Just so we don't have early complainers who needlessly degrade their writing in an attempt to gain praise, here is the basis on which I'll score your submissions in the July contest. So, if it seems your writing will get a low score from me, go ahead and go about your mournings. Otherwise, even if your chance is slim, keep your self-degrading comments to yourself.

10- It wouldn't be difficult to imagine your piece in a professional literary magazine. When I read your story, I can naturally imagine your song moving with it and vice versa. Essentially, if you consider your work as good as Ray Bradbury's, Stephen King's, or even Mark Twain's (and others), then you're arrogant, but you have a "ten" on your hands.

9- Again, your song and story have to be synonymous; I can't enjoy one without naturally thinking about the other. A "nine" story displays compelling characters, a creative and flowing story, sufficient and interesting description, and obviously a substantial grasp on writing techniques. There are few flaws, if any in the writing.

8- Your story contains most of the qualities of a "nine," but is lacking in one of the areas, music-related (matching your song's tempo, dynamics, etc.) or not (characters, story, etc.). The easiest thing that can bring you down to an "eight" is not adequately matching your story to your song. Tempo, tone, dynamics, and flow should all be near perfect if your story is going to make it above an "eight."

7- Your story is good, but it doesn't do anything particularly great. Some areas are lacking, but generally, nothing in your story is too painful to substantially hurt your story. Your story still has a strong connection with its song. "Seven" and "six" are the most inclusive scores.

6- Your story has traces of a good piece of writing, but it is now painfully lacking in some parts (problems with your characters or story are my pet peeves-if you have plot holes or one dimensional characters, it will hurt your story). Your story and song share tone, but not much else.

5- Obviously, your piece is mediocre. It is not horrible, but it is not something I would normally read. Poor dialogue, lifeless characters, or an unimaginative story can bring your score to this level. Your story and song just barely share tone.

4- Your writing moderately excels in at least one category, making your piece dangle on the edge of being bearable. Your song and story faintly share a connection.

3- Your story is the same as a "four" score, but your piece shares no connection with your song.

2- Your story has no redeeming qualities other than it shows effort.

1- Refer to Ocean's work in the past contests (couldn't help it).

I realize this isn't the most in-depth description of my scoring methods, but I will add more as I judge. If you ask questions, I will more likely be able to make this post more understandable.

How I look at your writing:

Characters: Your characters should be realistic, no matter their setting. Normal people don't fit nicely into stereotypes, so your characters shouldn't be stereotypical either. By giving your characters a variety of emotions and imperfections, it makes them interesting and more compelling. I would much rather read about a self-pitying obese martyr that occasionally reaches out to people than a perpetually-cool muscular superhero that just fights evil because you wrote about it. Your characters' reactions should also be logical. If you can't imagine yourself reacting to a situation like you had your characters react, chances are that wasn't the best reaction to give them. Of course, I will probably dislike characters that other readers will like, but usually, if I can imagine your characters as real people, I will respect your choices.

Description: This is one of the most subjective aspects of writing. I'm open to many forms and amounts of descriptions with a couple of exceptions. I need enough description to know where key objects are and what they look like. I don't need those random-ass synonyms you find on the online thesaurus haphazardly. I also dislike lengthy descriptions that cover objects and environments that are not vital to the plot, environment, or atmosphere. Personally, I believe the best description is symbolic or thematic because it serves a higher purpose than just to describe an object that has been described one way or another in another story. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness contains good examples of symbolic/thematic description (so obviously, I'm not exactly expecting this kind of description from most submissions).

Dialogue: In dialogue, I look for both realism and significance. Good dialogue sounds natural, drives the story forward, and describes its character, if not more. Read out your lines of dialogue; if they do not sound like something you or someone else would say, it probably shouldn't be in your writing. If the dialogue could be removed without hurting the story, then again, it probably shouldn't be there.

Will be continued...