What is Story Notes?
Story Notes is an AI screenplay coverage tool. You upload a script and get a six-stage report in about five minutes: Genre & Tone, Premise & Designing Principle, Character Web, Plot Structure, Theme & Symbols, and Scene & Dialogue Craft. Each stage carries a letter grade, a prose read of what is working and what is not, and two to three specific rewrites to try — every claim citing a page and scene from your own script.
See a full sample report →How much does Story Notes cost?
$20 per script, one time. There is no subscription and no card required to start. The first two stages are free on every script you upload, and $20 unlocks the remaining four on that script plus the downloadable PDF report.
What do you get for free?
The first two stages — Genre & Tone, and Premise & Designing Principle — on every script, with no limit on how many scripts you upload. Those are complete stages rather than previews: letter grade, highlights, prose read, rewrites, and page citations. You can judge the quality of the notes before paying for the rest.
How long does a screenplay analysis take?
About five minutes for a feature-length script. Story Notes reads the screenplay cover to cover before writing a single note, so the wait is the read itself rather than a queue.
Do you train AI on my screenplay?
No. Your screenplay is never used to train any model. Analysis runs through Anthropic’s API, which does not train on API inputs; Anthropic may retain inputs for up to 30 days for trust and safety, then deletes them. Your uploaded file is encrypted in transit and at rest, stored only during processing, and deleted shortly after the analysis completes. We do not keep a copy of the full script.
Read the privacy policy →What file formats can I upload?
PDF, Final Draft (.fdx), and Fountain (.fountain).
Why not just paste my script into ChatGPT?
You can, and for a scene or two it works well. The difference is the shape of the read. Story Notes runs the same six-stage pass on every script, grades each stage against the same bar, and requires every observation to cite a page and a scene — so a note is something you can go check, not something you have to take on faith. It also reads the whole screenplay end to end before writing anything, rather than answering from the parts of it that happen to be in context.
Free AI script coverage compared →Is AI coverage as good as a human reader?
They do different jobs. AI coverage is strong on the structural pass: it is consistent between scripts, it reads all of them, it costs $20 instead of $100 to $200, and it comes back in minutes rather than one to two weeks. A human reader is better on taste, market context, and whether your voice is landing. Most writers use AI coverage between drafts and pay for a human read when a draft is close to going out.
AI vs. human script coverage →Is using Story Notes against WGA rules?
No. The 2023 MBA limits what studios can require of writers and protects screen credit when AI-generated material is involved. It does not stop a writer from getting notes on their own draft. Asking for feedback on a script you wrote is not the same as having AI write it.
What the WGA AI rules actually say →Who is Story Notes for?
Writers working on a spec who need to know what a draft is actually doing before they send it out. It is most useful between drafts — after you have finished something and before you spend $100 on a contest entry or a human read on a script that is not ready yet.
Can I get a refund?
Purchases are non-refundable except where the law requires otherwise. That is the reason the first two stages are free on every script: read them, and decide whether the notes are worth $20 before you pay for the other four.
Read the terms →Do I pay again for a rewrite of the same script?
Yes — pricing is per analysis, so a new draft is a new $20 read. Uploading is always free, and the first two stages come back on every upload, which is often enough to tell you whether a rewrite moved the thing you were trying to move.
Questions about the craft and the industry, answered at length.
Each of these ends with its own set of answers — what coverage costs in 2026, what happened to Coverfly, how to read a report, what a pass actually means.
- 8 questionsScreenplay Genre and Tone: Why Yours Reads as Confused
- 10 questionsScreenplay Dialogue Feedback: Which Notes to Act On
- 7 questionsHow to Read a Coverage Report: A Worked Example
- 8 questionsScreenplay Beta Readers vs Peer Swaps vs AI Coverage
- 8 questionsWhy Your Script Keeps Getting Passes: A Diagnostic Guide
- 6 questionsCheap AI Script Coverage in 2026: The Sub-$25 Tier Compared
- 7 questionsThe Honest Guide to AI Script Coverage (2026)
- 9 questionsWGA AI Rules for Screenwriters: What Applies to You
- 9 questionsTheme in Screenplay: Why Yours Feels Absent or Preachy
- 9 questionsWho Owns Screenwriting's Tools? Cast & Crew, Mostly
- 9 questionsThe $20 First-Pass: A Notes-Then-Polish Workflow Before You Pay a Human Reader
- 9 questionsWeScreenplay Alternatives: What Replaced It, What Didn't
- 9 questionsAI vs Human Script Coverage: When Each Earns Its Money
- 9 questionsWhat Happened to Coverfly? The Shutdown, One Year Later
- 9 questionsFree AI Script Coverage in 2026: What You Get, What You Lose
- 10 questionsBlack List Evaluation Cost in 2026: Honest Pricing Guide
- 9 questionsScript Coverage Cost in 2026: Every Tool Compared ($9.99 to $400+)
- 8 questionsAI Script Coverage Tools Compared (2026): An Honest Map
- 8 questionsCoverfly Alternatives in 2026: A Working Screenwriter's Map