The Narrative Deep Dive

A novelist’s perspective on your first draft.

Objective, structured feedback is one of the hardest things for a writer to find. Friends are kind, writing groups have their own dynamics, and professional editors often take months.

The Narrative Deep Dive offers a focused, editorial-style report on your work — written by me, Matt Wilven, novelist and author of The Blackbird Singularity and Farzaneh and the Moon.

This is not a line-by-line copy edit. It is a structured, big-picture reading of your text, with an emphasis on how narrative, character, prose, and voice are working together — and how they can be sharpened.

How it works

1. Submit your work – one short story or novel chapter (up to 5,000 words).
2. Framework applied – I read your text through the four modules of my Writing Lab Toolkit.
3. Deepened by prompts – I sometimes use my own AI templates to generate questions, but the conclusions are mine. Every report is written in my words and judgement.

What you receive

Your finished PDF report is structured in four sections:

• Editorial Overview – a synthesis of your draft’s strengths and opportunities.
• Modules – structured insights into narrative, character, prose, and voice.
• Follow-up Expansions – deeper perspectives where issues or opportunities emerge.
• Next Steps – practical revision angles to guide your re-draft.

Details

• Price: £95
• Turnaround: 48 hours
• Delivery: PDF report sent directly to your inbox

Submission

After purchase, you’ll receive a secure link to a short form. You’ll be asked for your name, email, Gumroad order number, and your manuscript file (Word or PDF, max 5,000 words). Once submitted, your Deep Dive begins.