Analyze

Deterministic prose checks plus AI-powered manuscript review

Analyze is Plotiar's manuscript review tool. It runs two complementary kinds of checks: deterministic prose analyzers that look for craft-level patterns (sticky sentences, repeated words, filter verbs, sensory balance) and AI-powered review sections that read your manuscript and produce written feedback (summary, opening hook, character analysis, reading level, improvement tips, lore consistency). Together they give you 10 categories of feedback to guide revision.

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The four deterministic prose analyzers are a Plus plan feature. The six AI review sections require the Pro plan. Upgrade from Account Settings to unlock these features.

Getting Started with Analyze

Running an analysis takes just a few steps. You can analyze a single document or select multiple documents for a broader view of your manuscript.

1
Open Analyze
From the project workspace, open Analyze through the project menu. The Analyze panel appears with your project's documents listed.
2
Select documents
Check the documents you want to include in the analysis. You can select a single document for focused feedback, or multiple documents for a cross-manuscript view. The list is sortable by name, creation date, or position in the content tree.
3
Configure chapters (optional)
If you want the analysis to break your content into chapters, configure chapter detection in the next step. Otherwise, Analyze treats each document as a single unit.
4
Run the analysis
Pick which categories you want to run, then click "Analyze". The deterministic prose checks return in a few seconds. AI sections run as background jobs (visible in the analysis history) and complete as soon as the model finishes generating.

You can re-run the analysis at any time after making edits. Each run reflects the current state of your documents, so you can track how your revisions affect the results.

Chapter Configuration

Chapter configuration controls how Analyze divides your text into segments. This is especially valuable for novel-length work where you want per-chapter results.

•Split by headings -- Analyze auto-picks the shallowest heading level present (typically H1) and splits at that level
•Split by page breaks -- explicit page breaks in the document define chapter boundaries
•Split by custom patterns -- define a text pattern using "starts with" or "contains" matching to detect chapter breaks
•No chapter split -- treat each selected document as one unit, useful when each document is already a single chapter

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If your project already uses one document per chapter, skip chapter configuration entirely. Analyze will treat each document as a chapter automatically.

Character Tracking

Character tracking lets you define the characters in your story. Tracked characters are passed to the AI Character Analysis section as context, so the model can comment on each character's voice, presence, and arc using the names you actually use in the manuscript.

1
Add your characters
Before running the analysis, open the character setup dialog and add each character by name. You can add as many characters as you need.
2
Add aliases (optional)
If a character is referred to by multiple names -- a first name, last name, nickname, or title -- add those as aliases. The detector matches all aliases case-insensitively.
3
Run the analysis
When you run analysis with characters configured, the AI Character Analysis section uses your character list as ground truth instead of inferring it from the text.

•Character names and aliases are matched case-insensitively across the text
•Character tracking data persists between analysis runs, so you do not need to re-enter your characters each time

Analysis Sections

Analyze ships ten categories: four deterministic prose analyzers (Plus) and six AI review sections (Pro). You pick which ones to run on each pass.

Sticky Sentences (Plus)

Flags long sentences with a high proportion of glue words (and, the, of, to, that, in, for, with, on, as ...). Sticky sentences feel slow because most of their words carry no information. Counts and example offenders are returned per chapter.

Echoes (Plus)

Detects repeated content words that appear close together in the text. Common in first drafts -- you reach for the same noun or verb twice in a paragraph without noticing. Echoes are reported with their distance apart so you can decide which to vary.

Filter Words (Plus)

Identifies sensory and cognitive filter verbs (saw, heard, felt, noticed, realized, wondered, decided, knew, thought, watched ...) that put the POV character between the reader and the experience. Removing them tightens deep POV writing.

Sensory Balance (Plus)

Scores how often each of the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch) appears in your prose. Most drafts lean heavily on sight; this report shows the imbalance per chapter so you can layer in the other senses where they help.

Summary (Pro, AI)

An AI-generated synopsis of the selected manuscript -- main events, key turning points, and resolution -- written from the actual text. Useful as a sanity check that your draft says what you think it says.

Improvement Tips (Pro, AI)

A short list of high-leverage revision suggestions tailored to this manuscript: structural advice, scene-level recommendations, and prose-level fixes the AI thinks would have the biggest impact.

Character Analysis (Pro, AI)

Per-character notes covering voice consistency, arc, presence across chapters, and relationships. Uses your tracked character list when present, otherwise infers characters from the text.

Opening Hook (Pro, AI)

An evaluation of how strongly your opening pages pull the reader in -- voice, stakes, conflict, sentence-level energy -- with specific suggestions for sharpening the first scene.

Reading Level (Pro, AI)

An AI-judged reading level for the manuscript, with notes on whether vocabulary, sentence structure, and density are consistent with the target audience for the genre.

Lore Consistency (Pro, AI)

Cross-checks the manuscript against your project's Lore entries (characters, locations, factions, custom types) and flags places where the text contradicts the canonical lore -- a different eye color, a renamed faction, a relocated city.

Using Results

Analyze provides data and AI commentary, but interpretation is where the value lies. Here is how to get the most out of your results.

•Run the four deterministic analyzers (sticky sentences, echoes, filter words, sensory balance) early in revision -- they catch craft-level issues that are hard to see in your own prose
•Use Lore Consistency right before you submit a manuscript to a beta reader or editor to catch internal contradictions
•Opening Hook is most useful after a major rewrite of your first chapter -- it gives a fresh-eyes critique without needing a human reader
•Character Analysis combined with your tracked character list is the fastest way to check whether a secondary character has gone missing for too many chapters
•Run analysis again after revisions to confirm your edits had the intended effect

Remember that the deterministic flags are guides, not rules. A sticky sentence may be exactly what you want for a slow, contemplative paragraph. A filter word may be the right choice for an unreliable narrator. Use the results to make informed revision decisions, not to chase zero-flag chapters.

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Treat the deterministic analyzers as a checklist and the AI sections as a critique partner. Both are most useful at the end of a revision pass, not while you are still drafting.

AI Manuscript Analysis (Pro)

AI Manuscript Analysis is the umbrella name for the six Pro-tier sections (summary, improvement tips, character analysis, opening hook, reading level, lore consistency). Each section is a separate background job, so you can run just the one you need rather than waiting for all six.

•Each AI section runs as its own job and shows up in your analysis history
•Cost preview is shown before each run -- you only spend credits when you confirm
•AI sections respect your tracked characters and project Lore for context
•Re-running a section overwrites the previous result for that document selection; prior results stay in the history

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AI Manuscript Analysis uses your Pro plan AI credits. Longer manuscripts use more credits per analysis. You can purchase additional credit packages from Account Settings if needed.