Editorial Analysis Title by Author 213.537.8507 ink.sling3r@gmail.com
Title Page 1 of 51 Editorial Analysis Title by Author Genre The Table of Contents of an analysis should provide insight into the amount of detail contained in each analysis. As a reminder, this is only an example of what an Editorial Analysis might touch upon. Editorial Analyses are based entirely upon each individual MS and won t necessarily have the same topics. Length will also vary depending upon the MS. An Editorial Analysis is not a redlined edit and is not meant to be any kind of replacement for editing. There will be no redlined MS returned to the author. The analysis focuses strictly on craft and story.
Title Page 2 of 51 Table of Contents Story and Structure... 6 Answer These Questions... 6 Most Important Advice... 6 Possibly Offensive Moments... 6 Driver... 6 Character or Plot Driven?... 6 Theme... 6 Romance... 6 Main... 6 Tone... 6 Hook... 6 Setting... 7 Standard Setting... 7 Mythological Setting... 7 Time Period & Time Span... 7 Political Climate... 7 POV... 7 First Person, Past Perfect... 7 Pronoun Overuse... 7 POV Switches... 7 Genre Elements & Worldbuilding... 8 Subgenre... 8 Technology... 8 Analog or Digital?... 8 Juxtaposition of Science Fact and Science Fiction... 8 Logical Conclusions... 8 Biology... 8 Creatures, Lifeforms, and Aliens, Oh My!... 8 Mythology... 8 Magic System... 9 Statement About The World As We Know It... 9 Red Herrings... 9 Evidentiary System... 9 Professional or Amateur?... 9 Overall Suspension Of Disbelief... 9 Allegory & Symbolism... 9 Lit-Fic s Finer Subtleties... 9 Plot Progression... 10 Plots... 10 Stakes... 10 Concerns... 10 First Line... 10 First Page... 10 3 Act Structure... 11 ACT I... 11 Introduction... 11 Inciting Incident... 11 Concerns... 11 Fateful Decision... 11 Concerns... 11
Title Page 3 of 51 Bigger Problem... 11 ACT II... 11 Rise of Action/Try-Fail Cycles... 11 Romance plot... 12 Main Plot... 12 Concerns... 12 ACT III... 13 Low Point... 13 Climax... 13 Romance... 13 Main... 13 Resolution... 13 Character Development... 14 The MC Must Want Something... 14 Characters Must Be Separate Individuals... 14 Protagonist... 14 Hero... 15 Relationship Character... 15 Secondary Characters... 15 Antagonist... 15 Mechanics... 17 Narrative Quality... 17 Engage The Reader... 17 Passive Storytelling... 17 Hand Of The Author... 17 Suggestive Description... 18 Foreshadowing... 18 Overly Formal/Overly Immature Narrative... 18 Listing... 18 Clarity and purpose... 18 Tense... 19 Filler Words... 19 Rhetorical Questions... 19 Wordiness... 20 Unimportant Exposition... 20 Information Dump... 20 Repetitive Words and Redundant Concepts... 21 Varied Sentence... 21 Redundant Concepts... 21 Word Search... 21 List of your most used words and their count... 21 Things Your Characters Do A Lot... 23 Conjunctions... 24 Passive Voice... 24 Passive Voice Construction... 24 Participial Phrase... 24 What It Is... 24 Pacing... 25 Control your pace.... 25 Scene and Dialogue Pace... 26 Beats... 26 Descriptive Quality (The Ins and Outs of Showing vs. Telling)... 26 Use Imagery... 27 Engage The Senses... 28
Title Page 4 of 51 Adverbs & Adjectives... 28 Adverbs Do Not Engage... 28 Generic And Vague Adjectives... 28 Micromanaging... 29 Emphasis... 29 Clichés, Tropes and Plot Devices... 30 Deus Ex Machina... 31 It Was A Dream!... 31 Weak Verbs... 31 Uninteresting Verbs... 31 To Be Verbs... 31 Dialogue Quality... 31 Stilted Dialogue... 32 As You Know Dialogue... 32 Said-Bookisms... 32 Adverbially Speaking... 32 Monologueing... 32 Told Me vs. Said... 32 Passive Action... 33 Verbs With No Active Quality... 33 Instead, Not Quite But Almost An Action... 33 Filter Words... 33 Word Choice & Phrasing... 33 Disembodied actions... 33 Sequencing... 34 Action/Reaction... 34 Transitions... 34 Orphans... 34 Format... 36 Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling... 36 Overuse Of Punctuation And Italics... 36 Ellipsis... 36 Chapter... 36 Paragraphing... 36 Scene Breaks... 36 Dialogue... 37 Strengths... 38 The Good Stuff!... 38 My promise: at least one full page of Good Things because everyone has them... 38 Revision Process... 39 Are these questions answered in your MS?... 39 Examine structure... 39 Examine Elements... 40 Examine Mechanics... 40 Simple Chapter Outline... 42 Title... 42 ACT I... 42 ACT II... 42 ACT III... 43 Plot Worksheet... 45 Character Profile Worksheet... 47
Title Page 5 of 51 Character Growth and Development Sheet... 51