I've been asked to judge a contest of the first chapter of a novel. I've judged short stories before, but I've never tried to judge novels---and of course, the first chapter isn't the whole novel so that makes it even tougher.
Well, the reason I posted this was to get your suggestions for how to judge such a contest.
Posted by Zero (Member # 3619) on :
I would do it on the basis of how compelled I felt to read the next chapter.
Posted by NoTimeToThink (Member # 5174) on :
I agree with Zero - that and the usual grammatical critiquing...
Posted by WouldBe (Member # 5682) on :
You might want to look at the same criteria as the first 13 lines, but in more detail: are the main characters drawn? Do you know know what the conflict is? Do you know the domain and genre of the story? And as the crits have said, did they do that well?
Posted by Smaug (Member # 2807) on :
Thanks. That helps. They gave me a form that includes a point system for such things as hook, characterization, plot, etc., but they also want me to do a crit of the chapter. I'm thinking that doesn't sound hard, but if anyone had ever had to do such a contest, I could use some pointers. I really like the 13 line suggestion as that is also based upon an incomplete story.