A week or two ago I noticed something in the For Review section. There was a general difference in how people rated different stories. I noticed that it differed for a lot of people, and there was no universal way of determining a story's rating.

(No, this is not some half-assed attempt at create such a universal system.)

The way I look at it, the way people rate a story is personal, thus what goes in the library is a reflection of each individual's preference on DLP. A nice way of showing what the community here deems good; also, producing some disparity, opening the thread up for debate. Examples of this being Methods of Rationality and A Second Chance at life.

Personally, I rate stories based on how well they are written (grammar, word usage, pacing, characterization etc.) vs. the idea used for the fic and it's plot.

Based on how well one does compared to the other is how I determine the number. At times, one mechanic of the story may leave a bad taste in my mouth, but I try to judge as objectively as possible.

5/5= Great plot and idea, with almost publishable writing.
4/5=Excellent writing, but mediocre idea/Excellent idea, but average writing.
3/5=Average idea and average writing.
2/5=Average idea; poor writing/Average writing; poor idea.
1/5=Poor writing and poor idea.

Using this method I've tried to only pick the best stories to make into the library.

Now my question, and hopefully opening up a discussion, is how do you rate stories?

Is it based on how enjoyable they are to you? Based on whether you liked or hated a certain pairing?(Be honest here, I know several here are more lenient to a bad scene if their favorite gal is in the story.) Is it a certain cliche that can ruin a story for you? Is grammar a large determining factor? Do you rate it just based on the fact it should go into the Library?

I'm genuinely curious to see how people determine what goes in the DLP library.

 

Simple question, how much would I rate it out of 5 off the top of my head.

I look at nothing, completely depends on how much I enjoyed it.

 

Being this fanfiction, I rate stories differently than I do for original works. When you go out to buy a new book, you are looking for a new book. In other words, if you've read The Lord of the Rings already, you're not going to look for a slightly different version of the story, but instead you'll look for something different.

But that's where it all changes in fanfiction. Here there's a predefined set of characters and environments. And although the verse offers multiple -- maybe infinite -- possibilities, some things are still bound to be repeated, giving way to the clichés.

This, I think, is the main reason why stories which are well-written and have a decent plot are sometimes discarded as mundane, or average. Harry is the heir of this, and Hermione's parents were always MIB agents that fight aliens. Done and dusted.

So as to the rating, and taking into the account what I mentioned above, I observe the following:

- Quality of the narrative: This is something that can drive me out of a story in the very first paragraph, no matter how original or funny, interesting, etc., it may be. Shakespeare is over-the-top and The Immortal is below the ground and hell, but there has to be at least an average quality of narrative before a story can be rated 4/5+

- Characterization: Fanfiction is not original work. If you want Harry to be gay, fine. Now show me how that happened. Completely screwing over canon without explaining when the divergence happens is very jarring to me, and it's one of the things that either raises the rating or completely destroys it.

- Plot: Unfulfilled fantasies extrapolated to the world of fiction? Fine, happens every day. But I most definitely don't want to read about the average teenager's fantasies, particularly involving sex. A story that has Harry's penis as the center of the universe instantly grants you a 2/5 - 1/5 from me. I want my stories, be them fanfiction or not, to have interesting, non-mundane conflicts. A solid plot with an immersing conflict and an unpredictable ending can raise the rating of a story that would otherwise be rated as average. Likewise, solid writing and characterization but with a poor plot can lower the rating, too.

- Originality, creativity and level of detail: The HP verse is very rich in detail, and yet it's so vast that many things are left open to interpretation. I really enjoy it when authors use these gaps to fill in with little details that support an original plot. A good example could be Out of the Night by Raining Ink. In this story Harry starts his slow descent into darkness, but the author's creativity formed a complex background, a history, an almost secret society with its own rules and customs, and a different culture within the magical culture. In my opinion, it doesn't stand out in any other way, but for the level of details and originality alone I gave it a 4/5.

- Subjectivity, author and moment: This is an unspoken rule in art. Sometimes you are in the mood for some comedy, sometimes you prefer tragedy. The moment in which you read the story might change your perception of it. We try to stay objective, but there's no escaping subjectivity.
A similar thing happens with the author. When you find out that an author you like has published another work, be it a following of a previous story or a completely new one, you are instantly biased. No matter how hard I tried, every time I see Joe posted something new I think "Awesome". Maybe the work is not as good as the previous ones I liked so much, but because the author is the same, I tend to rate the author rather than the story. Of course, sometimes the difference is so glaringly obvious that even the most biased reader can escape his subjectivity and rate the story a solid-piece-of-shit/5.


