This project is under active development. Do not trust any of the documentation.

WritersRoom

A CLI tool for creative writing. Develop characters, plan story arcs, break down scenes, and generate multi-character dialog -- all from the command line with LLM assistance.

The workflow follows a writers' room model: write material, direct scenes, produce the show.

Install

gem install writers_room

Requires an LLM provider. Ollama works out of the box with no API key.

Quick Start

wr init my_novella --medium novella --concept "A detective retires, then a letter arrives"
cd my_novella

This creates a project directory with config.yml, project.md, story_bible.yml, and scaffolded subdirectories for the chosen medium.

Media Types

Each medium scaffolds different directories and workflows:

Medium	Directories
dialog	characters, scenes, transcripts, arcs
documentary	research, timeline, segments, interviews, transcripts, sources
novel	characters, relationships, arcs, settings, locations, research, timeline, backstory, chapters, parts, transcripts
novella	characters, relationships, arcs, settings, locations, backstory, chapters, drafts, transcripts
radio_play	characters, arcs, settings, episodes, scenes, transcripts, sound_design
screenplay	characters, arcs, settings, locations, acts, sequences, scenes, transcripts
short_story	characters, settings, scenes, drafts, transcripts
stage_play	characters, arcs, settings, acts, scenes, transcripts
tv_series	characters, arcs, settings, locations, seasons, episodes, scenes, transcripts

Commands

Project

wr init PROJECT_NAME      # create a new project
wr status                 # show project state and next steps
wr config                 # show current LLM configuration
wr                        # start interactive chat session (default)

Writer Tools

LLM-assisted content development. Add --chat for interactive mode.

wr write develop-concept                    # expand the project concept
wr write develop-character "Alice" -p shy   # generate a character profile
wr write create-arc "Act 1" -d "Setup"      # outline a story arc
wr write breakdown-scenes "Act 1"           # break an arc into scenes
wr write list-arcs                          # list all arcs in metadata

Elements

Universal CRUD for any element type. Each supports create, list, show, version, and status.

wr character create "Alice Morgan" -p curious -s formal -b "Retired detective"
wr character list

wr chapter create "The Letter" --body "Alice finds a mysterious letter."
wr chapter show the_letter
wr chapter version the_letter           # create a versioned snapshot
wr chapter status the_letter revision   # update status

wr scene create "Opening" -d "A quiet morning" -c alice_morgan bob_crane
wr scene list

Also available: arc, location, setting, relationship, theme.

Story Bible

An auto-generated index mapping slugs and aliases to files.

wr bible regenerate     # rebuild from project files
wr bible show           # display all indexed elements
wr bible search "Alice" # find by name, slug, or substring

Production

For dialog-oriented media. Directs scenes with LLM-powered actors.

wr direct scenes/opening.md -l 50   # direct a single scene
wr produce                           # run all scenes
wr produce --chat                    # plan production interactively first
wr report                            # summarize all transcripts

Export

wr export manuscript    # formatted manuscript (adapts to medium)
wr export bible         # story bible as markdown
wr export references    # cross-reference graph

Help

wr help                 # list all commands
wr help write           # help for a subcommand
wr help --verbose       # comprehensive reference
wr tree                 # print full command tree

Project Structure

All project files are markdown with YAML front matter. The only exception is config.yml.

my_novella/
  config.yml          # LLM provider and model settings
  project.md          # project metadata (name, concept, medium)
  story_bible.yml     # auto-generated element index
  characters/
    alice_morgan.md
  chapters/
    the_letter.md
    the_letter_v1.md  # versioned snapshot
  arcs/
  settings/
  locations/
  relationships/
  backstory/
  drafts/
  transcripts/

Configuration

Default provider is Ollama with the gpt-oss model. Override via config.yml or environment variables:

Variable	Default	Purpose
`RUBY_LLM_PROVIDER`	`ollama`	LLM provider
`RUBY_LLM_MODEL`	`gpt-oss`	Model name
`OLLAMA_URL`	`http://localhost:11434`	Ollama server URL

License

MIT

writers_room

Development

Runtime