ABOUT VOTES
I feel I was unclear in the rules post about how to vote and what will be considered what will not, so I'm emending the FAQs again. I had some problems counting votes this time because I had a lot of votes that were walking on a very fine line and left authors and myself unhappy. I let most of them pass because I felt a general air of doubts and uncertainties on how to proceed when you vote.
What does constructive criticism mean?
It's all about the whys and hows. You have to provide useful feedback to improve the author's writing for future rounds.
What should I look for in a fic so I can vote correctly?
Were the characters used IC (in character - according to what has been established in canon about his/her behavior) and why/why not? What was the author's intention when writing the story and were they achieved? Why/why not? What do you think needs improvement and how to get there? Do you have any suggestions for the plot/characterizations/etc.? Were the OCs (original characters - any character that doesn't exist in canon and was created by the author him/herself) well rounded characters? Was the interaction between canon characters and OCs believable and why/why not? What elements were well thought of or could use improvement and why/why not? How was the grammar/spelling/punctuation? Can you point out the mistakes? Was the language clear? Would you change anything in the story and what would you do?
It doesn't need to be an essay or any professional work, any one thing is enough. Just try to write something other than I like it because it is good.
How do I know my vote is correct?
If you vote contains why you are voting for or against you don't need to worry. Also, if I have the time, I'll send private messages to the irregular votes, inviting the person to delete the previous vote and correct it.
Can I have some examples of good and bad votes?
GOOD VOTE - Clever idea. Rounded OC. Complete story in just a few words.
Why is it good? Clear and to the point. States reasons on why the person liked the story.
BAD VOTE - YAY SHEP!BLOOD! Love it!
Why is it bad? Didn't really say why the person liked it other than the fact that having a some blood is good. A simple re-wording would work to improve it.
How to make this okay? Vivid descriptions, especially the bleeding out. Gut wrenching whump that really worked to make me visualize Sheppard's pain.
Why is it okay now? It comments about a certain aspect of the writing that happened to catch the reader's attention.
GOOD VOTE - Too rushed. Needs polishing. Maybe removing the introduction part would give you more space to work with.
Why is it okay? Says what didn't work and suggests a solution. Especially for negative votes, offering suggestions is important.
BAD - The OC was uninteresting.
Why is it not okay? Especially with negative votes, offering something other than what you didn't like is important. Simply offering a suggestion that you think would work to make you like it is enough.
How to make it okay? The OC was uninteresting. Maybe providing it with some unique quality like a limp on the left leg would make it more believable.
GOOD - This was very easy to follow and really well written. Your use of character A to provide comfort was spot on and I do believe these characters would behave this way on screen had we ever had the opportunity to see it. It follows the prompt to it's minimal details and suggests that you gave the theme a lot of thought before writing. It had beginning, middle and ending even being short and provides a beautiful tale about friendship and courage.
Why is it good? It shows clearly why the reader liked the story and provided reasons and examples from the plot. It didn't show any kind of personal taste and provided the author with information to be used in future rounds (well thought of plot, following the prompt accordingly, writing a well rounded story with beginning, middle and ending and still keeping short).
BAD - This was just really yummy. The whump is good and concussion is one of my fave whumps. You can't go wrong with that! It was a very good idea having character B there to watch out for poor character A, especially after what happened. They are just too cute together!
Why is it bad? It is full of personal likes and tastes saying that the person simply voted for it because it is 'yummy', which doesn't make any difference if the author wants to write another fic. It doesn't elaborate why it was so well written as to make it 'yummy'. Was it the vivid descriptions? Was it the medical accuracy? The reactions of the characters? The interaction between different plot elements? The IC actions? The good punctuation/spelling/grammar? Maybe the originality of injury? Creativity? Elaborate. 'They are just too cute' and 'yummy' are too vague because opinions differ greatly between people on what's cute and what's yummy.
How to make it okay? I love the confusion that comes with a good concussion and it was very well written here. The interactions between A and B were funny and true to the characters.
Why is it good now? The personal preference is not screaming anymore. It provides a justification for the liking of such whump, even though it is a disguise from a general preference. It's not so vague anymore, it's only a re-worded reason in a less fangirly (or fanboyly) way.
GOOD - The story idea was clever, but I found that the execution could improve a little. For example, character A could have suffered the whump right at the beginng so you could have more time to work with it and diminish the rushed tone near the end. Also, as seen in episode XYZ in which character B faced this situation, he/she behaved differently than what was portrayed in this fic, making it OOC to some extend, even he/she being in shock here.
Why? It provides useful information to be used in the future and even improve this fic if the author decides to re-write it. It gives examples from the plot and/or from canon justifying the claim and is written in a way that easily allows sharing with other writers without embarrassing him/her and can also be useful to them.
BAD - I don't really go for torture fics because they make me feel really bad, but that's not why I'm voting against this. I thought the characters were too OOC and I couldn't appreciate the story no matter how many times I read it.
Why? It states personal and general dislikes, even if the person claims it didn't influence the vote. Nothing explains to the author why the story is not working. The claim about the characters being OOC is vague and not exemplified or justified. Why were they OOC? What actions don't you agree with? How do you think they would react? What kind of torture fic would you like?
How to improve this crit? I thought the characters were OOC. Character A would never ignore the fact that B is in pain. A would provide more comfort than what was provided.
