Manuscript Analysis

Read deeper.
Edit smarter.
See the shape of your story.

Scribbly is a private, local-only analysis tool that reveals structural patterns in your manuscript—through annotation, visualization, and data—without touching a server or generating a single word.

Your manuscript never leaves your device.

Analyze
Restructure
Revision Plan
Act 1 Rising Midpoint Climax Resolution
Tension
Rhythm
Dialogue
poison
Fades in second half
the feud
Consistent arc

Teach Scribbly your book before it analyzes it

Before analysis begins, you define the manuscript's world. Characters and their aliases, relationship constellations, thematic clusters, world vocabulary, and craft concerns specific to your draft. The result is analysis that reflects your book—not a generic novel.

  • Character cast with aliases — so "Julie," "Juliet," and "The Capulet's Daughter" are always the same person
  • Association groups — define relationship clusters like Love Interests, Capulets, Montagues, Friendships
  • Thematic clusters with custom keywords — Scribbly scans your manuscript and suggests additions, without overwriting anything you've set
  • World vocabulary and craft concerns — anchors the Semantic Map to your book's specific language
Manuscript Setup
Review & Edit Clusters
✓ Characters
✓ Associations
✓ Context
44 Clusters
Characters
Romeo
Protagonist
Romeo Montague, young Montague
Juliet
Protagonist
Juliet Capulet, fair Juliet
Tybalt
Antagonist
Tybalt Capulet, Prince of Cats
Friar Lawrence
Supporting
Tone: Grief, Haste & Irreversible Loss
hastegriefdesperate too soonrashuntimely woelamentdeath-marked + keyword
Theme: Love as Rebellion & Sacred Defiance
pilgrimsaintholy shrine vowbanishedstars forbidden+ keyword

Turn vague problems into specific revision plans

You know something isn't working. The Restructure tab helps you see exactly what and why. Create a card for any structural problem, and Scribbly synthesizes everything it knows—character presence, thread continuity, anchor proximity, annotation clusters—into a targeted action plan.

  • Problem cards for any structural issue: a chapter not working, a thread lacking continuity, a connection that feels unearned
  • Thread continuity chains with downstream ripple risk—see what else breaks if you change this
  • Annotation clusters surfaced per chapter—what your own highlights are saying about the problem area
  • Cross-card alerts when multiple problems point to the same stretch of manuscript
  • Recommended chapters to examine, with explanations based on your manuscript's data
Restructure Scene III.iii · Act 3 · 68% impact
Active Problem Card
Friar's plan feels unearned by Act 3
Scene III.iii lacks sufficient setup for Friar Lawrence's authority. Trust in his scheme feels abrupt given sparse presence in Act 2.
Thread Continuity Chain
Friar Lawrence — counsel Last strong mention: II.iii
Romeo + Friar bond Drops at II.vi, resurfaces III.iii
⚠ Downstream ripple IV.i, V.ii, V.iii affected
Recommended Scenes to Examine
II.iii
II.vi
III.iii
IV.i
V.ii
Cross-card alert: "Friar's plan" and "Act 3 pacing collapse" both flag II.vi–III.i as high-priority. This stretch may be your structural fault line.

Your manuscript's structural anatomy

The Analyze dashboard runs entirely in your browser. Tension, rhythm, dialogue, character presence, thread continuity, key scenes, and chapter bookends—all in one place, all derived from your specific manuscript.

Manuscript Timeline Tension · Rhythm · Dialogue
Tension
Rhythm
Dialogue
Observation
Peak tension at 68% — structurally sound. ~6,200 words remain for resolution: tightly compressed, which matches the play's headlong momentum.
Chapter Bookends First and last sentence of each chapter
Chapter 1 Rising Action
Reread
1st Pass
2nd Pass
Done
Opens Two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Verona, where we lay our scene.
Closes And I will make thee think thy swan a crow.
Chapter 6 Midpoint
Done
Opens He jests at scars that never felt a wound.
Closes Hence will I to my ghostly father's cell, his help to crave and my dear hap to tell.
Chapter 23 Climax
Reread
1st Pass
Opens Give me that mattock and the wrenching iron.
Closes For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.

Your manuscript's thematic architecture, made visible

A force-directed graph of thematic clusters derived from your annotations and manuscript vocabulary. Clusters with more annotation overlap appear larger. Edges show where themes intersect. Built from your highlights, not generic literary assumptions.

  • Force-directed layout — clusters self-organize by annotation density and thematic overlap
  • Custom clusters — add vocabulary specific to your characters, settings, and craft concerns
  • Click any node to see all matching annotations sorted by match strength
  • Explore mode — full-screen view with note text, match reasons, and direct links back to source passages
Fate &
The Stars
38
Love as
Sacred Defiance
25
Haste &
Rashness
36
Death &
Poison
4
Family
Honour
17
Nurse's
Counsel
2
Light vs.
Darkness
25

A reading environment where your highlights do the work

Scribbly starts with reading. As you move through your manuscript, you highlight in amber, sage, or rose. Add a note. Tag it. Mark whether it feeds the Semantic Map. Every annotation feeds every analysis downstream—the timeline, the map, the restructure cards, the revision insights.

  • Three highlight colors (amber, sage, rose) — use however makes sense for your process
  • Notes on any highlight, with tagging and map-toggle control
  • Annotations tab — every note grouped by chapter, searchable, with direct links to source
  • Your annotations and clusters power everything — the Semantic Map, Restructure cards, and Revision Insights all draw from what you find important
Romeo and Juliet — Draft 2
42%
Act II, Scene ii

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief that thou, her maid, art far more fair than she. Be not her maid since she is envious; her vestal livery is but sick and green, and none but fools do wear it.

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet; so Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection which he owes without that title.

Romeo's first words here — the light/dark contrast starts immediately strong
The name speech — is this where the feud thread should resurface? tag: continuity

See what actually changed between drafts

Link two versions of your manuscript and compare them structurally. See how your tension curve shifted, which patterns are new since the last draft, and whether the alerts you fixed actually resolved.

  • Overlaid tension curves showing both versions at once
  • New since last version — every pattern that appeared in this draft
  • Resolved alerts — confirmation that structural fixes actually landed
  • Structural shift detection — identifies significant changes in act proportions and pacing
  • Per-chapter comparison — filter any of the revision insights to a specific chapter
Comparing versions
R&J Draft 2 reread vs Romeo and Juliet — Draft 1 · W. Shakespeare
Tension Curve
Current
Previous
New Since Last Version (47)
'romeo' repeats in a short stretch
Act II, Scene ii
'death' repeats in a short stretch
Act III, Scene i
'love' repeats in a short stretch
Act I, Scene v
+ 44 more patterns detected
Structural Shifts
No significant structural shifts detected.

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Your manuscript, highlights, notes, and analysis never leave your device.

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No AI in your manuscript

Scribbly uses rule-based text processing—run entirely in your browser—to calculate word frequencies, character occurrences, sentence lengths, and dialogue ratios to create manuscript specific insights.

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