4 AI Prompts That Diagnose Your Manuscript Problems
Most AI writing advice tells you how to generate content. That’s backward. You don’t need AI to write your book. You need AI to see what’s wrong with the book you’ve already written.
I’ve used these prompts across 113+ books. They identify problems faster than beta readers and more specifically than “something feels off in the middle.”
Copy any prompt. Paste your manuscript section. Get actionable diagnosis.
1. The Sagging Middle Diagnostic
Your second act feels slow. You know something’s wrong but can’t pinpoint it.
I’m pasting my manuscript’s middle section (chapters [X-Y]). Analyze the pacing by identifying where forward momentum stalls, which scenes could be cut without losing essential plot or character development, where my protagonist stops actively pursuing their goal and becomes passive, and what questions keep readers turning pages. Be specific. Reference scenes and chapter locations. [PASTE YOUR MIDDLE SECTION]
2. The Dialogue Voice Check
All your characters sound the same. You suspect it but can’t hear it anymore.
Here are dialogue samples from my main characters, labeled by name. Analyze whether each has a distinct voice by identifying what speech patterns distinguish each character, which characters sound too similar, and what verbal tics or sentence structures could differentiate them. [PASTE 10-15 LINES OF DIALOGUE PER CHARACTER FROM DIFFERENT SCENES]
3. The Opening Hook Autopsy
Your first page isn’t grabbing people.
Read my opening as an agent who sees 100 queries daily. Tell me at what sentence you’d care what happens next, what question this opening plants, what’s at stake in the first 500 words, and where setup or backstory delays momentum. [PASTE FIRST 500-750 WORDS]
4. The Character Arc Tracker
You’re not sure your protagonist changes.
My protagonist starts believing [their false belief] and should end having learned [the truth]. Here are key scenes: BEGINNING (Chapter X): [paste scene]. MIDPOINT (Chapter X): [paste scene]. END (Chapter X): [paste scene]. Is the change visible in behavior, not just stated? Does the arc feel earned? What’s missing?
Why This Matters
AI diagnoses problems. You fix them in your voice.
The writing community is tearing itself apart over AI. Purists refuse to touch it. Efficiency chasers paste AI-generated content straight to publication. Both camps miss what works.
My mission: help writers understand that AI shouldn’t write for them. It should help them write better and faster.
I use AI every day. My clients never know because the final product sounds like me. AI handles the diagnostic work, the structural analysis, the pattern recognition I’ve become blind to after months with the same manuscript. Then I close the AI and do the writing myself.
AI sees what you can’t see anymore. You create what AI can’t create: voice, emotional truth, the specific way your mind assembles words that no algorithm can replicate.
Stop arguing about whether AI is good or evil. Start using it as the diagnostic tool it is.
If you want to go deeper, I’ve got free guides on AI fundamentals and 30+ craft handbooks at masterofworlds.com/ai-writing.