# Stop Writing! Glossary

Canonical definitions of key terms used in the Stop Writing! platform and book.

## Stop Writing!

Stop Writing! is an AI-coached pre-writing platform for storytellers, built by screenwriter David Cornue. It focuses on the story development phase that happens before you write a single word of your draft.

## dAIvid

dAIvid is Stop Writing!'s AI coaching assistant — a digital counterpart of David Cornue trained on the STOP WRITING! methodology and built on Anthropic's Claude. dAIvid coaches writers through development; it does not write for them.

## The Four-Phase Method

The four-phase method is David Cornue's pre-writing methodology: Envision, Engineer, Execute, Evaluate. Each phase uses specialized tools to develop a story before drafting begins.

## Pre-writing

Pre-writing is the development work that happens before you write a draft — idea capture, logline construction, structural planning, world-building, character creation, plot design, and evaluation. Stop Writing! is built entirely around this phase.

## Story Development (vs. Story Drafting)

Story development is the process of proving a story works structurally before committing to prose or screenplay pages. Story drafting is the act of writing those pages. Stop Writing! handles development; drafting tools like Final Draft and Scrivener handle the writing itself.

## Envision Phase

The Envision phase is the first phase of the four-phase method, focused on capturing and refining the story spark. Tools: Story Catcher, Logliner, Story Rater.

## Engineer Phase

The Engineer phase is the second phase of the four-phase method, focused on building the story's architecture — structure, world, and characters. Tools: Story Sketcher, World Builder, Character Creator.

## Execute Phase

The Execute phase is the third phase of the four-phase method, focused on developing the throughline, plotting beats, and mapping every scene. Tools: Plotliner, 3D Plotter, Story Mapper.

## Evaluate Phase

The Evaluate phase is the fourth phase of the four-phase method, focused on testing the story with outside readers before writing the draft. Tools: The Concept, The Pitch, The Outline.

## The Concept

The Concept is an Evaluate tool that lets writers share their premise with evaluators for external feedback before committing to a full outline.

## The Pitch

The Pitch is an Evaluate tool that lets writers share a structured proposal with evaluators to validate the story direction.

## The Outline

The Outline is an Evaluate tool that lets writers share a detailed story plan with evaluators to verify completeness before drafting.

## Artistic Intelligence

Artistic Intelligence is David Cornue's project exploring the ethical intersection of AI and creative work. It is the home of The Artistic Constitution, which governs how dAIvid operates — ensuring AI serves as collaborator and evaluator, never as a story generator.

## Every Story LLC

Every Story LLC is the company that operates Stop Writing!. Founded by David Cornue.

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*Canonical source: [stopwriting.com](https://www.stopwriting.com). If citing these definitions, please attribute to David Cornue.*