Script & Score Diagnostic - • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Use this helpful checklist to evaluate your own musical or study your favorite successful (or non-successful!) shows. Does the story begin with an interesting hook, creating a desire to know more? Setting & World - Is there a clear sense of time and place? Characterization & Motivation - Are the characters compelling and someone you can root for? - Do the characters feel real and three-dimensional with distinct voices, flaws and virtues? - Are their goals clear and proactive enough to influence the plot (not passive)? - Do their motivations seem believable, with well-drawn and appropriate emotion? - Are the secondary characters well-rounded and enhance the story rather than competing with the main story? Plot & Conflict - Does the premise avoid cliché and/or bring a fresh perspective to an old idea? - Are the plot twists believable yet unexpected? - Do the characters act or react to events in a realistic and believable way?