diff --git a/templates/book_chapter.yml b/templates/book_chapter.yml
index 172bd79..a6ff5d0 100644
--- a/templates/book_chapter.yml
+++ b/templates/book_chapter.yml
@@ -251,6 +251,10 @@ steps:
         verbatim everywhere else). Start the chapter directly with the chapter title
         and first line. No preamble or commentary within the chapter text.
 
+  # Commit chapter draft now — last_text() = self-check output (step 2). Must come before
+  # PASS 3 think so the character-state extraction does not overwrite last_text().
+  - type: document
+    filename: "Chapter_{chapter_number}_draft"
 
   - type: think
     hint: |
@@ -299,8 +303,6 @@ steps:
 
   - type: document
     filename: "character-state-{chapter_ref}"
-  - type: document
-    filename: "Chapter_{chapter_number}_draft"
 
   - type: package
     max_tokens: 12000