Fanfiction Challenge

[-Annie-]

Yeah SKYKAT, the alternative pairing really is a great idea.

So, are we going to scrap the age categorie idea?

[sevenpuddings]

I'm not sure. I think some reshuffling of the challenge needs to take place, that allows for a wider scope for judging each entry. Maybe a set of overall rules for judging needs to be established for the challenge. One that might not include age directly, but something like that into consideration?

Am I rambling?

What does anyone else thing? At the beginning of the last challenge I tried to provide ideas for how people could look at reviewing each fic, so maybe the rules could double as that? Any thoughts, ideas, criticisms?

[Pierced Musie]

The thing is.... no one knows whose fic is whose right up until the winner is announced.

So would it really make any difference?

[-Annie-]

Hmm...good point Jess. I think that would be good, like having a bit of organisation with the reviewing and marking, but not too much, because we still want to the reviewers to say what they really think.

[sevenpuddings]

The thing is.... no one knows whose fic is whose right up until the winner is announced.

So would it really make any difference?

Nope, no one would know who entered under which category, however, once the entrants were announced at the end of the comp, then everyone would know, and for the next challenge people could assume the same people were entered in each category... or am I over thinking it?

I agree that giving rules (even though I hate the word ) would give organisation, the main reason being we don't want people to be biased towards or against any couples or characters that the story could be based around while deciding which story they believe to be the best.

I borrowed these from a friends fiction site last time, maybe we could incorporate some very simple ones into the challenge. Most of them are detailed, but some of them are very useful.

What are your first impressions of the story? Does the opening line grip you?

Is the plot open-ended? Does it feel like there are subplots missing that could further develop the main plot to the story? Are there holes in the plot? Does it seem plausible and/or believable?

How does the action play out? Can you see it playing out in your mind? Do the characters' actions seem believable? Is there enough of it, or not enough?

What do you think of the story overall? Would you read it again? Does it feel as if the story is long enough? Should there be a sequel? Do the characters interact well together? Does the reader skip from one scene to another in a distracting way? Do you feel as though the story has a beginning, a middle, and an end?

If this story has a theme to it, does it seem believable? Does it grip you?

What did you love most about the story, and why?

And lastly, offer any final comments you might wish to give the author. Be it whether you wish to see a sequel, if you would like to read more from that particular author, and the way they write the characters/any pairings

[Skykat]

I was thinking about suggesting a structure for reviews but something a bit simpler.

ie.

Pick out a couple of particular lines or parts in the story where you think the writer really used good descriptive writing,

Pick out a couple of areas or lines in the story where you felt the emotion/where you were really moved

Suggest a couple of ways in which the writer might have room for improvement

Things like that because I think it's nice when you read reviews of your work to know exactly what you did well and not so well.

Maybe we could incoroprate that with some of the stuff from the other site but simplify it a bit so it's easy for people to follow?

[sevenpuddings]

Oh yeah, I knew the others were way too complex, they are for really long stories I think, for people that have been writing fan fictions for years. But I like the simpler idea, I really do.

I love all the ones you've mentioned, they'd work really well. They basically cover compliments and constructive criticism. I do think that asking the question about whether the story works as a whole needs to be asked, because they are one shots, and as we've found, sometimes stories are too rushed, or not detailed enough, or simply feel as though they've written a scene from a longer story.

I think I'll write a draft copy and post it in here for people to either add too or suggest being taken off, if thats alright with everyone else?

[Skykat]

That's fine with me. Maybe if you set it out as like a framework then all people have to do in their reviews is reply to it and fill in under the headings? I think a basic framework for reviews is a good idea, that way everyone gets a fair review and nobody gets all good or all bad.

[sevenpuddings]

Brilliant idea. I think I'll make four main questions, keep it simple and short so people aren't turned off by the idea of reviewing because the scaffold is too complicated to follow.

[Skykat]

That makes sense. There's bound to be questions the hoster wants to ask aswell that are unique to every challenge ie. how well were the prompts used in the last challenge you set. So only having a short structure will allow room for that as well. look forward to seeing what you come up with Jess.xx