CRITIQUE CHECK LIST
by Kim Kozlowski

1. Manuscript should be in exact format, as if ready for submission to an editor.

2. Telling the story

A) Did author s first sentence "hook" you? (Grab the reader by the throat with a startling statement).
B) Does story open in the middle of an action scene? (Thrust reader into the middle of what is happening now! Explain how character got there later.)
C) Is at least one main character introduced, before any minor characters? (The first character you read must be a major, not minor.)
D) Did author provide a sense of time, of place? (As opposed to a white - sterile setting. Think imagery. Use 5 senses.)
E) If author used a prologue, was it necessary to be presented that way or could the facts have been sifted through the story?
F) Did author use a lot of flashback material in the first chapter? (Bad news-flashbacks slow reader down. Go forward!)
G) Do you have a sense of the hero and heroine's goals, motivations and conflicts early in the story? (Are you still guessing at the end of chapter one?)
H) Has author revealed the answer to story teasers and secrets too soon? (If you know the secrets and how the protagonist is going to react, why read further?)
I) Conflicts: Are they strong enough? Believable? Conquerable? (Can they be solved simply by talking it out?)
J) Are character s likable? Believable?
K) Does each chapter end with a strong hook? (If reader can put book down, they may not pick it up again. The trick is to keep them reading.)
L) Every scene should divulge new information to the reader.
M) Chapter 3 hook is very crucial, especially when sending a partial to an editor.