Judging Criteria/Application Tips for Newcomers

[Airan]

Heyo, I decided to make this thread just because I noticed how many newcomers we seemed to be getting for MO5, and I wanted to go ahead and try and help everyone with their applications. For newcomers interested in Survivor, writing a good application can be very difficult and is usually the true first hurdle for a lot of writers in this scene. For me personally, it took me applying to three separate contests before I even managed to make the Top 30, and I only made the Top 10 from there out of sheer dumb luck. Nowadays, the talent in Survivor is only growing stronger, and so getting in is becoming an even tougher feat with each new contest, so I'm going to go ahead and try and everyone some general advice I've learned over the years, that way you don't make the same mistakes that most newcomers make, and have that extra edge come judging time.

NOTE: As I plan on using this thread as a general guide for future contests, it is worth noting for future readers that most of the context in this thread will be using the categories and characters of MO5: Heaven-sent, so please keep that in mind all you time travelers from MO6 and 7 that some things in here may be moot depending on who is the contest admin or what the story is.

Anyways, first and foremost-

This is the first contest I will be running where I will be directly open about how I will be scoring the applications. The reason I'm disclosing this information is because I'm simply curious how it will affect the quality of the applications I receive. So, be sure to ask yourself some of these same questions as you write your characters. With that said-

Judging Criteria-
[spoiler]Applications will be judged out of 15 points, with 0 being the lowest possible score and 15 being the highest. There are three criteria that every app will be judged on, with each one being worth 5 points of the possible 15. The criteria are as follows.

Writing and Professionalism (SPAG*) (total points possible: 5)
*spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

In essence, this is simply what it says on the TIN. Is your application well written, with minimal SPAG mistakes, and did they follow the correct instructions when it came to the rules of submission? I am not necessarily looking for the next Brian Jacques when it comes to your writing- though this does help you to score well- but rather that you are able to write well enough at a technical level that you can reasonably compete and possibly win. These are some of the questions I ask myself when reading your applications and judging this portion-

How well written is the application? Do I think the writing is engaging enough that you'd want to read more by the author? Is the writing good enough on a technical level that I believe the writer can keep up with their peers? Does it look like the author has revised their work to ensure that there are little grammar, punctuation, and spelling mistakes? Did the author follow the rules as they are posted on the forum?

Storytelling (total points possible: 5)

This is arguably the most confusing portion of the judging, but it goes hand in hand with the writing. Essentially, what I'm looking for here is how well you can write scenes and stories as a whole. Some people write incredibly well, but their storytelling leaves much to be desired. Here are the questions I ask myself while reading-

Is the application laid out in a way that makes sense and flows naturally? Are there any jarring scenes? Did the writer use the words provided to create a clear picture of their character and scene? Does the content of the scene have good pacing? Are there any wasted words, or paragraphs that seem unimportant to what the writer is trying to present? Does dialogue feel natural or robotic?

Character (total points possible: 5)

Character is entirely subjective and incredibly hard to judge so this is less of a score about what I feel about the character itself, and more what I feel about the character's potential to succeed- as well as the general rules of what MAKES a good character.

Does the character clearly belong to the category they are applied to? Is the character interesting enough that you would not mind following their journey for up to 8 weeks? Does the character have flaws, and clear wants and needs? Do they have longevity and ample room for character development? If this character were to make it in to the story proper, do you think they have the potential to win?
[/spoiler]

With that out of the way, I want to quickly go over some quick "Application Dos and Don'ts"- These are all just some quick things that I believe you should and shouldn't do in your application.

-First, keep your character within the basic canon of Redwall. This is basically to say don't give your character blue fur, or strange markings under their eyes, or speak some foreign language, or nonsense like that. Unnatural things like this hardly earn your character any points, and while you might think they make them unique and interesting, it is usually the exact opposite. When I read about a character, I usually want to know about their personality, about their history, their wants in life, and their struggles. So, if you do choose to have a character with weird markings or something like that- I want to know why they have them. What do these markings mean? Why do they wear them? A great example of this would be Istvan from Mossflower Odyssey 1, the second entry on this link here- http://redwallsurvivor.com/forums/index.php?topic=664.0

-Don't give your character a weird name. Redwall has some weird names, sure, but giving your character an incredibly long, unpronounceable name really doesn't do you any favors, especially if that name isn't shortened within the actual content or used as some kind of joke. A name should reflect the character I feel and also be memorable. An example of a bad name would be Sret Sreltsykradt from MO2, whose name I feel instantly hurts my opinions on the character due to the difficulty I have pronouncing it.

