Score Your Novel Across 14 Craft Dimensions

Every scene graded from A to F across 14 metrics that matter. Hook Power, Prose Craft, Tension, Character Depth, and ten more. Know exactly where your manuscript is strong — and where it needs work.

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Quality Metrics
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Letter Grades (A–F)
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AI Models Supported

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What Is Quality Scoring?

Most writers finish a scene and wonder: is this actually good? Quality scoring replaces gut feeling with measurable craft analysis. AI reviews every scene across 14 dimensions of literary craft and assigns letter grades with specific, actionable feedback.

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Not a Grammar Checker

Grammar tools catch typos. Quality scoring evaluates craft — whether your hook grabs readers, whether tension escalates, whether characters sound distinct, whether you show instead of tell. The things editors charge thousands to evaluate.

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Objective, Repeatable Scores

Run the same scene twice, get consistent results. Track your improvement across drafts with the comparison scoreboard. Watch your weak metrics climb as you revise with targeted feedback.

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Specific Feedback, Not Platitudes

Every grade comes with an explanation of what works and what doesn't. Not “make it better” — specific observations about sentence rhythm, tension beats, sensory gaps, and dialogue patterns that need attention.

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Scene-Level Precision

Scoring happens at the scene level because that's where craft lives. A novel can have brilliant chapters and weak ones. Scene-level scoring pinpoints exactly where your manuscript needs revision — no more guessing.

The 14 Metrics Explained

Each metric targets a distinct dimension of fiction craft. Together, they form the most comprehensive quality assessment available for novel manuscripts.

1

Hook Power

Does the scene's opening grab the reader? Measures the strength of your first lines — whether they create urgency, curiosity, or tension that compels reading further.

2

Prose Craft

Evaluates sentence-level writing quality: rhythm, word choice, variety of structure, and overall elegance. Catches overwriting, repetitive patterns, and awkward constructions.

3

Tension

Measures whether the scene maintains and escalates conflict. Detects flat middles, premature resolutions, and scenes where nothing is at stake for the characters.

4

Pacing

Assesses the rhythm of action, dialogue, and reflection. Catches scenes that rush through important moments or linger too long on the mundane.

5

Character Depth

Are your characters people or props? Measures psychological complexity, arc progression, voice distinctiveness, and the internal contradictions that make a character feel real.

6

Dialogue

Evaluates whether dialogue sounds natural, advances the plot, reveals character, and avoids on-the-nose exposition. Catches stilted exchanges and talking-head syndrome.

7

Visceral Show

Does the body tell the reader what the character feels? Counts physical sensations — a tight throat, cold hands — and penalizes emotion labels like “she felt afraid.”

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Emotional Impact

Does the scene make readers feel something? Evaluates emotional arcs within scenes, the authenticity of character reactions, and whether pivotal moments land with impact.

9

Thematic Richness

Assesses how well the scene reinforces or develops the novel's themes. Catches theme-absent scenes and rewards subtle, layered exploration of central ideas.

10

Inference Space

Does the reader get to work it out, or is everything explained? Measures how much of your characters’ motivation and emotion is shown through action rather than stated outright.

11

Micro-Tension

Does every paragraph pull the eye to the next one? Measures the share of paragraphs that end with forward pull — a question, an implication, an action still pending.

12

Mystery

Is the reader still asking questions? Measures foreshadowing, reveal timing, and how well the scene manages curiosity — what to withhold, and when to pay it off.

13

Pull Ending

Does the last paragraph make readers need the next page? Rewards an unanswered question, a pending action, or a haunting image — and catches the endings where readers put the book down.

14

World Building

Does the setting feel lived-in? Measures setting depth, sensory immersion, consistent internal logic, and storytelling through the environment itself.

How It Works

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Submit Your Scene

Select any scene in your manuscript and run quality scoring. Works with scenes of any length, from flash fiction to epic chapter-length sequences.

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AI Scores Across 14 Metrics

Your chosen AI model analyzes the scene across all 14 craft dimensions. Each metric receives a letter grade from A (exceptional) to F (needs significant work) with detailed reasoning.

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Review Feedback & Revise

Read the specific feedback for each metric. Identify your weak points. Revise with purpose — then re-score to measure improvement. Track progress on the comparison scoreboard.

The Quality Gate — Recursive Improvement

Quality scoring tells you what's wrong. The Quality Gate fixes it. Set a single minimum quality score, and AI will rewrite your scene — up to a few automatic attempts — then keep the strongest version it produced.

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1. Set Your Threshold

Choose a single minimum overall score the scene has to clear — a solid B, a demanding A, or whatever standard your manuscript demands. You define what “good enough” means.

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2. AI Rewrites the Scene

The scene is rewritten by AI with the scoring feedback as guidance. The rewrite targets the specific weak metrics while preserving your voice, plot, and character decisions.

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3. Re-Score and Repeat

The rewritten scene is scored again. If the overall score still falls below your threshold, the cycle repeats — rewrite, score, improve — for up to three automatic attempts before stopping.

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4. Keep the Best Version

As soon as a rewrite clears your score, the scene passes. If the attempts run out first, the Quality Gate keeps the highest-scoring version it produced (or your original, if nothing beat it). You review the result, accept or adjust, and move on.

Track Improvement with the Comparison Scoreboard

Revision without measurement is just guessing. The comparison scoreboard shows exactly how your manuscript improves across drafts, scene by scene and metric by metric.

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Draft-Over-Draft Tracking

Score your first draft, revise, score again. The scoreboard shows every metric's trajectory — which improved, which regressed, and which stayed flat. Revision with data, not hope.

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Identify Persistent Weaknesses

Some weaknesses survive revision after revision. The scoreboard surfaces patterns — if Visceral Show scores low across 80% of your scenes, that's a craft skill to develop, not just a scene to fix.

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Manuscript-Wide Overview

See your entire novel's quality landscape at a glance. Which chapters are the strongest? Which scenes drag the average down? Focus your revision time where it matters most.

Frequently Asked Questions

How accurate is AI quality scoring for fiction?

ProseEngine uses advanced AI models trained on literary craft principles. Scores are consistent across evaluations and align with professional editorial standards. The 14-metric system catches issues that single-score tools miss entirely — weak hooks, passive tension, thin sensory detail, and more.

What does each letter grade mean?

Grades range from A (exceptional craft) to F (needs significant work). Each grade comes with specific, actionable feedback explaining what works and what to improve. An A in Hook Power means your opening grabs readers immediately. A C means it functions but lacks urgency.

Can I score an entire novel at once?

Yes. You can score individual scenes for focused revision, or run a full-book audit that scores every scene and generates a manuscript-wide quality report. The comparison scoreboard tracks how scores change across drafts.

Is quality scoring available on the free tier?

Full 14-metric scoring is available on every plan: Free includes 5 scores a week, Writer and above are unlimited. The Quality Gate and comparison scoreboard are part of Author and Studio. Every paid plan includes monthly AI credits.

Stop Guessing. Start Scoring.

Know exactly where your manuscript stands — across every metric that matters.

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