# The NEW Literary Maneuvers Judging Guide



## bdcharles

So, you've decided to become a judge. Was it the promise of eternal  glory, pinned up for all to see in your medal cabinet? Is it your  passion for quality prose lovingly crafted? Or perhaps it is something else  entirely like you just enjoy reading. Anyway, you're here now, so let's explain how we go about  this.

Your judging will consist of a *review *- a parapraph or  two summarising your thoughts on the piece. You can allude to your  scores below, say why you scored as you did, what you might have  preferred to see. Anything really. Be nice though. Be honest, be  constructive, be critical, and gush in praise as well of  course 

Your judging will also consist of *scores*. These are points from a total of twenty, which is to be broken down into four categories of five points:

*SPaG (Score: 1 to 5)*
Otherwise known as *S*pelling, *P*unctuation, *a*nd *G*rammar, this is the technical side if  the piece. Leave aside the story and narrative devices and ask yourself:  is it correctly punctuated? Are there typos and incorrect  constructions? Do any intentional errors support the voice as devices or  did they just creep in? Are there any stylistic wobbles, eg does the  writer change tense halfway through? How's the formatting?

*T&V* *(Score: 1 to 5)*
This is your Tone and Voice. It is not the technical correctness of the  piece but the personality and mood of it. Every bit of grammar may be  butchered but if the piece pops off the page then reflect that here. If  it reads flatter than an unread technical manual despite perfect English  then again you may score that accordingly here.

*Evaluation (Score: 1 to 5)*
What is the effect of all of the elements--SPaG, T&V--working  together in concert? Is it harmonious? Is there a narrative arc? Does the story start in the right place? Or, does the conclusion not  follow? Is the prompt in evidence?  How is the chracter development? Techniques used? It's a question of evaluating the story's internal consistency  and structure.

*Reaction (Score: 1 to 5)*
How did the story touch you? We understand this competition is about fun  at the end of the day, so have a good time with it. This  should be the only purely reactive element, where we share how it moved  us and what our opinion was of the piece.

Right, once you've completed the above, simply add up your scores* and  send them to the host of the competish via private message. The format  for each entry should look something like this:


Then on to the next one. Cool? Cool. PM the Literary Maneuvers host if you have any questions - or just drop a message into the Coffee Shop.





_** This bit is really mega-helpful for the host ... thanks in adv *_


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## velo

Updated standard judge template:



> [noparse]*Author,  Title
> SPaG:
> T&V:
> Eval:
> Reac:
> Overall:  *
> 
> 
> {your review}
> 
> 
> [/noparse]


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## Olly Buckle

Thank you for this, I am commenting so it will appear on my subscriptions for easy reference.


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## Lawless

I always thought it was Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar.


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## bdcharles

Lawless said:


> I always thought it was Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar.


D'oh! Thanks. Not sure what I was thinking that day I wrote that...


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