Greetings,
Thanks for the thread. :)
Rate each on a scale of one to 10. One being the lowest mark 10 being the highest.
1. Grammar
2. ease of reading
3. Understandability
4. Author's knowledge of the subject
5. Ease of understanding the work
6. Judges personal like of the work
I don't think that is a particularly effective scoring chart. 2, 3 and 5 mean essentially the same thing.
What I look for in a story is something that interests or surprises me. Whichever one I enjoy most will get my vote. That really is the best way to assess a creative piece of writing.
A good story will be an effective use of the imagination, and that is the most important factor for judges to consider.
A question that some people may ask themselves is: "What if I've got a good story in front of me, but the spelling and grammar are terrible?"
It is possible to write a compelling story with bad spelling and grammar as long as it is still comprehensible to the reader. If the story manages to keep you reading despite the mistakes, then it's clearly a good story, and deserves high marks. If the grammar disrupts the meaning so much that it becomes impossible to read, then clearly it's not very good.
A few questions about the competition:
Do we want this to be like the Booker prize, where a panel of judges assess works and then discuss down to one winner, or are we all expected to give scoresheets and work it out mathematically? Or is there perhaps another gameplan?
Even though I'm a teacher, I'd rather we didn't get all
National Curriculum about it, if you see what I mean. I need a break from mark schemes!
Peace