Outline documents before drafting them — the argument skeleton that gets alignment cheaply, the one-line-per-section discipline, and the review-the-outline step that saves rewriting the prose. Use when asked help me start this document, outline before I write, why do my docs get rewritten from scratch in review, or get sign-off before drafting. Produces the outline with each section's claim (not topic), the reader-and-decision header, the outline review step, and the expansion rules.
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Use outline-before-prose to create a claim-based outline for [document goal], for [reader and reviewer], using [known material and evidence], including the header, outline-review prompt, and expansion rules; do not draft prose yet.
Required inputs
[document goal]
[reader and reviewer]
[known material and evidence]
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SKILL.md
name: outline-before-prosedescription: "Outline documents before drafting them — the argument skeleton that gets alignment cheaply, the one-line-per-section discipline, and the review-the-outline step that saves rewriting the prose. Use when asked help me start this document, outline before I write, why do my docs get rewritten from scratch in review, or get sign-off before drafting. Produces the outline with each section's claim (not topic), the reader-and-decision header, the outline review step, and the expansion rules."
Outline Before Prose Skill
Documents get rewritten in review because the structure was wrong — and structure feedback arrived after two days of prose polishing. The outline-first discipline moves that feedback to hour one: a skeleton where every section is a one-line claim (not a topic), a header naming the reader and the decision, and a five-minute outline review with the key stakeholder before any paragraphs exist. Prose expands an approved outline in one pass; prose written first defends itself against restructuring forever.
What This Skill Produces
The header — reader, the decision/action the doc exists to produce, and the length budget
The claim outline — each section as the sentence it will argue, in order, with the evidence it will carry noted
The outline review step — who sees the skeleton, what question they're asked, before drafting starts
The expansion rules — how the approved outline becomes prose without growing new sections in the dark
Required Inputs
Ask for these if not provided:
The doc's job — what the reader should do after reading (approve, decide, follow, stop worrying); docs without a job become tours
The reader, specifically — their context level and their likely objection; the outline argues to someone
The material — what's known, what evidence exists, the conclusion if one is already honest — outlines organize material; they don't survive its absence
The reviewer — whose restructuring would hurt most later; that's who reviews the outline now
Framework: The Skeleton Rules
Sections are claims, not topics: "Performance" is a topic; "The latency regression comes from the new retry logic" is a claim — a claim outline can be disagreed with at outline stage, which is the entire point. If a section's claim can't be written, the thinking isn't done, and prose would have hidden that for two more days.
The header is the contract: reader + the decision + length budget, written first. Every outline decision gets tested against it — a section that doesn't move the named reader toward the named decision is cut now, at one line of sunk cost.
Order is the argument: claims sequenced so each earns the next — context → the problem's cost → the proposal → the evidence → the risks conceded → the ask. Reordering at outline stage is drag-and-drop; at prose stage it's surgery with transitions.
The outline review asks one question: "if the sections argue these claims with this evidence, does the doc work for you?" — five minutes, the reviewer who'd otherwise restructure in review. Their edits land on one page, and the expensive rewrite dies unborn. (This is the executive-summary discipline applied one stage earlier.)
Expansion is faithful or renegotiated: drafting fills sections without spawning new ones; material that demands a new section goes back through the header test (and the reviewer, if it changes the shape). The outline travels at the doc's top during drafting — becoming the TOC, or the exec summary's skeleton, at ship time.
Output Format
Outline: [doc] — for [reader] to [decision] · budget: [length]
The Skeleton
[Section claim, as a sentence] — evidence: [what carries it]
…
[Ordered as the argument · cuts noted: "considered and dropped: X (fails the header test)"]
The Review Step
[Who · the one question · scheduled before drafting]
Expansion Rules
[Fill-don't-spawn · the renegotiation trigger · the outline's afterlife as TOC/summary]
Quality Checks
Every section is a disagreeable claim, not a topic word
The header names reader, decision, and budget — and every section passed its test
Order makes each claim set up the next
The outline reviewer is the person whose late restructuring would cost most
Drafting rules prevent silent new sections
Anti-Patterns
Do not outline in topics — "Background / Analysis / Conclusion" postpones every real decision to prose
Do not draft while outlining — pretty sentences at skeleton stage are premature attachment
Do not skip the review because the outline "is obvious" — obvious outlines take five minutes to confirm and two days to rewrite
Do not defend outline structure at prose review — that conversation was available cheaper earlier; have it earlier
Do not outline without the material — a skeleton of unknowns is a research plan wearing a doc's clothes, and should be named as one
Example Trigger Phrases
"Help me start this document."
"Outline before I write."
"Why do my docs get rewritten from scratch in review?"