I was wondering about what you said about judging the Publisher's Choice of story: "Publisher's Choice winners will be judged on a variety of criteria, according to a point system." Would you be willing to explain this point system?
Sure. This was referring to the recent Christmas story contest. Those who enter get a doc file with their points and comments in the various areas. (I've sent some out already; still working on others.)
- Submitted Correctly: 1 = Yes; 0 = No
- Title: 2 = Great; 1 = Good; 0 = Change
- Word Count Limit: 1 = 3,000 or less; 0 = Over
- Length Appropriate for Story: 1 = Yes; 0 = No
- Grammar Mistakes: 2 = Few; 1 = More; 0 = Too Many
- Spelling/Typos: 2 = Few; 1 = More; 0 = Too Many
- Adverb/Adjective/Cliché: 2 = Few; 1 = More; 0 = Too Many
- Show, Not Tell: 2 = Great; 1 = Good; 0 = Needs Work
- POV: 2 = Great; 1 = Good; 0 = Needs Work
- Dialog: 2 = Great; 1 = Good; 0 = Needs Work
- Dialog Tags: 2 = Great; 1 = Good; 0 = Needs Work
- Characterization: 2 = Great; 1 = Good; 0 = Needs Work
- Setting/Sense of Place: 2 = Great; 1 = Good; 0 = Needs Work
- Appeals to Senses: 2 = Great; 1 = Good; 0 = Needs Work
- Hook: 2 = Great; 1 = Good; 0 = Needs Work
- Plot/Arc: 2 = Great; 1 = Good; 0 = Needs Work
- Overall Structure: 2 = Great; 1 = Good; 0 = Needs Work
- Christmas Theme/Message: 1 = Yes; 0 = No
- Original/Unique: 2 = Surprised Me; 1 = Familiar but Good; 0 = Read it Before
- Miscellaneous: 2 = Great; 1 = Good; 0 = Needs Work
- Personal Enjoyment: 2 = Loved; 1 = Liked; 0 = Try Again Next Year
Total Score Possible: 38
Generally, a story has to get 30 or more before I consider it publication ready.
4 comments:
Even though I am not the author of the original question, I have a couple follow ups. First, I think your point system is fair and on point for a contest of this kind and the reward your offering (publication). Others may view this as kind of a fun writing exercise where they spend a couple days and knock out 3000 words, submit it, and then read a bunch of neat comments about what they wrote. I sense it is more than that to you. My follow up questions are how many times to you read each story before assigning points, especially in matters of POV, plot, characterization, etc? And is it all you, or do you have an inner circle of readers helping with suggestions/opinions you trust? Just curious.
Charlie
Thanks for this, it's very illuminating! :-)
This kind of evaluation is very generous of you.
At one point you mentioned doing something similar for the Book of Mormon story contest you held a while ago. Is that still in the works? It is so time-consuming; I understand why that might be shelved.
Thanks so much!
I had the same question. Would love to know my score. Thanks for all you do!
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