This is how I'll be grading your stories.

Title: 0/5

Description: 0/10

Plot and Originality: 0/45

Conflicts: 0/10

Grammar and spelling: 0/15

Characters: 0/5

Emotions: 0/5

Appearance: 0/5

Total: 0/100

I typed these up if any of you would like to go over them for tips for your story. Enjoy! ^^

Title

A catchy title is everything. It attracts the readers to look into it further. Too corny or too lengthy will push their eyes away because it takes entirely too long to read or makes them feel like they’re getting ready to read the manuscript for a soap opera.

Description

The description reels in the readers even further, but when a description is so vague it doesn’t even get their attention, they won’t put any time or effort into pushing the ‘next’ button. If it’s too revealing, they’ll feel as if they already know how it ends. You need a perfect mix of both that conjures up wonder and curiosity.

Plot

This is the most important part of a story. It reveals the characters, the setting, the conflicts, and everything in between! You want a plot that isn’t rushed but keeps a steady rhythm with a few breaks here and there for great drama your readers expect. Don’t make it too boring, though. It puts your readers to sleep.

Conflicts

The conflicts in a story keep it moving. They bring up reasons for the characters to travel, fight, become closer, talk, and much more. Interesting conflicts are even better because they can lead to much larger problems that the characters have a hard time finding their way around. If you need help, do some research on conflicts and how you can integrate interesting themes. (Here is an article on conflicts and a few links inside of it if you wish to read more about conflict.)

Originality

Most stories these days are about vampires, werewolves, unplanned pregnancy, meeting an idol, or falling in love. They’re all okay to write about as long as they don’t follow the usual path: the protagonist meets his/her true love, goes through a few problems, and ends up loving them in the end. Make it different and your own story. That’s what most people look for.

Grammar and Spelling

Being a grammar freak, I can’t help but notice the little things. For example, half the people I know don’t know the difference between “you’re” and “your,” and “they’re,” “there,” and “their”. Sure most of the authors on here don’t speak English as a first language, but that precaution needs to be put in the foreword so readers know what to expect.

As for spelling, please try your best. Don’t use slang either unless it’s part of your characters’ speech. For example: “Hey, y’all,” Sarah said, leaning against the post that read ‘do not feed horses.’ Sarah is from Alabama, so her accent is sure to be country. Text slang is absolutely a no-no. It makes the reader feel lazy so they won’t be as into the story as they possibly can.

Characters

Your characters define nearly everything that happens. Unless your main characters are the sun and moon, please put more than a little bit of effort into creating round, interesting characters. Here is a link to character tips.)

Emotions

Of course it’s important to have good characters and an interesting plot, but the emotions in the story that makes the reader’s heart go ‘thump-thump’ super quick forces them to read on. They want to know what’s going on and why they reacted that way. Most of the time, throwing in a surprise element (like a famous character or making one of the protagonists show his soft side) will make the reader think twice about leaving the story behind to find a better one. They crave more when that surprise element is there.

Appearance

The text size, a poster, a background, and how the story is set up either brings the reader in or pushes them away. It’s all by luck that a reader likes how it looks or not. All you can do is hope for the best.

Credits

Poster: thatpaperplane from Starlite Graphics

Layout: voicelesss from Arcobaleno Themes

Thank you both so much! ^3^

EDIT on 3/16/14: Plot and originality are now one score. Good luck.