Free tool
Free first page critique
Paste the first page of your novel, up to about 2,000 words. You get a score out of 100, five ratings, the line where a browsing reader would most likely stop, and up to three fixes.
- Free
- No signup
- Your text is not stored
What you get
A score out of 100, five ratings from 1 to 10 with a one-line reason each, a two-sentence summary and up to three fixes.
You also get the single line where a browsing reader would most likely put the book down, and why. If the page holds them to the end, it says so. It takes about half a minute, and you don't need an account.
The five things it rates
- Hook: does the opening raise a question or a situation the reader needs answered?
- Voice: does the narration sound like someone, and does it sound sure of itself?
- Clarity: can a reader tell who, where and what without rereading?
- Tension: is something at stake or in motion on this page?
- Prose: are the sentences clean and specific, without filler?
Why the first page gets its own critique
The first page is the part of your book that the most people read. Agents read it in a sample, and browsing readers read it in a bookstore or a retailer preview, often before anything else.
Problems that are small anywhere else cost the most here: a paragraph of backstory, a slow description of the weather, a character with no name and no want. The stop point shows you where that happens on your page.
What a critique can and cannot tell you
It's a fast, consistent first read. It's good at spotting a slow start, a confusing opening line or prose that hides the action.
It can't tell you whether your premise fits the market or whether a particular agent will request more. Use it to compare versions of your opening, not as a verdict on the book.
From the first page to the first chapters
A page that grips can still lead into chapters that sag. The free readiness score reads up to about 10,000 words of your opening and tells you what would make an agent stop reading.
Check your opening chapters with the readiness scoreRun it on the whole manuscript
These tools read a sample. StoryWith AI reads the whole book: structure, pacing, continuity, and a readiness score with every issue linked to its passage. Start free, then upgrade when you're ready to analyze the whole book.
More free tools
- Manuscript Readiness ScorePaste your opening chapters for a score out of 100 and the issues most likely to stop an agent.
- Story RaterRate a chapter or short story on hook, pacing, clarity, dialogue and character, with your top three fixes.
- Query Letter GraderInstant checks on length, word count, genre, comps and greeting, plus an AI review with line-level fixes.
- Query Letter GeneratorAnswer six questions about your novel and get a first-draft query letter in agent format.
- Synopsis GeneratorTell the story in four answers, ending included, and get a first-draft one-page synopsis for agent submissions.
- Book Blurb GeneratorDescribe your book and get three back-cover blurbs, each led by a different angle: character, stakes or mystery.
- Book Title GeneratorDescribe your book and get six to ten title ideas drawn from your own story, each with the reason it fits.
- Editing Cost CalculatorEstimate developmental, line, copyediting and proofreading costs from published EFA rates.
- Novel Word Count CheckerCheck your word count against what agents expect for your genre, from fantasy and romance to YA and memoir.
- Beat Sheet CalculatorSee where each beat of Save the Cat! or three-act structure falls in your novel, by word and by chapter.
- Query Letter TemplateA fill-in-the-blanks query letter in the format agents expect, with an annotated example and word counts for each paragraph.
- Book Synopsis TemplateA one-page synopsis in five parts, with a word budget for each and a full example that gives away the ending.
- Book Proposal TemplateThe eight sections of a nonfiction book proposal, with what to put in each and how agents read it.
- Character Profile TemplateA character profile with the questions that matter: want, need, wound, voice, relationships and arc.
- Story Bible TemplateOne document for every character, place, rule and date in your book, with notes for a series.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Is the first page critique free?
Yes, with no signup. Free tools share a fair-use limit of 6 runs every 12 hours.
How much should I paste?
Your first page, or a little more. It reads up to about 2,000 words, which covers the opening scene of most novels. For the first chapters, use the readiness score.
Is my page stored or used for training?
No. It's sent to our AI provider to produce the critique and isn't saved by StoryWith AI. We don't use it to train AI models.
What is the stop point?
The single line where a reader browsing your opening would most likely put the book down, with the reason. If the page would hold them to the end, the critique says there is no stop point.
Why isn't my score higher?
The critique is told to be honest rather than encouraging: a 5 means a competent opening with clear problems, and a 7 means strong. Apply the fixes and run it again.
Should I choose a genre?
It helps. Readers of a thriller and readers of literary fiction expect different openings, and the genre tells the critique which expectations to read against. It's optional.
Can I critique a page in another language?
Yes. It reads your page in the language it's written in and answers in that language.