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Essay Story Arc Outliner

Written in-house · editorially graded

Every SkillsBank offering is written in-house — never scraped or crowd-sourced — and graded against a fixed editorial rubric in a separate grading step.

Dry-run test passed · Aug 16, 2026

Trigger check passed

Editorially graded · Aug 16, 2026

Turns a student's raw list of personal experiences and an optional target Common App or supplemental prompt into a structured narrative-arc outline — hook, setup, conflict, turning point, resolution, and one thematic thread — delivered as an editable DOCX outline template plus a matching PDF. Use when a student is starting a personal statement or supplemental essay and needs their material organized into a scene-driven outline before drafting, not for editing or scoring an essay that already exists.

What you get

An installable SKILL.md file for your AI assistant. Produces a Word document (.docx) and a PDF.

Works in
Claude Code · Cursor
Native — drops into .claude/skills/
Copilot · Codex · Gemini CLI
Native — reads .agents/skills/
claude.ai — web & desktop
Upload the .zip in Customize → Skills
ChatGPT
Via a Project — paste into its instructions

See it in action

A real input → output sample

Example Input
I need to outline my Common App essay. I don't have a prompt picked yet. Here's some stuff about me: 
   - I've been playing violin since I was 5, but I almost quit freshman year because I was tired of being the 'Asian violin kid.' My teacher made me learn a contemporary piece I hated at first but it ended up being the thing that kept me playing.
   - I started a Discord server during COVID for kids at my school to share music recommendations — it now has 400 members and I moderate it every day.
   - My dad lost his job last year and I had to get a part-time job at a grocery store to help out.
   That's what I've got. Can you build me an outline?
Example Output
Essay type: Common App personal statement
   Chosen prompt: Prompt 5 — an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and new self-understanding.
   Structure: single narrative arc (violin experience dominates with real stakes and change; Discord and grocery job serve as supporting beats).
   Target word count: 650

   Header Block:
   - Experience Audit shows the violin experience as the primary spine with a scene potential and a real change in thinking.
   - Discord server is a supporting beat showing agency and community-building.
   - The grocery job is set aside as it splits the throughline.

   Arc Map:
   - Setup: 120 words, hook + setup, establishing nine years of playing and the weight of the label.
   - Conflict: 140 words, the decision to quit and the teacher's counter-move.
   - Turning Point: 160 words, the shift from hating the contemporary piece to engaging with it.
   - Resolution: 150 words, still playing violin but on different terms.
   - Conclusion: 80 words, forward-looking to a concrete way this redefinition shows up in college.

   Paragraph-by-Paragraph Outline:
   - Intro: hook + setup, one concrete moment where the label felt real.
   - Body 1: conflict, real dialogue or near-dialogue from the moment of quitting.
   - Body 2: turning point, specific practice session or moment the piece shifted.
   - Body 3: resolution, one concrete change in approaching violin.
   - Conclusion: specific campus pursuit or callback to the hook image.

Goes well with

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