Savant Awards 2022

Judging Rubrics

In case you're wondering how your precious works will be judged, this is a detailed set of criteria we are standardising for all.

Judges, we will post a chapter and tag all the participants under your name. Once it's posted you will be given 2 weeks to judge based on the criteria we set up above. If you have any questions, pm this account or post them in our discord server. (For a google doc with the judging template check out the comments here)

• C R I T E R I A •
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Cover (10 marks)
In the Savant Awards, covers are going to play a great role. As the saying goes: first impression counts. We have given it a lot of importance.

Grading points to help judges:
* Is the cover eye-catching/aesthetically pleasing?
* Does it fit the story theme?
* Is the colour palate soothing or too contrasting or too much clashing colours?
* Is the title clear/bold or too small/messy? Great font?
*** Have you seen a similar cover in Wattpad? (Extra point given if it's original and uniquely yours)

Title and Blurb (10 marks)
Title and Blurb play a huge role in hooking readers to a book. The Title captures the essence and the identity of a book and the Blurb is a short paragraph that gives insight for readers. They are what hooks the reader to click on and find out more 😉

Grading points to help judges:
* Is the title relevant to the story?
* Is the blurb interesting?
* Is it too long or too short? (Minus point for far too lengthy titles/far too simple blurbs)
* Does it give away too much?
*** Does it hook you to read more?

Plot (30 marks)
There's no book without a plot. Even fanfiction needs to have a unique and beautiful plot. The Plot is the "meat" of your book or also called the "patty". This is the most important grading point and judges please mark this critically. In this criteria, we will mark all aspects of the plot, e.g. plot development, plot holes, etc.

Grading points to help judges:
* Is the plot interesting? Does it make you want to read on?
* Can you imagine the scenes? Is there enough imagery for the setting? Are there sufficient details?
* Is the plot development progressive? Or does it stagnate?
*** Are there plot holes or booboos? Did you catch them? (Minus points if there are)

Flow (10 marks)
As the story progresses so does the plot. Hence, the Flow of the story plays a vital part in the understanding as well as the logical flow of sequences. Like a movie.

Grading points to help judges:
* Was the pace too fast or too slow?
* Were the events in the story guessed easily? Predicted easily?
* Was the twist necessary? Was it too sudden or awkward?

Character Development (15 marks)
Again another super important component of a story for it to be a successful one. Character Development is needed to show that your characters have learnt, gleaned, experienced situations and mature. They are no longer who they set out to be at the beginning of the story, be it becoming better versions of themselves or worse...

Grading points to help judges:
* Is the protagonist/antagonist/character relatable?
* Can you imagine him/her?
* Is the protagonist too good to be true?/Is the antagonist portrayed too flawed? (Minus points if the answer is yes)
*** Can you feel and understand the growth in their emotions? Are there changes, subtle or drastic?

Anticipation (10 marks)
This component shows how much your readers want to read on about your story. Whether you have successfully employed the techniques to make your readers hanging after your every word or probably having enough of your 🤦🏼‍♀️ chapters. (:

Points to be graded:
* On a scale of 1 to 10 how much are you willing to click that next chapter button?

Enjoyment (10 marks)
This component shows the amount of satisfaction your book gives to readers.

Points to be graded:
* Did you fall head over heels for the book? Was the reading journey an enjoyable/thrilling/heart-gasping one?
* Was it natural and easy to get into? Or too confusing and the ups and downs too jarring?
*** Was it memorable? Would you read it again if given a chance?

Language (5 marks)
This(wait no I meen "These") can basically happen to anyone . Sometimes even due to malfunctioning keyboards . (See my point?)

Points to be graded:
* Were there too many errors? (We're talking about all of them- grammar, spelling, tense... bla bla)
* Was it frequent and repetitive?/ Several here and there?
* Were the punctuations misused?
* Were the adjectives and verbs misused?
* Spacing of paragraphs/Whole chunk of wordy paragraphs? (Minus points if they're too chunky)

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Total Score : 100 marks

Short comments will be given for each component to explain the score given.

The number of stars beside each grading point is where you will be marked critically.

Judging to be done for at least 5 chapters of every participant before scores are given.

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• P O E T R Y / S H O R T S T O R Y •

Cover (15 marks)
For poetry/short stories as your main plot is going to be shorter than the other genres, we'll grade you more critically here.

Title and Blurb (15 marks)
The hooks are ever more important as well in order to make your readers want to read your book in the first place.

Flow (10 marks)
The flow still matters. In the case of one-shots, as long as they fit the theme and each chapter flows well, points will be given. For poetry... I think this one is self-explainable.

Style/Plot (20 marks)
Type of words, writing style, stanzas or themes used for poetry. For short stories, the plot is shorter so lesser points are awarded here compared to the other genres.

Language (10 marks)
All grammar, tenses, sentence structures will be considered. Vocabulary, fluency and suitability of words applies especially for poetry.

Anticipation (5 marks)
Anticipation for the following chapters or if there would be a next chapter.

Enjoyment (25 marks)
How much did you enjoy reading the short story/poetry?

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Total Score : 100 marks

Short comments will be given for each component to explain the score given.

The number of stars beside each grading point is where you will be marked critically.

All chapters for Short Story should be read before scores are given. For Poetry the same applies, unless number of chapters exceed 10.

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If anyone is confused or still have questions feel free to comment here >>

Make sure you check out the judging template commented above.

The SG Community