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Current Foundation — v0.2

Status: FOUNDATION v0.2 — DECISION PASS

This is the working structural basis for SQUADRON: the craft architecture the novel is built on, plus the current phase's objective. It carries forward the earlier FOUNDATIONS.md craft document.

Phase objective

Build a clean repository architecture, migrate established canon into it, mark unresolved material honestly, and stand up a readable reference site. Not to write the novel's prose yet.

The structural architecture

The novel is built top-down, largest layer to smallest:

  1. The spine — a character wants something, struggles, and is changed. For a character-driven ensemble, the want/need gap of each core member is the primary material; the war is the pressure. Greg's want is operational autonomy; his need is what the story will force him to learn about the limits of conviction.
  2. Structure — three-act skeleton as the container. Save-the-Cat beats laid on the whole-book plot (catalyst, break into two, fun & games, midpoint, all-is-lost, finale). A light seven-point track per lead so no arc goes flat.
  3. The ensemble — the squadron is a group protagonist with tiers: 1–2 leads (Greg, Markus — the spine), a small core, and supporting. Each core member has a conflicting want. The squadron itself has an arc: forge → fracture → redefine.
  4. POV — close third, rotating among the leads/core. One POV per scene. Every POV earns its place. POV tagged per chapter in the treatment.
  5. Scene — the unit the book is made of: goal, conflict, turn. Scene (proactive) and Sequel (reactive) rhythm — the emotional book lives in the sequels.
  6. Chapter rhythm — one to three scenes, ending on a pull; POV rotates at the chapter seam; vary length for pace.
  7. Length — target ~100k words, ~35–45 chapters, ~60–90 scenes; Act I ≈ 25%, Act II ≈ 50%, Act III ≈ 25%.
  8. Theme — nearly silent, load-bearing (see Themes).
  9. The canon system — the four-state statuses and the ledgers that keep it all consistent.

What v0.2 has locked

  • The recovery motif as structural DNA.
  • The spine relationship (Greg + Markus).
  • Markus's origin and self-authorship (substrate, not miracle).
  • The colony-world setting (far-future, rural-feeling, not Earth).
  • The two-war structure (Devastation → Frontier) as the preferred direction.
  • Continuity's nature and moral seriousness.
  • The White Ship's unsolvability as an authorial rule.
  • The Active Counter (4 → 3 → 4 → 5) as an emotional device.

What v0.2 leaves open

See Open Questions for the full list, including the planet name, final rank terminology, the precise chronology, and the exact Book One inciting incident.

  1. Lock the premise logline and thematic question (top of the treatment).
  2. Confirm ensemble tiers and each core member's conflicting want.
  3. Draft Tier 1–2 character want/need/arc.
  4. Define the Frontier War's constraints (what makes plot).
  5. Place the three-act beats in the treatment.
  6. Expand into the chapter breakdown with POV tags.
  7. Then draft — scene by scene.