6 Point Plan for Evaluating Your Writing
A look at how a UK university assesses quality in writing shows how to apply specific criteria for success in freelance writing and competitions.
Students
on Creative Writing courses and entrants to writing competitions naturally have
concerns about bias and subjectivity.
How can creative writing be judged fairly?
Isn’t it all just a matter of personal opinion?
Well, yes and
no. Yes, because,
ultimately, when evaluating a number of quality mss, a judge will choose what
s/he likes best. No because
there is a range of specific criteria against which quality writing can be
assessed. Being aware of this process may help you increase your chances of
achieving, at least, a higher placement when entering competitions. Wins cannot
be guaranteed because, while judges generally agree on the top five or ten
percent of entries showing special ability, the final choice will be a matter
of personal taste.
Six-Point Plan for Assessment of
Quality in Writing
In college
coursework, students’ portfolios must be assessed to a percentage. There are
firm guidelines in reaching an overall score and there is nothing about this
process that could be described as ‘arbitrary'. Here are the six main areas
markers will consider in assessing quality writing, with suggestions about how
you can approach them.
1. Originality: Explore ideas and make them
fresh and interesting, and if you can, try to inject your own insights into
your work.
2. Style: Your writing may be competent but
style needs something extra. This is about finding your own voice, individual,
fluent and striking. It’s about using language effectively and making your
approach distinctive.
3. Structure: The structure of your story
should suit its genre, its style and its content. Some stories require a
distinct beginning, middle and end. Others may examine a state of affairs or a
slice of life, possibly unravelled, layer-by-layer. Know what you’re trying to
achieve and adapt your structure to suit the form.
4. Crafting: This is the process of working
through, revising, editing, thinking about what you are doing. Ask yourself:
‘What is the purpose and intent of the story?’
5. Interest: The story should maintain pace and
interest throughout, should be fully developed and show a sense of
reader-awareness. Work on the parts where interest flags. For example, will the
characters evoke a reaction? Will the reader engage with them? Is the language
used effective? Are there superfluous paragraphs or characters that do nothing
for the plot? Don’t be afraid to remove anything (however well-written) if it
doesn’t actually do its proper job in the story. You may be able to save it to
use in something else.
6. Overall effect: This is not only about you,
but also about your reader. Have you shown perception, emotional IQ and real
engagement with your ideas? Will your reader be likely to identify, respond or
even feel differently about your subject matter after reading the story?
On many
Creative Writing courses, assessing a piece of work involves applying a
percentage to each of the above requirements, which are then averaged-out to
give a single, overall percentage mark. A further safeguard is that the work is
then ‘second-marked’ and a difference of five percent for subjectivity is
deemed, if not acceptable, at least impossible to eradicate. If there is more
than a five percent difference and the markers cannot agree, the work is
referred to a third marker. Fortunately, there is seldom more than a five
percent difference and usually it settles around two or three percent. That’s
just about as accurate a judgement as can be expected, and it is untrue to say
that quality cannot be assessed to a reasonable degree of accuracy.
Subjectivity Among Competition Judges
A competition,
however, needs a winner so a further judgment has to be made. Once the judges
have their top-quality stories picked out, personal likes and dislikes come to
play in influencing their final choices. Some writers feel it is worthwhile to
research the judges' preferences and own writing styles, but that is a matter
of personal choice and may not work as well as finding your own voice.
Complex
metaphors that wouldn't be acceptable in mass market magazine stories can work
for you in competitions. In a sense, competitions set you free to be yourself
and choose what you want to write, although sometimes within the framework of a
genre, theme or word-limit. Increase your chances by thinking about the six
points detailed above, and even if you don’t win this time, you might get a
commendation. This commendation will confirm that you can produce quality
writing, which might well lead to a ‘win’ when you submit to the next
competition.
Contrary to
what some new writers believe, editing does not stifle spontaneity. Write
spontaneously, then edit objectively. Result: writing with impact.
Sources:
·
Wolff, J. Your
Writing Coach, (2009)
Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
·
Multiple Contributors, The Creative Writing Coursebook,
Eds: Bell, J. and Magrs. P, 2001, MacMillan.
·
School of English, University of Kent at
Canterbury.
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