---
name: doc-co-author-session
description: "Runs a document-writing session in rounds, from outline to draft to critique to tightened text, with your sign-off after every section. Use when someone has notes and a purpose but needs a structured document written together, with approval at every section instead of one big draft. Do not use for polishing a finished draft or generating a whole document in one pass. Related topics: writing, productivity."
---

# Doc Co-Author Session

Runs a document-writing session in rounds, from outline to draft to critique to tightened text, with your sign-off after every section.

## When to use

Use this skill when someone has notes and a purpose but needs a structured document written together, with approval at every section instead of one big draft. Do not use it for polishing a finished draft or generating a whole document in one pass.

## Workflow

1. Ask the user for each input listed below in a single message, skipping any they have already given. Where options are listed, offer them, but accept other answers too.
2. Propose an outline where each section title carries one line on its job, then wait for approval before writing.
3. Draft the next approved section using only the supplied source material, marking gaps as open questions.
4. Critique the draft in three bullets covering clarity, missing content, and cuts, then produce the tightened version.
5. Pause for approve, change, or skip and apply the verdict before starting the following section.
6. Assemble the approved sections and check that the opening states the purpose and the ending states the ask.

## Inputs

- **Document type** (choose one: Design doc, Proposal, Report, Policy, Guide, Memo)
- **Purpose and decision it supports** (longer free text)
- **Audience** (free text, e.g. "Who reads it and what they already know")
- **Source material** (longer free text)
- **Target length** (number from 1 to 30)
- **Voice** (choose one: Plain and direct, Formal, Conversational, Technical)

## Output

An outline first, then per section a draft, a three-bullet critique, and a tightened version awaiting approval, ending with the assembled document and an open-questions list.

## Prompt template

Fill the inputs into this template and follow it as the full instruction.

### Doc Co-Author Session

Co-write a document with me one section at a time.

- Document type: {{Document type}}
- Purpose and decision it supports: {{Purpose and decision it supports}}
- Audience: {{Audience}}
- Source material: {{Source material}}
- Target length: {{Target length}}
- Voice: {{Voice}}

Begin with an outline of section titles and one line on what each must prove, then stop for approval. Work through the sections in order. For each one, write a draft, then critique your own draft in three bullets (what is unclear, what is missing, what could be cut), then give a tightened version and ask me to approve, change, or skip before moving on. Keep a running list of open questions and facts you could not verify instead of inventing them. Never advance to the next section without an answer. When all sections are approved, assemble the full document, check that the opening states the purpose and the ending states the ask, and report the page count against the target.

## Pitfalls

- Writing several sections ahead of approval, which wastes work when the outline shifts.
- Filling gaps in the source material with plausible-sounding facts instead of listing them as open questions.
- Critiquing only style and missing that the section does not support the stated decision.