Kickstart Your #Writing Using #AI—Number 5: Analyze Your Story Telling Effectiveness
When you are pecking at your keyboard in the wee hours of the morning, you wonder if what you’re writing is any good. Even I, who have worked as a ghostwriter for nine and half years question if what I’m, churning out crafting will entertain readers.
Many of us turn to Beta readers for feedback, but what if there was a way you could get instant and actionable feedback, before you drag your word baby before your critics Betas?
Enter ChatGPT and what I consider one of its most useful functions for a writer.
The prompt is this: Please review this chapter for storytelling effectiveness. Please list positive and negative points: [Add text of chapter]
Note: Master’s License is up for review on Fantasy—Writers.org behind the member’s only story section. You can join FWO to read what I’ve got there under the handle starrynightgal. You do not need to be a writer to join and there are no membership fees.
For Chapter Three of Master’s License Chat told me:
Title: The Golden Bough – Chapter Three
Positive Points:
- Engaging Intrigue: The chapter effectively introduces and maintains a sense of intrigue and suspense. It opens with Kelleen facing an obstacle when the airlock won’t open, immediately drawing readers into her predicament and making them want to know more about her situation.
- Worldbuilding: The chapter provides valuable worldbuilding details about the hazardous materials hauler, creating a vivid and distinct setting. It also hints at the ITU, Null Space, and various space nations, which adds depth to the story’s universe.
- Character Development: Kelleen’s character is developed through her thoughts, reactions, and resourcefulness. Her relationship with her father is hinted at, adding emotional depth.
- Mystery and Suspense: The chapter builds a sense of mystery around the disappearance of the crew and the presence of pirates. It keeps readers engaged as they wonder about the ship’s fate and Kelleen’s role in it.
Negative Points:
- Pacing Issues: While the chapter is filled with suspense, it can feel a bit slow-paced at times. The extensive details about the ship’s design and Kelleen’s thought process, while informative, may hinder the flow of the narrative.
- Overexplanation: Some parts of the chapter tend to overexplain certain concepts, such as the ship’s structure and Kelleen’s relationship with her father. This can disrupt the reader’s immersion in the story.
- Dialogue and Character Interaction: The dialogue between Kelleen and the pirates, while serving its purpose, could benefit from more tension and conflict. It sometimes feels slightly forced and lacks the depth seen in other parts of the chapter.
In summary, “The Golden Bough – Chapter Three” effectively creates a sense of intrigue and mystery while offering valuable worldbuilding and character development. However, it could improve pacing by trimming some explanations and enhancing character interactions for a more engaging read.
An analysis like this goes beyond what an editing program like AutoCrit can deliver. For instance, AutoCrit analyze this chapter for pacing at a very high 92.1. AutoCrit says:
Wow! Your pacing is snappy! Less than 5% of your paragraphs are being flagged as slow paced. Hopefully this meets your intent of a quick paced novel with few places for your reader to take a breath.
But pacing is not all about the flow of words, but content, too. This a program like AutoCrit cannot determine. But ChatGPT can.
And if you wonder if Chat’s observations are any good here are some comments byby my FWO buddies:
The first half feels like it isnt really moving the story anywhere, with a lot mor introspection than action. The second half picks up noticeably at least. Also, I did get kind of lost in the supposed logic of why her father (?) drugged her and dropped her into this situation. Maybe if I understood that more fully, the stakes of the situation would seem more pressing and/or genuine. But that all may come down to my next generalized impression.
Ah, pacing issues. And clarity issues confused by overexplanation of the relationship with her father.
I had a little difficulty orientating at first but I think that was mainly due to the time since I read the previous chapter.
Then at the end, I felt still a little confused about why she had landed on a ship invaded by pirates for this test…
Again clarity. Probably due to information overload. It’s in there, but probably got drowned out with the other info.
Now, humans will pick up things that an AI will not. But it’s great to have a tool that will put into words what other analysis programs do not.
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Image by <a href=”https://pixabay.com/users/geralt-9301/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=2167835″>Gerd Altmann</a> from <a href=”https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=2167835″>Pixabay</a>