Song_of_fire
Are the judges going to be rotated? Like judges 1 and 2 judge fic A, 2 and 3 judge fic B, 3 and 1 judge fic C.
It'd spread out the judging but still have that third judge available.
It'd spread out the judging but still have that third judge available.
Yeah, that's how I was thinking it would work.
I fixed the list. Thanks for the instruction! I should have thought of that--I've made such lists with this type of code before--but, eh, I guess it slipped my mind.
I think art would be the best way to go--and those little icons, Kaarii, would be perfect. If those were a standard, with special art or sketches for large donations *bow Song_of_fire* than I think that'd work out best, neh?
On judging, I've been working out guidelines for the grammar section...but prose, characters, and plot are all rather more complicated, and I'm not sure how to definitely define them. It may be that after the submissions are in, the judges should just get together and work out the standard based off of the stories submitted.
Errr...what's a MC?
Speaking of gold, a few numbers for y'all to ponder when deciding how much you might want to give. I've got about 14500 gold. Split up among the prize categories, that gives:
Overall Gamma: 3500
Overall Beta: 2000
Grammar Nazi Gamma: 2000
Grammar Nazi Beta: 1000
Rose o' Prose Gamma: 2000
Rose o' Prose Beta: 1000
Road Less Taken Gamma: 2000
Road Less Taken Beta: 1000
...hopefully we can increase that, neh?
And...to end off this post, here's what I have for the 'Essentials' category:
ON JUDGING THE 'ESSENTIALS' CATEGORY:
Despite the prize title of 'Grammar Nazi' for this category, I don't think that the judges should really be out to be nazis. For one thing, rules on punctuation and spelling can differ from country to country; even grammar rules may vary. For another, many grammar rules relate to formal writing--and if the writer is using a more readable, informal style, there are some habits that, while technically wrong, may be forgiven.
The basic idea for scoring this category is that everyone starts out with 20 points. Then, if they make mistakes, they get points docked accordingly.
On spelling: Keep in mind the differences in UK (and Commonwealth) and American English. 'Colour' can be considered correct, as can be 'color'. 'Centre' may substitute for 'center', and so forth. 'Cheque' (when referring to money) may be exchanged for 'check'. However, if 'colour' is used once, than it should be used every single time. If they switch back and forth, one point off.
Other than that, each time they have a spelling mistake, one point off. If they spell the same word wrong multiple times, though, they won't have additional points taken off--because getting marks off for cascading errors sucks.
On punctuation: This section is pretty strict as well--although not as strict as spelling, because commas are sometimes harder to judge. Again, mistakes should earn them one docked point, but repeat mistakes won't cost additional points.
Some of the more common basic mistakes are putting a comma where there should be an 'and', or around dialogue. Also (and this may earn me some pies in the face from those who like this 'technique'--but it's wrong) using multiple punctuation marks such as ?! or !! or !?--that's wrong too.
Ellipses are a bit tough. Technically, if at the end of a sentence, they should have a period, and there are all sorts of rules about spacing. However, this is a rather sterner approach to writing than I think even most published writers follow, so I'd vote for just going, "If it looks pretty, it's good." If they're overusing ellipses, well, that's a matter for the 'Prose' category.
On capitalization: Capitalization rules are pretty much the same wherever you go, so I won't bother going into depth for this. Again, one type of mistake, one mark off; multiple mistakes of a type (such as forgetting to capitalize proper nouns, or some such) will only be docked the one point, not multiple points.
Grammar: Oo, the most complex section of this category. Again, I'd say...one mistake, one mark off, but be relaxed. If they end a sentence in a preposition, be forgiving--unless they do it often enough that it becomes an eyesore.
However, the basics should be kept to the line. If they say something like 'I is' outside of a character's way of speech, dock a mark. If they mix up a word (such as 'to' instead of 'too'), again, down a mark. If they have run-on sentences (unless such sentences actually work grammatically), dock a mark. If they have pronoun confusion...etc.
Sentence fragments are a bit iffy. Many writers use them deliberately for emphasis--but on the whole, they detract from the writing. So...I'd say, dock a mark.
Wow. At this rate it's gunna be hard to score perfect--but I guess that's the way it should be. Perfection ain't easy, after all.
Thanks to y'all for showing so much interest and support of this idea biggrin
