A Story Assessment Report is all about helping you meet your reader’s expectations, and readers place a lot of demands on a story without even realising it.
It’s effectively a smaller, more focused version of our Manuscript Assessment Report, and almost all based on your outline.
It can therefore be done before you even begin writing, and it’s great as a troubleshooting tool. It will ensure you’re on the right path no matter where you’re up to in writing your manuscript.
We’ve created this report because readers expect a story to do very specific things, like set up the story properly, have high and low points, or give it a compelling ending.
And that’s why this report is so valuable.
Readers will be disappointed if their expectations aren’t met, an disappointed readers aren’t happy readers.
So what are these expectations?
There are many elements within a story – character, world-building, dialogue, high concepts, structure, conflict, etc., and you can’t be a master of everything.
Writers therefore tend to build on their strengths and hide their weaknesses, and this shows. While it’s easy to see what you’re doing right, it’s often extremely difficult to pinpoint and improve on the things you’re not doing so.
You may not even know that some elements exist.
When, for example, should the theme be expressed? What is theme, exactly? It’s certainly not contained a word like ‘love’ or ‘sacrifice’ or ‘hope’. Theme is much bigger than that.
A CMS Structural Analysis Report can help you identify these issues before you start writing or re-writing. It will save you a lot of time, effort and angst.
So how does it work?
Based on your outline, synopsis, or chapter breakdown, along with some additional information about your writing and your goals, you’ll receive a detailed analysis covering:
- story structure, including the:
- beginning
- middle
- end
- and whether they’re accomplishing what they’re supposed to achieve
- plot
- expected plot points
- are events balanced structurally?
- are events happening at the best possible time?
- character arcs and how they relate to theme and plot.
The report will:
- break down your story and apply its elements to standard reader expectations
- highlight and make suggestions regarding story possibilities where elements are missing
- make general suggestions regarding possibilities where elements could be improved.
The normal price for this service is $550.00.
If you’d like to book a report or simply make an inquiry, please fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch with you shortly.
