Writing Contest Scoring Criteria

Organization and Structure – 10 points

• Introduction, body and conclusion for essays.
• Adequate paragraph breaks.
• Introduction, rising action, climax, falling action for stories.
• Conflict and resolution at the end. Extra points for use of suspense.
• Extra points for creative narratives that depart from straight chronological structure.

Grammar, Punctuation and Mechanics – 10 points

• Check subject-verb agreement, pronoun agreement and references and run-on sentences.
• Make sure sentence fragments are deliberate for creative expression.
• Check for correct punctuation of quotations in dialogue.
• Check use of commas, semicolons.
• All sentences start with capital letter and end with period.
• Check capitalization, numbers and abbreviations.
• Check the use of apostrophes in possessives and contractions.

Writing Style – 10 points

• Extent of vocabulary.
• Creative and skillful use of words.
• Extra points for use of figurative language.
• Extra points for skillful description.

Creativity: Originality – 10 points

• Fresh imaginative story ideas.
• New angles on familiar stories.
• Original approaches

Creativity: Depth of Insight – 10 points

• Insightful themes and messages conveyed.
• Well thought out stories written for a purpose.
• Knowledge of human character.
• Wisdom, story that touches the reader.