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🧠 Product Docs
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🍄 About Expanse
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AI offers great benefits to creative writing, offering incredible potential as a brainstorming partner, drafting assistant, and style guru. But if you've tried using large language models (LLMs) for anything longer than a short story, you've likely hit the wall: the dreaded context window limit. Suddenly, your brilliant AI collaborator forgets key plot points, mixes up character motivations, or loses the thread entirely.
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An unlimited AI plan solves the cost problem, not the quality problem. Without smart context management, you're just generating more noise, not better narrative.
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How do we write long-form projects with AI without it forgetting crucial details? Simple: You manage the context, not the AI. Don't try to stuff your whole story into the AI's limited memory. Instead, act as the director, giving your AI actor specific notes for the current scene.
Our approach uses two steps:
Create templates to hold the key information required to write the story. You can ask AI to do this for you! Think about the types of information you might need, in this example we have Character, World-building and Plot templates. For managing more intricate narratives, specialized templates tracking timelines, subplots, themes, research, system rules (magic/tech), or clues/mysteries allow you to precisely control complex details and feed the AI highly focused context for specific story elements.
**Character Sheet Template**
- **Character Name:**
- **Role in Story:** (Protagonist, Antagonist, Mentor, Love Interest, Supporting, etc.)
- **Core Motivation/Goal (Overall):** (What drives them through the story?)
- **Core Motivation/Goal (Current Scene - *Update as needed*):** (What do they want *right now*?)
- **Key Personality Traits (3-5 Keywords):** (e.g., Grumpy, Loyal, Ambitious, Naive, Cynical)
- **Physical Description (Brief - Essentials Only):** (Highlight defining features AI might need)
- **Key Relationships:** (Brief note on their connection to other *relevant* characters in the current scene/arc)
- **Relevant Backstory Snippet (Keep short):** (Only include details crucial for understanding current actions/motivations)
- **Voice/Dialogue Quirks (Optional):** (e.g., Formal speech, uses slang, often sarcastic)
- **Current Status/State (Update as needed):** (e.g., Injured, Angry, Confused, Holding the MacGuffin)
**World-Building / Setting Template**
- **Overall World Concept:** (e.g., High Fantasy Kingdom, Near-Future Cyberpunk City, Historical London)
- **Key Locations (Relevant to Current Arc/Scene):**
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- **Location Name:**
- **Brief Description:** (Atmosphere, key features)
- **Significance:** (Why is this place important?)
- **Key Rules/Laws (Magic, Tech, Social):** (Only list rules *currently* impacting the plot or characters)
- **Important Objects/Lore:**
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- **Item/Concept Name:**
- **Brief Description/Function:**
- **Relevance:** (Why does it matter *now*?)
- **Atmosphere/Mood Keywords:** (e.g., Oppressive, Mysterious, Bustling, Decaying, Hopeful)
**Plot Outline / Scene Tracker**
**Overall Logline/Synopsis (1-2 sentences):**
* [Your story's core pitch/summary]
**Major Plot Points / Arcs:**
* **Arc 1 Goal:** [e.g., Introduce conflict, Establish world]
* **Arc 2 Goal:** [e.g., Rising action, Hero faces setbacks]
* **Arc 3 Goal:** [e.g., Climax, Resolution]
* *(Add more arcs as needed)*
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**(Repeat for Each Scene/Chapter)**
**Scene Number / Name:** [e.g., Scene 1.1 / The Ambush]
**Scene Goal/Purpose:**
* [What *must* this scene accomplish for the plot? What information needs revealing? What character change must occur?]
**Characters Involved:**
* [List names - link to Character Sheets if digital]
* *Character A Goal in Scene:* [e.g., Escape the trap]
* *Character B Goal in Scene:* [e.g., Capture Character A]
**Setting:**
* [Brief description - e.g., Rainy Dockside Warehouse, Night. Reference World Bible if needed.]
**Key Events / Beats (Bulleted List):**
* [ ] Character A arrives, looking for X.
* [ ] Ambush springs. Noise/Chaos.
* [ ] Brief fight/struggle.
* [ ] Character B reveals a piece of information Y.
* [ ] Character A escapes/is captured/makes a choice Z.
* *(Use checkboxes [ ] to mark completion if desired)*
**Context Needed for AI (Crucial info from *previous* scenes):**
* [Summarize ONLY what the AI *must* know from prior events to write this scene correctly. e.g., "Anya just learned Borin betrayed her," "They believe the artifact is hidden here," "Remember the storm makes visibility poor."]
**Outcome / Transition:**
* [How does the scene end? What state are characters left in? What does this scene lead directly into?]
**Continuity Notes/Questions:**
* [Optional: Any specific details to track? Questions to resolve later? e.g., "Ensure Anya keeps the locket hidden," "Does Borin know about the informant?"]
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These templates are your external brain. Keep them updated and use them strategically:
Your AI-Assisted Workflow:
In this example, we used saved templates to prompt the AI to write our story, one section at a time. The templates need to be saved in a note taking app outside of Expanse, and updated for each new section.
https://share.expanse.com/thread/B9FSNO
See LLM Leaderboards for more info, but consider using specialized leaderboards such as Fictionbench that are designed specifically to test LLMs for this use case.
Don't let AI context limits stall your long-form writing. By externalizing your story's core information into organized templates, you become the context manager. This allows you to feed the AI focused, precise information for each task, ensuring consistency and quality.
Use these templates to guide your AI collaborator effectively, turning it from a forgetful assistant into a powerful tool that helps bring your complex narrative vision to life. Stop fighting the limits – start directing the AI. Happy writing!