Here follows the rubric, and how your story will be graded.

Title: ~/5

The title. The beginning of the fanfic. To me, it has to eye-catching, capitalized correctly, and  easy to remember. Addition to that, it will of course have to relate to the story itself. However, please don’t use titles that will easily give away the overall plot of the story. Don’t try to make the title cliché, as it will only make some readers stay away from it. Think of something unique – for me, the shorter the title is, the more it works. Don’t summarize your story with your title – you will lose marks.

Description and Foreword: ~/10

Describe what the story is about, but don’t give it away. Don’t put any unnecessary things in the description, since readers want to know what the story is about, and now how you wrote it three days ago, etc. (E.G: Hey guys! This is my first fanfic, so please do excuse all my spelling mistakes! Anyway, I hope you like it! I just thought of this idea around three days ago, and I didn’t want anyone to claim it!) I believe that such text should be included in your foreword, and not your description. If you think this will attract readers – well, I apologize. Not me.

Moving onto the foreword. You may include information about characters, and pictures of them too. However, that does not appeal to me that much. I would rather learn about the characters as they develop throughout the fanfic, and not know about them straight away. If you are not going to describe the characters in the fanfic, then feel free to do profiles about them in the foreword. However, remember not to give too much away – especially about their history. Author’s notes are to be placed in foreword.

Characters: ~/15

Without characters, your story will not be going anywhere. This is one of the parts in the criteria that make my head hurt the most. I have nothing against cliché, but do refrain from making the characters too annoying and average to tolerate, or flawless, if possible. I’ve read many fanfics – especially the ones in second person – that have the same personality going on in the main girl character. She is either too helpless, or too fierce. When choosing your character’s personality, put yourself in their shoes, and imagine how they would feel if they were in a situation like that. Express them well, as that is what I will be grading this section on.

Plot: ~/20

Probably the most important factor to me. Refrain from using cliché ideas, unless you are confident enough to express it well. Keep it original, make it stand out amongst other fanfics if possible. If you are uncertain about several parts of the plot, do research – don’t be afraid to learn more. If you are writing a chaptered story, refrain from using the same ideas over and over again, as readers will be able to spot the repetition in the chapters, and will eventually get tired of it. Challenge yourself – write something that most people are scared to write, or write something that sounds crazy. I will be grading you on originality as well as development.

Grammar and Spelling: ~/20

I am extremely picky about this section. Now, I understand that not everyone is perfect, and even I make mistakes sometimes. However, try and make an effort to make your story at least readable, even if English is not your native language. Refrain from using text language and emoticons if possible, as they are unnecessary and they make your story look unprofessional. If possible, spell check it, and read over it before you post it. If you are uncertain of a word, search it up and understand the meaning before you use it, or find an easier word to replace it – writing stories is about having fun, not having intense vocabulary throughout your story.

Don’t use links – it gives off the feeling that either you can’t be bothered to describe it, or you’re not able to describe it using words.

Pace and flow: ~/10

If you rush through scenes and chapters, you will probably gain a low mark in this section. Even everything out, pace it so that it doesn’t seem rushed, yet doesn’t linger on one idea for too long. Don’t get jumpy throughout chapters – express it well before moving on. Stay on topic – I don’t want to read about someone’s cat, then suddenly jumping to their dog. However, when writing a short fanfic, the grading will be different.

Language features: ~/15

This section includes the use of similes, metaphors, grammatical tenses and what person you are writing your story in. Try stick to one grammatical tense, if possible, and refrain from jumping from person to person. However, when expressing someone’s emotions or thoughts in a third-person story, you are free to use first person to do so. However, repetition in several similes will earn you a low mark in this section. This also includes features such as onomatopoeia, interjections and the use of several adjectives and verbs.

Text/Poster /Overall appearance: ~/5

Marks will not be deducted if there is no poster, as I understand that some of you may not have included one. However, the text will have to be readable (in colour and size) and the background cannot distract the reader (E.G Flashing background). Marks will be deducted if font size and colour changes throughout chapters (Author’s notes are not included)

Overall Enjoyment/Bonus: ~/5

You can earn bonus points through this section if I’ve enjoyed it, or you’ve done some research on the plot. Bonus points are also awarded for originality and several other things.

Total Mark: ~/100

Additional Comments:
An overall comment/thought on the story, and what could be done to improve it. Will be linked back to the other sections above. Some of my comments may sound blunt and harsh, but it is to help you improve your fanfiction and not to put you down.