AI Blocks › Write and tell stories
A second draft that is shorter, clearer and tested on real readers
Paste a rested draft. Get its holes marked, its meaning found, a cut of 10%, plain wording and a reader plan.
Revise a draft with the door open is a free AI workflow for the job "Write and tell stories". It guides your AI through several skills in order, passing each step's output to the next.
Free · No account · Made by AI Blocks · Thinking: high
What it does
A first draft is written for yourself. A second draft is written for readers, and it is where most of the improvement happens. The trouble is knowing what to change. A fresh read shows the holes, and readers show what you cannot see, but their notes clash. This workflow runs the second draft in order. It reads the rested draft cold and lists what is wrong. It finds what the story is really about, then cuts a tenth with a log so nothing is lost by accident. It swaps timid wording for plain words and tests each line of dialogue by ear. Then it writes the questions to send your readers, and after they answer, sorts the notes into what to fix, what to leave and what to check. The method comes from Stephen King's book On Writing.
You give it
- Your finished draft, rested for about six weeks if you can
- Facts the story must keep, such as ages or dates (optional)
- Who you are writing for (optional)
- Your readers' notes, when they come back
- Brand brain (optional)
You get
- A page-by-page list of mistakes, out-of-character acts and big holes, with a score out of 100
- What the story is about and the scenes to add, sharpen or cut
- The draft cut to 90% of its length, with a log, plain wording and a dialogue score
- A question sheet for your readers and, later, a ranked rewrite list from their notes
Use it when
- You have a finished first draft that has rested for a few weeks.
- Your draft feels long and you do not know what to cut.
- You have readers' notes that disagree.
Steps
- Fresh draft review: Paste a rested draft. Get every page that needs a change, the big holes, and a score out of 100.
- Hidden theme finder: Paste a finished draft. Get what it seems to be about, and the scenes to add, sharpen or cut for it.
- Draft shortening editor: Paste your draft. Get it cut to 90% of its length, with a log of every cut and a story check.
- Plain English editor: Paste a draft. Get it back in plain words, with each cut explained and a check that you would still say it.
- Dialogue editor: Paste your scene. Get each line of talk tested, the worst fixed and a score out of 100.
- Reader feedback question writer: Share your draft. Identify the right test reader and get questions that uncover where they struggle.
- Reader feedback sorter: Paste what several readers said. Get what to fix, what to leave alone and a ranked rewrite list.
How to use it
- Download the handoff pack. It's a zip with HANDOFF.md and every skill file this workflow uses.
- Give the folder to Claude (in Claude Code, or as files in a Claude Project) and say "Follow HANDOFF.md".
- Paste your draft. It works step by step and saves each result.
- When it reaches the pause, send the draft and the question sheet to four to eight readers, including your ideal reader.
- Come back with their notes and run the last step.