Write a novel chapter by chapter with a subagent

A author had a custom /write-chapter Claude Code subagent read outlines and prior text, then write and save 10 chapters in 17 minutes.

What They Did: The author asked Claude Code to set itself up as a novel-writing assistant. It created about 10 slash commands, including /brainstorm, /outline and /write-chapter, and the author pasted in their own writing SOPs. After picking one of five brainstormed ideas, the author had /outline produce a 10-chapter outline. Then one /write-chapter prompt made the agent write each chapter, read the earlier text plus the next outline entry, and save it as a txt file.
How It Went: It produced 10 chapters, about 32,000 words, in roughly 17 minutes. The author's manual read found a foreshadowing item planted in chapter 2 paid off correctly in chapter 9. The author judged the result a first draft.
Worth Knowing: The author's own writing SOPs went into the command files before the run. The author also asked Claude Code to save the commands to .claude/commands so the workflow could be reused.

Try it yourself with Claude Code

I'm writing a [genre] novel called [title]. My outline is in [outline file path] and my chapters so far are in [folder]. Create a reusable /write-chapter subagent that reads the outline and all earlier chapters, then writes the next chapter in my established voice at about [word count] words and saves it as [filename pattern]. Start by writing just chapter [number], and stop there so I can review it before you do any more.

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