Manuscript Evaluations
Include 6 to 8 pages of written and inline notes with comments, and a game plan for your rewrite. Turn around time is 4 to 6 weeks, depending on my availability. Rates are between $20 to $30 per 1,000 words. I will create an estimate based on your word count and a sample of your manuscript.
I will evaluate the following story elements:
Key Stories, Takeaways, and Theme: Does your manuscript use key stories for every chapter? Is there a clear arc of events woven together artfully? What are your chapter takeaways and thematic main messages? Are they woven in throughout? Do they have a satisfying build-up to an overall message?
Structure: Do you have a main key story, an “inciting incident” that gets your manuscript off to an intriguing start? Does your story have a clear arc of beginning, middle, and end? Is there a crisis or question that is set up early and resolved in the third act of the manuscript?
Narrative Flow: Is the manuscript moving along at a satisfying pace for the reader, or is it stalling out with too much “business” or detail? Is every scene and chapter moving the story forward? Are there “information dumps?” Are you jumping into scenes late and getting out early? Does each chapter create anticipation of the next?
Chapter Titles and Word Count Distribution: Are your chapter titles descriptive in clever and creative ways? Do they allude to the key stories in each? Do you have five thousand words in one chapter and seven hundred words in another? Does that work stylistically, or is it an indication of too much focus on one chapter versus another?
Logic: Are there any logic bloopers that you might not have noticed? Something that doesn’t match up from one part of the story to another? Any awkward time jumps? Is there anything that would “bounce” the reader out of your story because it doesn’t make sense?
Pesky Bits: Are you using your dialogue tags correctly? Are there run-on sentences? Too much telling, not enough showing? Do you repeat the same words unconsciously? Do you have bad writing habits that you are not aware of? I’ll find them.
I will evaluate the following story elements.
Narrative Flow: Is the manuscript moving along at a satisfying pace for the reader, or is it stalling out with too much “business” or detail? Is every scene and chapter moving the story forward? Are there “information dumps?” Are you jumping into scenes late and getting out early? Does each chapter create anticipation of the next?
Structure: Does the plot have a clear premise with complications, obstacles, conflict, and setbacks? Have you included an “inciting incident” and plot points all along the way? Does the plot resolve, one way or another, in the end? Are subplots effectively developed to support or reflect aspects of the overall plot thematically?
Dramatic Stakes: Have you established what’s at stake for the main character(s)? What will be gained or lost in your story? What is driving your main character and other characters? Is there a “ticking clock”—some kind of deadline that keeps the story moving along?
Style/Voice: What is your “voice” and style, and is it consistent throughout the manuscript? Is your style working to tell this story in the best possible way? Does it fit the genre?
POV: Are you using the right POV for this story, and are you using it consistently?
Character Development: Are your characters believable, three-dimensional, and relatable? Do they change over the course of the story? Is a backstory implied? Is there discovery, adventure, and resolution?
Dialogue: Is your dialogue organic, and does it read naturally? Is your character doing too much “telling” and too little “showing? Are you interspersing small actions to punctuate dialogue? Are there any opportunities here to embed character traits and backstory into the dialogue?
Logic: Are there any logic bloopers that you might not have noticed? Something that doesn’t match up from one part of the story to another? Any awkward time jumps? Is there anything that would “bounce” the reader out of your story because it doesn’t make sense?
Pesky Bits: Are you using your dialogue tags correctly? Are there run-on sentences? Too much telling, not enough showing? Do you repeat the same words unconsciously? Do you have bad writing habits that you are not aware of? I’ll find them.