Why it it good now? The personal comment was removed and a reason on why the characters were OOC was pointed out as well as a suggestion of behavior.
What does constructive criticism mean?
It's all about the whys and hows. You have to provide useful feedback to improve the author's writing for future rounds.
What should I look for in a fic so I can vote correctly?
Were the characters used IC (in character - according to what has been established in canon about his/her behavior) and why/why not? What was the author's intention when writing the story and were they achieved? Why/why not? What do you think needs improvement and how to get there? Do you have any suggestions for the plot/characterizations/etc.? Were the OCs (original characters - any character that doesn't exist in canon and was created by the author him/herself) well rounded characters? Was the interaction between canon characters and OCs believable and why/why not? What elements were well thought of or could use improvement and why/why not? How was the grammar/spelling/punctuation? Can you point out the mistakes? Was the language clear? Would you change anything in the story and what would you do?
It doesn't need to be an essay or any professional work, any one thing is enough. Just try to write something other than I like it because it is good.
How do I know my vote is correct?
If you vote contains why you are voting for or against you don't need to worry. Also, if I have the time, I'll send private messages to the irregular votes, inviting the person to delete the previous vote and correct it.
Can I have some examples of good and bad votes?
GOOD VOTE - Clever idea. Rounded OC. Complete story in just a few words.
Why is it good? Clear and to the point. States reasons on why the person liked the story.
BAD VOTE - YAY SHEP!BLOOD! Love it!
Why is it bad? Didn't really say why the person liked it other than the fact that having a some blood is good. A simple re-wording would work to improve it.
How to make this okay? Vivid descriptions, especially the bleeding out. Gut wrenching whump that really worked to make me visualize Sheppard's pain.
Why is it okay now? It comments about a certain aspect of the writing that happened to catch the reader's attention.
GOOD VOTE - Too rushed. Needs polishing. Maybe removing the introduction part would give you more space to work with.
Why is it okay? Says what didn't work and suggests a solution. Especially for negative votes, offering suggestions is important.
BAD - The OC was uninteresting.
Why is it not okay? Especially with negative votes, offering something other than what you didn't like is important. Simply offering a suggestion that you think would work to make you like it is enough.
How to make it okay? The OC was uninteresting. Maybe providing it with some unique quality like a limp on the left leg would make it more believable.
GOOD - This was very easy to follow and really well written. Your use of character A to provide comfort was spot on and I do believe these characters would behave this way on screen had we ever had the opportunity to see it. It follows the prompt to it's minimal details and suggests that you gave the theme a lot of thought before writing. It had beginning, middle and ending even being short and provides a beautiful tale about friendship and courage.
Why is it good? It shows clearly why the reader liked the story and provided reasons and examples from the plot. It didn't show any kind of personal taste and provided the author with information to be used in future rounds (well thought of plot, following the prompt accordingly, writing a well rounded story with beginning, middle and ending and still keeping short).
BAD - This was just really yummy. The whump is good and concussion is one of my fave whumps. You can't go wrong with that! It was a very good idea having character B there to watch out for poor character A, especially after what happened. They are just too cute together!
Why is it bad? It is full of personal likes and tastes saying that the person simply voted for it because it is 'yummy', which doesn't make any difference if the author wants to write another fic. It doesn't elaborate why it was so well written as to make it 'yummy'. Was it the vivid descriptions? Was it the medical accuracy? The reactions of the characters? The interaction between different plot elements? The IC actions? The good punctuation/spelling/grammar? Maybe the originality of injury? Creativity? Elaborate. 'They are just too cute' and 'yummy' are too vague because opinions differ greatly between people on what's cute and what's yummy.
How to make it okay? I love the confusion that comes with a good concussion and it was very well written here. The interactions between A and B were funny and true to the characters.
Why is it good now? The personal preference is not screaming anymore. It provides a justification for the liking of such whump, even though it is a disguise from a general preference. It's not so vague anymore, it's only a re-worded reason in a less fangirly (or fanboyly) way.
GOOD - The story idea was clever, but I found that the execution could improve a little. For example, character A could have suffered the whump right at the beginng so you could have more time to work with it and diminish the rushed tone near the end. Also, as seen in episode XYZ in which character B faced this situation, he/she behaved differently than what was portrayed in this fic, making it OOC to some extend, even he/she being in shock here.
Why? It provides useful information to be used in the future and even improve this fic if the author decides to re-write it. It gives examples from the plot and/or from canon justifying the claim and is written in a way that easily allows sharing with other writers without embarrassing him/her and can also be useful to them.
BAD - I don't really go for torture fics because they make me feel really bad, but that's not why I'm voting against this. I thought the characters were too OOC and I couldn't appreciate the story no matter how many times I read it.
Why? It states personal and general dislikes, even if the person claims it didn't influence the vote. Nothing explains to the author why the story is not working. The claim about the characters being OOC is vague and not exemplified or justified. Why were they OOC? What actions don't you agree with? How do you think they would react? What kind of torture fic would you like?
How to improve this crit? I thought the characters were OOC. Character A would never ignore the fact that B is in pain. A would provide more comfort than what was provided.
Why it it good now? The personal comment was removed and a reason on why the characters were OOC was pointed out as well as a suggestion of behavior.