

Beyond these excerpts, the middle still needs writing: The final draft still has to connect the old ticket, the explicit offer, the possibility of refusal and acceptance at this story's chosen pace. Let section lengths follow their content, and let the conversation itself lead the mother to pay, with no added crisis. Retain the six approved section responsibilities; if the plan itself needs fewer sections, revise the plan first, then draft. A quiet ending is earned by the preceding choices; earlier scenes can rise and fall.

Suggested request in an installed Claude Code workflow: /story-short-write Plan this original family slice-of-life short story in first person, from Xu He's viewpoint. Intended Chinese prose length: 3,500–5,000 characters, across six sections. Those numbers are this project's own choices. Use the approved facts, central question and ending above; mark any further invention as a proposed choice. Preserve an unhurried voice, uneasy warmth and the mother's right to refuse. Do not add a hidden illness, a villain or a final shock twist. This turn is conception only. In [the selected story directory], create only 设定.md and 小节大纲.md following the bundled design format. Do not create 正文.md or edit another story. Identify any scope or causal gap instead of padding the outline. Stop after the design and list the files created.

After deciding any open choices and reading the design, explicitly request drafting from the approved plan. The short story is complete only once the prose is drafted.

Once those two design files are approved, make the full-draft handoff explicit: /story-short-write The design in [the approved story directory] is approved. Draft the complete Chinese story into 正文.md, in Xu He's first person, keeping the agreed 3,500–5,000-character range and all six planned sections. Follow the workflow's section batches; do not return only opening/ending excerpts or treat them as the whole manuscript. Keep the price offer, the right to refuse, the agreed deposit, Wednesday dispatch and departure with the packed machine. The repair itself remains unfinished at the ending. Preserve the unhurried voice and uneasy warmth without adding an illness, villain or shock reveal. Do not silently change the approved design to meet length. If the constraints conflict, report the specific conflict before changing them. If 正文.md already exists, report that before overwriting it. Stop after the requested story and report the written file and any unresolved gaps; do not start another story. [Replace the directory, facts, voice and length with your own approved design.]

The samples on this page are editorial illustrations. Per the documentation, the writing phase delivers one 正文.md file that covers every planned section; confirm completion by checking that file.