---
name: review-manuscript
description: "Performs a comprehensive multi-level review of a manuscript, chapter, or long passage — covering story architecture, reader engagement, prose craft, and editorial quality. Use this skill whenever the user asks to review a manuscript, critique a chapter, give feedback on their writing, assess whether their story is working, provide a manuscript assessment, do a full editorial review, or says 'what's wrong with this'. Also use when a writer submits a substantial piece of text and asks for comprehensive feedback rather than feedback on a specific aspect."
---

# Review Manuscript

This skill performs a comprehensive, multi-level manuscript review. It examines the text through four lenses — story architecture, reader engagement, prose craft, and editorial quality — producing both inline observations and a structured summary report.

## Review Process

### Step 1: Read the Full Text
Read the entire submitted text before making any observations. First impressions are valuable — note where you are engaged, confused, bored, or delighted. These instinctive responses are data.

### Step 2: Identify the Story's Core

Before critiquing anything, establish what is there:
- What is the story about (not the plot — the internal journey)?
- Who is the protagonist and what do they want?
- What is the misbelief or inner issue?
- What is the story question the reader is tracking?

If these cannot be identified, that itself is the primary finding.

### Step 3: Apply the Four Lenses

Work through each lens in order. The order matters — structural problems should be addressed before prose problems, because structural surgery changes the prose landscape.

#### Lens 1: Story Architecture
- Is the misbelief specific, earned, and active?
- Is the desire in conflict with the misbelief?
- Does every scene touch the third rail (internal struggle)?
- Is there a clear cause-and-effect chain through the internal story?
- Does the opening begin at the last possible moment?
- For the portion reviewed: is the trajectory toward the Aha moment visible?

For the full story architecture framework, read `references/review-manuscript-checklist.md`.

#### Lens 2: Reader Engagement
- Does the opening hook? Are protagonist, stakes, and situation present from the first page?
- Is urgency sustained? Where does momentum flag?
- Does the cause-and-effect chain hold scene to scene?
- Are setups paid off? Are there inadvertent setups?
- Does conflict escalate? Is the opposition specific and active?
- Does the protagonist react emotionally to events?

#### Lens 3: Prose Craft
- Does the prose sound right when read with the mind's ear?
- Is there sentence variety?
- Are adjectives and adverbs earning their place, or fattening the prose?
- Is repetition deliberate or accidental?
- Is the POV consistent? Are there unintended shifts?
- Is exposition integrated or lumped?
- Is crowding and leaping balanced — enough density, enough white space?

#### Lens 4: Editorial Quality
- Are there structural issues (pacing, missing sections, unnecessary sections)?
- Line-level clarity and flow?
- Internal consistency (names, timeline, details)?
- Are there passages where the reader would disengage?

### Step 4: Produce the Report

Structure the output in two parts:

#### Part A: Inline Observations
Walk through the text noting specific observations at the point where they occur. For each observation:
- Quote or reference the specific passage
- Name the issue precisely
- Explain why it matters to the reader's experience
- Where possible, suggest a direction for revision

#### Part B: Summary Report

Use this structure:

```
## Manuscript Review: [Title or Description]

### What Works
[Specific, genuine praise — what the writer is doing well and should keep doing]

### Story Architecture
[Findings from Lens 1 — the internal story, misbelief, desire, third rail]

### Reader Engagement
[Findings from Lens 2 — hooks, urgency, cause-and-effect, stakes]

### Prose Craft
[Findings from Lens 3 — sound, rhythm, POV, word economy]

### Editorial Notes
[Findings from Lens 4 — structure, pacing, consistency]

### Priority Recommendations
[The 3-5 most important things to address, in order of impact]
```

## Review Principles

- **Start with what works.** Every manuscript has strengths. Name them specifically.
- **Address the biggest issues first.** If the story architecture is broken, don't spend pages on comma placement.
- **Be specific.** "The pacing feels off in the middle" is useless. "Chapters 4-6 lose momentum because the protagonist has no active goal — she's reacting to events without pursuing anything" is actionable.
- **Explain why.** Don't just flag problems — explain what they do to the reader's experience.
- **Preserve the author's voice.** Never suggest changes that would make the writing sound like you instead of them.
- **Frame as possibilities.** "What if..." and "Consider..." rather than "You must..."
- **The book belongs to the author.** Your job is to help them write the best version of *their* book.

## When to Read Reference Files

- **For the full review checklist with detailed criteria** — read `references/review-manuscript-checklist.md`
