Building Session 05
WRITING STUDIO · AI for Non-Tech Students Accelerator
Build your personal AI operating system for your thesis work
Spine to first draft. Three chapters today.
You have processed your papers. You have a synthesis saved in Drive. You know what the literature actually says. Today you turn that thinking into chapter writing — lit review, introduction, methodology — three first-draft chapters in your voice, all saved in your Google Drive Thesis folder. We will add new Skills first, build a write-like-me.md file second, custom instructions edited third, drafting last. ‘Doing these things in this order is the work.’
The New Way of Working
Three chapters drafted in one structured session. Your voice. Your spine. Your synthesis. Your writing.
Most students at this stage open a Claude chat and start typing. Six weeks later they have writing that does not hold together because the structure was never built before the writing started. This session enforces the discipline that prevents that. Spine first. Voice file built. Drafting skills installed. Then chapter writing, section by section, one Claude chat at a time.
You leave this session with three first-draft chapters in your Thesis folder, three new skills installed in your Writing Studio Project, and a write-like-me.md file that makes Claude write like you, not like generic AI, for every session from now until submission.
KEY INSIGHT
The order of work in this session is the work. New Claude Skills first, write-like-me file second, custom instructions edited third, drafting last. Skip any step and the chapters that come out will not sound like you.
“The write-like-me.md file tells Claude what to protect, what to never do, and how to push back when your draft drifts. It also shows Claude what you sound like on a good day.”
WHY THIS WASN'T POSSIBLE BEFORE
From scattered drafts.
To three structured chapters in one session.
BEFORE · 2023 TO 2025
Three chapters, three chats, no continuity.
You wrote your lit review chapter in one chat, your intro in another, your methodology in a third, and the voice in each one drifted because nothing held the structure together. Each chat started fresh. Claude had no memory of how you write or what you already drafted. By the time you reached the third chapter, your writing did not sound like the first chapter anymore.
The chapters did not know each other.
NOW · 2026
One voice file, three skills, three chapters in step.
You build a write-like-me file once. Claude reads it before every session. You install three drafting skills that enforce the same discipline across every chapter. The Google Drive connector lets Claude read your synthesis, your spine, and your previous sections live, without you pasting anything.
Three chapters drafted in one session, all in your voice, all holding together.
What You Will Build
Spine to First Draft — Step-by-Step Instructions
Click the bright cyan blue ▼ arrow at the end of each box to get your step-by-step instructions.
Work through each item. Check them off as you go.
0 / 9 COMPLETED
STEP 1 · Set up your Writing Studio Project knowledge base
~10 min
Confirm the Writing Studio Project has the right files in its knowledge base before you build anything else
The knowledge base is what Claude reads at the start of every session. If the wrong things live here, Claude works blind. If the right things live here, every drafting session starts from a strong foundation.
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STEP 2 · Install & Save the three drafting skills
~30 min
Build the lit-review-drafter Skill
The first of three. Same /skill-creator process you used in Session 03. Paste the pre-made SKILL.md below, save, and Claude will use this Skill every time you draft a lit review section for the rest of your thesis.
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Build the intro-drafter Skill
Open a new chat in the same Writing Studio Project. Same /skill-creator process. Different SKILL.md — this one drafts the introduction chapter and enforces the funnel discipline that prevents weak openings.
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Build the methodology-drafter Skill
Third and final. Open a new chat. Drop in the methodology-drafter SKILL.md below. Save. All three Skills now live in your Writing Studio Project.
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STEP 3 · Build your write-like-me.md file
~45 min
Run the 25-question taste interview to extract how you think, write, argue, and care
This is the most important file in your entire thesis workflow. It tells Claude how to write like you, not like generic AI. You build it once. Claude reads it before every session for the rest of your thesis.
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STEP 4 · Edit custom instructions in all three Projects
~5 min
Add one sentence to the top of the custom instructions in Writing Studio Project, Literature Review Project, and Thesis Command Center
This step takes thirty seconds per Project and changes everything. It guarantees Claude reads your write-like-me.md file before it does anything in any session — no matter which Project you're working in.
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STEP 5 · Draft three chapter spines and Section 1 of each chapter
~3 hrs
Run lit-review-drafter in spine mode, then section-draft mode for Section 1
This is your first real drafting block. The spine builds the chapter structure. Section 1 produces 500 to 800 words of real chapter writing, in your voice, saved in your Google Drive Thesis folder.
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Run intro-drafter in spine mode, then section-draft mode for Section 1
Same rhythm as 5a. New Skill. The intro chapter is the hardest framing work in your thesis. Spine first, always.
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Run methodology-drafter in spine mode, then section-draft mode for Section 1
Same rhythm. Third Skill. Methodology is the easiest of the three to draft if your research design is already settled. If it is not, the Skill will stop and tell you.
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What You Leave With
What You Leave With
- ●Three Drafting Skills Installed
- ●Your Write-Like-Me File
- ●Three Chapter Spines in Drive
- ●Three Section 1 Drafts in Drive
- ●A Working Drafting Rhythm
● UP NEXT
Next: Session 06 — Cowork & the rest of your thesis
In Session 06, you introduce Claude Cowork. You build a desktop Thesis folder that mirrors your Google Drive structure. You write your this-is-my-writing.md context file. You build the chapter-drafter Skill for all remaining chapters. Then you draft every remaining chapter section by section, two weeks per chapter, directly in Cowork. Session 06 is where the system you built helps you write your full thesis.