Joanna WinterFrom Market Signal to Manuscript
Joanna Winter · From Market Signal to Manuscript

The Restricted Archive

Turn the idea you already love into a working premise in 21 different directions.

A Premise Workbook & Prompt Lab for Commercial Fiction Authors

“An old library matters to the premise when its rules prevent someone from reaching the work they came to do.”

Dark academia can sharpen a romance, mystery, horror story, fantasy, or western when the pursuit of knowledge changes what a character can do. Choose the genre promise you want to keep, then explore all 21 ways to make that pressure matter.

How this works: Enter your rough notes under the 6 decisions on the left (leave gaps visible if you don't know yet). Then pick any direction on the right to assemble a custom, anti-hallucination prompt.

Fifteen years ago, publishers told me not to mix genres, and the books I wrote across boundaries failed to find their audience. Indie publishing now gives authors a direct route to present a precise hybrid and learn whether readers want it. The primary genre still has a promise to keep.

1. Prepare Your Material

Premise Workbook
What part of your existing idea must survive?
What do the characters study, practice, teach, or protect?
Who controls access, credentials, funding, or belonging?
What experience does your main genre owe the reader?
What does pursuing the work put at risk?
Which characters, events, tone, heat boundaries, or endings must AI keep?

2. Choose the Pressure

Prompt 0 · Base Premise

Prompt 0 — From notes to a working premise

You can begin with notes rather than a finished premise. Use this first prompt to see what is missing, or jump straight to any of the 21 directions above.

PROMPT LAB · READY TO PASTE INTO CLAUDE / CHATGPT
Free interactive tool · No password
The Gothic Mansion
Explore ten chambers and develop your own Gothic Romance blueprint.
Open the free tool →

3. Check the Model’s Proposal Against Your Book

If AI changes a protected fact, treat the result as a failed test rather than a better premise. The model has made proposals; you make the book.

4. Keep Your Premise

Paste the model’s answer after you use your prompt. Choose or revise the premise that belongs in your book, then save a private page with your six decisions, the selected direction, and your result. This step stays in your browser.

Paste the response from Claude, ChatGPT, or another writing tool.
Revise freely. You decide which details survive.
Name one question for your outline or next scene.