ReaderfoldDoes the deadline change what your reader feels?
Free tool · No signup or manuscript upload
Build a questionnaire for your draft.
Choose your genre and draft stage. Edit the questions, remove any you don’t need, and download a reading brief you can send to people.
Updating the options replaces edits below. Series-ending and full-reveal questions are omitted for excerpts.
Enable JavaScript to customize. These starter questions are readable and printable without it.
Where did you first want to keep reading? Which detail created that interest?
Locates the moment the story earns attention.Where did you skim or lose the thread? Name the passage and what you were waiting to learn.
Separates a loss of interest from missing context.Which detail would you most want preserved in a revision, and what would be lost without it?
Identifies strengths a revision might accidentally remove.What did you think would happen if the protagonist failed, and when did that consequence become clear?
Checks the reader's understanding of the stakes.When did you feel time running out? Which action or detail made the deadline tangible?
Separates a stated deadline from experienced urgency.Which escape or reversal was hardest to believe, and what established rule or detail shaped your doubt?
Locates credibility problems without requiring every twist to be predictable.At the end of this excerpt, what did you expect to happen next, and why?
Tests the promise of the excerpt without asking for a whole-book judgment.
How to use the thriller questions
A countdown is only part of suspense. These questions test whether the reader understands the threat, believes the choices made under pressure, and feels the cost of delay.
Locate the threat, not just the danger
Ask what the reader thinks will happen if the protagonist fails. 'Something bad' suggests different work from 'her brother will be arrested before she can get the evidence out.' Specific stakes give readers something to anticipate and worry about.
Ask where the urgency changes
A quiet scene can tighten suspense if a choice becomes harder. Ask where the reader felt time running out and which detail created that feeling. Avoid treating every pause as a pacing defect.
Test escapes against established limits
Suppose a locked phone suddenly opens with an emergency override. Ask which earlier detail made that escape seem possible. If the answer is 'none,' check whether the surprise is intentional and whether it removes pressure the story has asked readers to invest in.
Give AI readers enough of the chase
Use Tension and suspense and Plot logic as distinct Readerfold focuses. Include the threat's setup, the pressured choice, and its consequence. Compare the reader who follows urgency with the one who notices a convenient escape, then decide what the sequence needs.