I recently saw something interesting on skills.sh:

https://skills.sh/penglonghuang/chinese-novelist-skill/chinese-novelist

The name is quite straightforward: a Skill for writing Chinese novels.

At first, I didn't take it too seriously. I've seen too many "AI writes novels" tools, and they generally have a common problem: they fall apart as they write.

Why They Fall Apart

If you've used models to write longer pieces yourself, you've probably encountered this pitfall:

• Characters' personalities change mid-story.
• Supporting character names become inconsistent.
• Plot points set up earlier are forgotten later.
• The writing style changes drastically towards the end, as if a different author took over.

Simply put: when the context gets long, the model can't remember.

You have to constantly remind it: "Who is this person?" "What just happened?"

It's quite annoying.

This Skill Does Something Simple but Useful

It doesn't do anything particularly complex; it just does one thing:

After writing each chapter, it creates a summary and then uses that summary to write the next chapter.

It's that simple.

But the effect is quite noticeable.

You can think of it like this:

The model is still the same model, but it has an editor next to it who is constantly taking notes.

This "editor" helps it remember:

• Character settings
• Plot points that have already occurred
• Which plot threads are still unresolved

Then, it feeds this information back when writing the next chapter.

It's Also Straightforward to Use

The basic process is:

1. Place the Skill in the skills directory of your AI software or send the link for it to install itself.
2. Launch it.
3. Answer a few questions.

Usually, you'll choose:

• What genre to write.
• What kind of protagonist.
• Their general personality.
• What the conflict is.
• How many chapters to write.

After selecting these, it starts writing on its own.

It doesn't output the entire piece at once; it writes chapter by chapter.

The Difference Compared to "Directly Asking AI to Write"

If you previously just gave a prompt like "Help me write a novel," the main differences with this Skill are:

First, it writes in chapters.
Second, it "takes notes" between chapters.

These two points combined ensure that the output is at least less likely to fall apart.

How's the Effect?

If you're expecting it to write something groundbreaking, then forget it.

But if you just want to:

• Write more smoothly.
• Avoid plot inconsistencies.
• Be able to complete the story.

It is useful.

The problems are also obvious:

• The plots are still quite formulaic.
• The pacing is a bit slow.
• It lacks compelling hooks.

In other words, it solves the problem of "being able to write," not "writing beautifully."

What It's Like

I think it's more like making the process of writing a novel a bit more "engineered."

Instead of relying on the model to brute-force the entire piece at once, it involves:

• Breaking it down into steps.
• Keeping records.
• Progressing bit by bit.

It's a simple method, but it's effective.

More Practical Usage

If you really want to use it for something serious, a more reliable approach might be:

• Figure out the overall direction yourself first.
• Feed in the key settings.
• Let it write the first draft.

If you let AI write it entirely, it will likely be readable, but you won't want to read the second chapter.

In summary

This skill isn't miraculous, but it solves a very real problem:

Models "forget" when writing long pieces.

Its solution is also simple:

Don't expect it to remember; make it record every step.

That's all there is to it.