PDG Judging Guidelines

PDG Judging Guidelines
Open to all WDC Members who are willing to give helpful, encouraging reviews.
All judges will receive a merit badge for each contest judged.
Contact Hannah-Paper Doll Gang if interested in judging.

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Created by:
Hannah-Paper Doll Gang ,
Meeple's on haitus, mostly
& Ali ~ novel planning
(Last Updated: Sept. 2, 2011)

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First off, thank you for taking time to be a judge for the "The Paper Doll Gang Home Page" . We run dozens of contests and are always in need of good judges for each of them. We appreciate you taking time to help! To make your job easier, we have created some review tools and a set of easy to follow guidelines. If you have anything you think is missing from either of these, please send a note to Meeple's on haitus, mostly or Hannah-Paper Doll Gang .

Second, it is important to remember that the goal of these contests it to teach and to learn. There are a lot of contests on this site. Many have very strict rules, very harsh judging; others are pretty easy going and may even let a roll of the virtual dice decide the ultimate winner. We at the Paper Doll Gang strive to be welcome and inclusive while still pushing our students - at all levels, even alumni - to learn how to be better writers and how they may use the site to its fullest potential. How can we, as judges, do that?

Whether you have volunteered to judge a beginner, advanced or alumni contest, there are a few simple guidelines we're all going to follow:

1 - We start by using a template that is recognizable as belonging to the Paper Doll Gang. When using this template, you are putting on a face that represents the Dolls. You, personally, may hate horror stories, or epic poetry, or romance...but we, as the Paper Doll Gang, do not. We are all inclusive, and that includes all genres. If you find a piece you absolutely cannot judge, please ask for help from one of the Gang Leaders. Our template includes:

                    (at the top). Hello Dear USER NAME OF ENTRANT. I am a judge for LINK TO CONTEST and I am pleased to give you this review of your, "Invalid Item" .

                    Technical aspects: (Always comment on at least three of these, with at least two sentences for each.)
                              Characterization (refer to specific character and events)
                              Imagery (refer to specific lines).
                              Plot-line (believability, engrossing etc.).
                              Pace/Flow (at each part, not just overall).
                              Techniques used (were they effective?).
                              Whether it made sense and the emotional impact + how it related to you personally.
                              Poetic devices: if you say, great use of personification, showcase it! Don't say, "I really loved this," say why you really loved it, showcase their writing by including some of their lines, and what emotions they brought out in you.

                    Personal opinions: (Again, remember, whatever you put here will be seen as coming from the Paper Doll Gang. Be nice, be honest, be helpful.)

                              Favorite lines: add one, or a few of their lines as your favorites. This really personalizes it.
                              Mood, emotion, tone. Let the writer know how the piece affected you.


                    Final Thoughts:
                              Grammar/Punctuation: ALWAYS include this, whether it's perfect or not, and include any errors with corrections.
                              Comments/Suggestions: Unless it's worthy of being published, you should be able to give at least one suggestion on how to improve it.

A Few Notes About Templates:
Your sig should ALWAYS be placed at the end of your review, not the top! This puts emphasis on their piece, and not our group.
Please limit your use of color/emoticons, using them for headers only, not for your comments. A whole review in green is too much, and if used sparingly, it will make certain things pop!
For a nice touch, add a poetry/short story quote at the end, just above your sig,
Do not rifle-off cookie-cutter reviews, just changing one or two words or lines. Please put your best effort into each review.

2 - Next, we re-read our review.
Read it with a newbies eye; if you received this review how would it make you feel? Our goal is to encourage our members to continue writing.
Correct any typos in your review.
Makes sure the template looks like you want it to by using the 'preview' button.

3 - Once you are happy with it, do two more things:
MAKE Public, and
Affiliated to the "Paper Doll Gang Rockin' Reviewer's Group" .

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TEMPLATES

We've created some specific templates that you may copy and paste into your review, or you may even add it to your own Review Tool. Please choose the one that is appropriate for your needs. If you want to make one of your own, be sure and include the items mentioned above in every official review. Feel free to personalize them a bit, but try to keep the flavor of the Gang in them.

Copy and paste the correct review templates into a review or your own template collection.