Manuscript X-Ray – the database of your story

Imagine someone reads your manuscript not just once „from start to finish“, but then puts down a sorted reference work to: who the characters are, what they want, where the plot stalls, how chapters and scenes are structured, which conflicts and world details occur.

Exactly that is it Manuscript X-Ray.

In one sentence

The X-Ray is the Content map of your novel or screenplay – and the foundation for all deeper editorial analyses in Textbuddy.

Without a map, you can polish individual sentences.
With map one recognises whether the History bears.

2. What the X-Ray does for you

During setup, Textbuddy reads your manuscript chapter by chapter and collects the essential building blocks of your story, for example:

Figures – who appears, relationships, goals, developments
Plot & Conflicts – what precedes, where tension arises, where contradictions threaten
Chapters & Scenes – how the story is structured
World & Setting – Places, rules, facts that hold your story together
Dramaturgy – rough arcs, pacing, structure at story level

You can access the X-Ray later in Textbuddy under Manuscript X-Ray view, browse and use as a reference – just as an editor would have a dossier at hand before going into detail.

Important: The X-Ray itself is not yet a complete editorial analysis.
It is the Base, on which the analyses are based.

3. Why this is so helpful

Many text problems aren't actually „sentence problems“, but story problems:

A character suddenly acts differently than before
A subplot fizzles out
A chapter serves no function
The voltage drops in the middle

One can see such points better when one entire history at a glance has – not just the current paragraph.

Therefore, the following applies:

First (for fiction/screenplay) the X-Ray build up
Then targeted Analyses start
Only then – where appropriate – revise in the text

Analogy: The X-Ray is the X-ray image.
The analyses are the medical evaluation.
The revision is the Treatment.

4. Two Entry Points: Overview or Full Editing

A) Fiction Overview (Exposé) – the quick overall view

If you first want to know: „What's it about, how does the story work, where are the major strengths and weaknesses?“

Then the Fiction Overview (Exposé) is the right entry point.

It provides a compact editorial overview, typically covering:

Short pitch / core of the story
Content and characters
Target audience and impact
Strengths and weaknesses at macro level

Ideal if you need orientation – before you start a full editing session.

Here's how you start:

Open the Textbuddy: https://scribigo.de/textbuddy/
Upload your manuscript (fiction/screenplay) or open the existing order
Open the Wizard (View → Start Wizard or Wizard icon)
Select Analyse → Fiction Overview (Exposé)
Confirm costs and start

Tip: If no X-Ray exists yet, the Textbuddy will set it up first or notify you.

B) Complete Analysis Pack – comprehensive editing

If you want a broad, systematic editing that covers the essential story aspects, use the Complete Analysis Pack.

It's the „big pass“: multiple specialized analyses in sequence – and at the end a editing summary, which bundles the results.

Here's how you start:

Open the Textbuddy: https://scribigo.de/textbuddy/
Open your manuscript
Open the Wizard
Under Analyse you'll find the highlighted card Complete Analysis Pack
Review task plan, confirm, start

Alternatively, you can simply write in the chat:
„Start the complete analysis pack.“

5. Overview vs. Analysis Pack – the difference

	Fiction Overview (Exposé)	Complete Analysis Pack
Goal	Quick overall view	Comprehensive story editing
Depth	Compact, editorial	Multiple specialized analyses + summary
When	Orientation phase, pitch, initial assessment	When you want to improve systematically
Result	An overview document	Multiple Analyses + Editorial Summary + Findings
Duration / Effort	Significantly slimmer	Larger run, but complete

In short:

Exposé = „Show me the story from a bird's-eye view.“
Analysis Pack = „Do a proper edit of the important story levels.“

6. What's Included in the Complete Analysis Pack

The pack builds – if necessary – the Manuscript X-Ray and then typically carries out these analyses (for fiction):

First Impressions & Getting Started – Hook, genre effect, motivation to read on
Character analysis and testing – Characters, Arcs, Relationships
Chapter structure – Chapter function, transitions, weak endings
Plot Logic & Consistency – Contradictions, gaps, causal chain
Tension & Pace – Highlights, low points, pacing
Structural Tightening – Redundancies, subplots, macro structure
World-Building & Setting – Consistency and depth of the world
editing summary – the consolidated evaluation at the end

(Genre clarity remains available as a standalone analysis, but is no longer part of the pack.)

Already existing analyses are usually not repeated unnecessarily; missing steps will be added.

The results appear in the Analysis Tab. Concrete findings also end up in the Review Inbox, so that you can work through them one by one.

7. New: X-Ray Structure Revision

With the X-Ray Structure Revision can you from now on also overarching, substantive improvements push the story forward – not just style or spelling corrections, but story interventions based on X-Ray findings.

Typical direction:

tighten or shorten scenes
Consolidate redundancies
Condense storylines
targeted structural interventions at the affected areas

Important – current limit:
Still none comprehensive large-scale restructuring such as „rearranging entire chapters“ or „reorganising whole scene blocks“.
The structural revision works in a targeted and transparent way (with a tracked-changes view) – it is not an automatic novel overhaul at the push of a button.

Here's how you start:

Not as a separate wizard button – the structural revision requires context from the chat, findings, and text passages.

Open Textbuddy
Open manuscript with completed X-Ray
In Chat e.g.: „Structure the redundant scenes according to the X-Ray findings.“
or a specific finding from the Review Inbox trigger revision

8. What does this cost you as a Textbuddy user?

As a regular Textbuddy user, the standard processing costs (Scribits or your plan) apply.

In practice, this means:

The X-Ray is charged like a normal processing.
Later X-Ray-based analyses use this database – and therefore usually cost less, than if the entire manuscript had to be analyzed completely again each time.
Build X-Ray once → then perform multiple targeted analyses much more efficiently.

Analogy: You pay once for a good map – and then save yourself many expensive „blind flights“ through the entire text.

You can see the exact costs before starting in the confirmation card.

9. Recommended approach for beginners

If you're working with X-Ray for the first time, this workflow is usually the most sensible:

Upload manuscript in the Textbuddy
Make sure the type Fiction or Screenplay is selected
Optionally first run the Fiction Overview (Exposé) start
Then run the Complete Analysis Pack laufen lassen
Findings in the Review Inbox review
Revise specifically – for story interventions with the X-Ray Structure Revision

10. Quick FAQ

Do I need X-Ray for every correction?
No. For spelling, style, or individual paragraphs often not. For story, plot, and character questions: yes, very helpful.

Is X-Ray only for novels?
For Fiction and Screenplay. No. For non-fiction and similar texts, there are other analysis methods without X-Ray.

Do I always have to take the full analysis package?
No. You can also start individual analyses. The package is the most convenient option if you have a complete image you want.

Does X-Ray replace a human editor?
No. But it gives you a clear, structured foundation – often exactly the guidance you need before (or between) human editing steps.

Direct links

Open Textbuddy: https://scribigo.de/textbuddy/
Then in Textbuddy: Wizard → start desired function
- Analyse → Fiction overview (exposé)
- Analyse → Complete analysis package
- Tab Manuscript X-Ray → View reference material
X-Ray structure revision: via the Chat or from the review inbox (not as a separate wizard button)

If you prefer, a clear sentence in the chat is also fine – the Textbuddy will guide you through the confirmation.