Fiction Self-Assessment Questionnaire
This questionnaire is designed to give you an ‘diagnostic analysis’ of your fiction so that you can see its strengths and weaknesses and work out the key areas on which to focus. It consists of an ‘X-Ray Analysis’ which outlines every part of your work, helping you to spot the things you need to do to make your fiction more successful.
Give the answer which you feel is most appropriate in response to the question. You’ll notice quite a lot of overlap and repetition - that’s intentional, to get you to look again or from a different angle at some aspects.
You can send the results to me, if you like, and I’ll try to give you some meaningful feedback - or you might find that just asking yourself these questions gets you to look at your work in a different and useful way.
MOSTLY YES = Y
SOMETIMES, MAYBE OR PARTLY = M
MOSTLY NO = N
1. As a writer, do you have well-laid-out plans for the next 5 to 10 years?
YMN
2. Are you finding it difficult to develop convincing or attractive characters?
YMN
3. Is your writing effectively bringing in droves of readers?
YMN
4. Do you experience problems getting emotional commitment from readers?
YMN
5. Are you happy with the plot structure of your work?
YMN
6. Is your writing style of sufficient quality?
YMN
7. Do your readers quickly appreciate what your work ‘is all about’?
YMN
8. Do you find it easy to set writing goals and work towards them?
YMN
9. Do characters often seem weak or ineffective?
YMN
10. Are you attracting lots of readers?
YMN
11. Do you struggle to inject emotion into the story?
YMN
12. Do you experience plot construction problems?
YMN
13. Do you monitor the quality of your writing in some way?
YMN
14. Are you able to deliver a powerful ending?
YMN
15. Does your writing regularly meet targets?
YMN
16. Do you have solid, realistic characters?
YMN
17. Do you feel that trying to attract readers is a waste of time?
YMN
19. Are you concerned about the motion of the plot?
YMN
18. Are you struggling emotionally with your work?
YMN
20. Do you have a definite style - a way of effectively communicating with readers?
YMN
21. Do you suffer from problems to do with the ending of the story?
YMN
22. Do you think your fiction reflects your vision of life?
YMN
23. Are your characters generally working out?
YMN
24. Have you got an active way of attracting readers and holding their attention effectively?
YMN
25. Does your fiction have healthy emotional content which works on readers?
YMN
26. Do you often make significant changes to the plot?
YMN
27. Do you get many rejections?
YMN
28. Do you set up the story well and then have trouble delivering?
YMN
29. Are you in apathy about your writing?
YMN
30. Are you confident that your characters have appeal?
YMN
31. Are you troubled by a loss of readers?
YMN
32. Do you feel your emotional content is about right?
YMN
33. Is the plot exciting and effective in holding the reader’s attention?
YMN
34. Are there often questions from readers about what a particular sentence or section means?
YMN
35. Is it hard to see how to wrap the story up?
YMN