-Give your character clear strengths. First and foremost, try to always keep in mind what your character is good at. For some contests, what they're good at will be the Application Category itself- such as Cook, or Navigator- but others might not have this transparency. By giving your character strengths and a clear 'role', it is much easier to carve yourself a niche into the story and find things for them to do should you make it into the Top 10. With this being said...

-Give your character clearer weaknesses. This is just a fancy way of saying, don't make your character the Taggerung or a Mary Sue- an overly perfect character who is good at everything and everyone loves within the story. Your character should have clear flaws that hinder them and challenge them. Tailor make your flaws to your character, because often a good character arc are characters struggling to overcome their flaws, and become better as a result. If you can succeed at giving your character both strengths and weaknesses, you can give your character great longevity, and succeed once you make it into the Top 10

-Consider and Fit the Category. This sounds simple, but you'd be surprised at how often this comes up. Make sure that your application presents the character as clearly belonging to the category you applied it to. There have been MANY applications in the past that have either not scored well, or not been received well by the audience, due to being too vague about what they are. An example of this is Pollux from MO1, who applied to be a Merchant, but never explicitly said he was one or implied he would be one later. So, if you're character is a Marksman, make sure you describe them as having a bow, or show them throwing some daggers, or something like that. Keep in mind too, that some categories are intentionally harder to interpret than others. While a Marksman or Seafarer is pretty self explanatory, what is a Hunter in the Redwall universe? Well, they could be a bounty hunter, or some kind of trap setter, or maybe even a bird of prey. Make sure you interpret the category in a way where it's clear that your character should belong to it. For instance, what makes your character a Duelist? After all, just because your character happens to have a duel in their application, doesn't mean they're necessarily a Duelist. And just because you're character is a small mouse, doesn't necessarily mean they can't also be a Berserker.

-Know what's important, and what isn't. Only include what you think will show off your character and writing in a positive way. Don't include meaningless banter in the dialogue, or long descriptions of things that ultimately don't matter to the scene or character. Also, don't feel the need to connect the ending of your app to the prologue. Regardless of where your character is at the end of the app, I will assume once the story hits, that your character will naturally bridge that gap to become naturally part of the story. You only have X amount of words, so use them well.

-Dark and tragic backstories are overdone. This is not to say that you can't write one, but rather that if you do you should heavily consider how you will present it. Remember, not every warrior becomes a warrior because they want revenge, and sometimes people are all alone just because they came of age and wanted to travel. Dark pasts only get you so far. That being said-

-Consider the story and the setting. In the context of MO5, a dark and tragic backstory might not be uncommon. Read the prologue and you'd find that the Northlands are a harsh place filled with bandits and warlords who raze the countryside and pillage as they please. My point here is, make sure you think about the story in its context. How can you work your character into the context of what's presented? How can you place your character in so they belong? Ask yourself, what would my character talk about with the NPCs in the story? How would they interact with them? Ciera Ancora is a fantastic example of this in MO3, as while a lot of people wrote jovial, shanty-singing style pirates, she took the context of the prologue: that piracy was dying, and wrote a character laced with fear and doubt, and whose goal was a desperate attempt at saving what she was part of. And lastly-

-Show don't tell. Your character could be the coolest guy in the room, but just saying it as such isn't interesting. Show me. Show me why he's the coolest. Describe the reactions of people around him. Show what he does and how he does it. Because there's a distinct difference between- "Everyone in the tavern loved Jill." versus "As Jill stepped inside the tavern, the eyes of every patron moved from their drinks and cards solely to her."


