1 · The chapter
Mark what the system says
ExampleFictional, made up for this page. Click or tap any sentence to mark it.
58 of 194 words marked
A dashed line is a suggestion and counts as prose until you mark it. Suggestions only spot punctuation (brackets, banners, arrows, bars, and box lines), so they can catch a sign or a note to yourself. On a keyboard, Up and Down move between sentences and Space marks one.
2 · The comparison
See how the chapter divides
Example · 4 blocks
| Part | Words | Share | Est. spoken |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prose | 136 | 70% | 54 s |
| System text | 58 | 30% | 23 s |
| Whole chapter | 194 | 1 min 17 s |
Counts, not a score. No share is right or wrong, and nothing here reads the story. Spoken length is an estimate at 150 words a minute.
Marked blocks, in chapter order
Marks with no prose between them make one block. Choose any you plan to shorten, and the report lists them.
Block 18 words · 3 s · 24% in
[Borrowed Strike: 8 Credit charged to your account.]
Block 214 words · 6 s · 34% in
=== ENTRY RECORDED ===
Block 321 words · 8 s · 61% in
=== NOTICE OF COLLECTION ===
Block 415 words · 6 s · 87% in
[Contract offered: Clear the Cinder Row bridge. Payout: 30 Credit. Penalty for default: 15 Credit.]
To shorten: 1 block, 21 words.
3 · The report
Copy the counts, not the chapter
Where your chapter goes
Nowhere. It stays on this page. Nothing is uploaded, put in a link, or kept in this browser, and there is no project file, because that would be one more copy of an unpublished chapter. A refresh or a closed tab clears the chapter and your marks, so copy or download the report first.
What the numbers leave out
A word is any run between spaces with a letter or a number in it, so === counts for nothing. Numbers and symbols count as written: HP: 120/120 is two words here and takes a narrator longer than that, so stat-heavy blocks run long aloud. Whether a block earns its place is for you and your readers to decide.
Questions about this tool
What share of a chapter should be system text?
This tool does not set one, because no single number fits every story. It shows how much of this chapter you marked, in words and estimated spoken time, and stops there. There is no score, no pass or fail, and nothing reads the plot.
Does it find my system messages for me?
You decide what counts. The page suggests spans from punctuation alone: square, angle, and lenticular brackets, banner lines like === Level Up ===, arrows, bars, and box lines. A suggestion has a dashed line and counts as prose until you mark it, because a bracket can just as easily hold a sign or a note to yourself. A message with no such punctuation gets marked by hand, one sentence or line at a time.
How are the words and spoken length worked out?
A word is any run between spaces with a letter or a number in it, so === on its own is not a word. Spoken length is 150 words a minute, the audiobook pace the reading time calculator uses. Numbers and symbols count as written, so HP: 120/120 counts as two words, and a narrator takes longer than this says on stat-heavy blocks. Text without spaces between words, such as Chinese or Japanese, does not count well here.
Where does my chapter go?
Nowhere. It stays on this page while the page is open. It is not uploaded, not put in a link, and not kept in this browser, and there is no project file, because that would be one more copy of an unpublished chapter. A refresh or a closed tab clears the chapter and your marks, so copy or download the report first.
What goes in the report?
Word counts, shares, spoken estimates, each block's length and position, and the blocks you chose to shorten. Your chapter text stays out by default, and the report box shows exactly what Copy sends. If you turn on Include the marked system text, the marked blocks are added, and your prose stays out either way.
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