Okay, with the general dos and don'ts out of the way, I want to talk now about the general process of writing an app. First off, applications should never be just a straight up bio of the character's life, nor should they be a character sheet. I don't want to know everything about your character, and I don't want you to just tell me what they're like. Show me. Show me through their words, their thoughts, their actions. Think about some of your favorite characters in fiction and how they were first introduced into their respective stories. What sticks out about these scenes to portray the character as who they are?

From here you will want your own scene like this for your character. This scene choice can make or break an application. I have rewritten applications sometimes because I've realized halfway through that I've chosen a scene that is not conducive to what I am trying to portray about the character. Try to strike a balance of inflection, dialogue, and action. Too much inflection, and you're risking too much telling over showing. Too much dialogue, and you're risking stagnating your app or making it more confusing. Too much action, and you're risking not showing us enough about your character.

Try to choose just one scene if possible. Trust me, you do not have enough space to do a bunch of jump cuts smoothly. It will most likely look choppy and forced.

Now that you have the right scene, write your application. Unless you are God's Gift to Application Writing, it is probably over 600 words or cutting it very fine (and if it is way under 600 words, you should probably choose a longer scene; unless your app is pure, succinct genius, you should aim for anywhere between 550-600 words). Firstly, do not despair! 100 words can be trimmed off much easier than you think. Here are some tips:

- Description can be lovely, but you just don't have a lot of space for it in an app. Cut out all unnecessary description of scenery or physical appearance. Also, cut out all unnecessary adjectives, especially if it is an object you have previously described in the app. One description is generally all you need. The "red shirt" can just be described as the "shirt" later on. And so on.

- Keep your dialogue crisp and to the point. If your character is highly loquacious, try and give off this impression in other ways than just having them talk through the whole app. Perhaps they keep getting interrupted, and it gets them a lot more steamed than normal? Things like that can be good tricks to still get your point across, but to make sure your app isn't 1000+ words long!

- Dialogue tags. Pare them down ("he shouted angrily" can just be "he shouted"; if the dialogue you wrote before that sounds angry, then you don't need the adverb as well) or even eliminate them whenever possible (but still be careful to make it clear who's talking; just because you can see who's talking does not mean your audience will!).

- Rewrite long sentences in a more simplistic form, if possible. Sometimes a simple rephrasing of a long sentence can cut out half of it.

If you're still over 600 words, you may have to do a bit more merciless slashing. Sometimes you have to cut lines you absolutely adore, because they may have nothing to do with the main focus of the app. Just be direct, stay on topic, and cut out everything that strays. That should do it. If it doesn't...you may have tried to cover too much, or you have chosen the wrong scene. Remember, applications are just a small window into a bigger picture. We want to be tantalized and we want to find out more! You don't have to give us everything at once.

Now that you've gotten your app down to 600 words or less, don't think you're done yet! Reread. Reread some more. Search out every little SPAG (Spelling, Grammar, And Punctuation) error you can find, and edit like mad. We judges expect your application to be a well-polished piece of work. If we find a lot of careless errors, it can make us think you didn't spend any time on it, and we wonder if you will put that same amount of care into the rest of the contest. Don't stress too much about it; one or two little errors is not going to make us automatically reject you. Just don't wing something off on the fly. You've got a little under a month to write these applications. Even when you think you're done, sleep on it. Sometimes you will notice things you did not the night before, or change your mind about certain things.

And remember: even if you do all this, sometimes apps you think are excellent will not make it in. It does not mean we thought your app was horrible. Sometimes you're just up against a lot of stiff competition, and there might be just one little thing to make yours fall just short. Judges can be fickle, or just not quite get the point you were trying to make. We tend to get a lot of applications, so not everyone's can make it. If you do not get into this contest, please don't give up! Once the Top 30 has been chosen, I will usually give feedback to everyone who asks for it. Remember, you only get better with practice.

Now with all of that out of the way, you might want a couple of good examples. Attached right below this post is a PDF with a selection of applications hand picked by myself. I tried to choose the most varied list of characters that I could find, that I thought had applications that stood out and worked with the advice I've been giving. Please read through this list if you want a good reference for what a successful application can look like, and use it to fuel your muse.

If there are any other tips and tricks you'd like to add to this thread, feel free to post them below. Otherwise, I wish everyone the best of luck with their applications and I look forward to reading them all.