That took longer than I expected. Sorry.

TL;DR: Characterization, plot, some subjectivity and originality are the factors that I take into account when rating a story. I believe sometimes they are conscious and sometimes they aren't, but they are always there.

 

My rating system is a little bit different.

When I am reading the story if I didn't get bored and if after I finished reading I get the urge the read the story again I give 5/5

If I start looking for sequel and didn't get bored 4/5

If at some point I get the urge of hitting that big red x button (be it for grammar or cliché ) but finished the story and at least enjoyed a part of it 3/5

If I hit the button x in the middle of story 2/5

If I hit the red button on the first or second chapter 1/5

If after seeing the story I started look for comedy story so I can forget what I saw 0/5

In short it depends on how much I enjoyed the story

 

What the fat, gay, village person said.

 

I rate based on where I think the story belongs:

5 - belongs in the C2
4 - belongs in the Library
3 - belongs in the Recycling Bin
2 - stories that don't merit that
1 - crap that the author should be ashamed of posting

 

Backing up Oz and Ellisande - the rating is a result of a gut-reaction, and the reaction is a function of a general, hollistic feeling toward the story taken as a whole; I don't like to break it down into categories, because that defeats the purpose of a story, which is meant to be taken a single, solid work.

 

I think I rate stories completely differently than most people here, in that I will put them on the level of published works and rate them in that manner. That's right - I'll hold fanfiction to the same standards I hold every other book I've read.

Most of this comes down to Sturgeon's Law ('90% of everything is crap'), but the other major fact is that if I'm going to take my time to read something, I'm going to judge and evaluate it based upon universal standards. No lowered standards for fanfiction - if it takes up my limited time just like reading a book, I'm going to rate it as such (incidentally, I also have a rather bad habit of doing the same subconsciously for TV shows and ranting about them on a blog afterwards).

So that's why I will rarely read most fanfiction, because most won't get past the radar. Most of it I'll toss out without a second glance unless I'm striving for some sort of continuity. That's why I've read and continue to judge all of Dethryl's and Regulus' stories as collected works - if I'm going to invest several hours of my life reading them, then I'm sorry, but they have to be fucking excellent or interesting enough to hold my glance in some sort of continuous story.

That's also why I tend to be more focused on thematic story elements and solid characterization and consistent technical elements than sheer enjoyment factor. Sure, the enjoyment comes in, but I'm going to be subconsciously evaluating stories just the same.

That's why, for instance, I've greatly enjoyed stories like Caliburn's Ambient and most of Joe's material, simply because they've never lost sight of powerful thematic elements that tie their stories together. Same with the Santi's material, which also has the benefit of extremely solid characterization to back a pretty interesting theme that he's carrying through to completion. On the other hand, if a thematic element or characterization issue rubs me in the wrong way, I tend to get a little peeved.

And yeah, sure, occasionally I will rate stories for comedic value or sheer WTF-ness, but often times, those stories are short. I can't read page after page of crack or idiocy - those stories need to deliver their punchline quickly, otherwise I'm going to lose interest.

But that's just me. Some people think I take fanfiction too seriously. Eh, whatever - my time to spend.

 

Aside from the standard rating system as explained by Oz, I am somewhat influenced by the authors who are writing them. It may be biased of me, but there you go.

I also rate stories that have the lulz factor higher, and tend to be more than generous in rating those that made me laugh, or made me skip work or sleep just to finish a truly captivating work.

 

5/5 for me simply means I was entertained by the story through and through. entertaining can mean various things, not just humor.
4/5 means I was entertained, but there were too many annoying parts to give full credit
3/5 average story, and average is not really good enough anymore. could become better with polish. some plot elements that just do not make sense or belong, and leaves you with more questions than answers. grammar and spelling starts to shake its ugly head in some 3/5 stories. These stories tend to be hit or misses, sometimes I think a story is 3/5 but other people think 5/5, or vice verse.
2/5 grammar and spelling becomes annoying. dialogue is bad. too many unoriginal plot devices or they have not been done in a new and entertaining way. Avoid.
1/5 my immortal and twilight crossovers

 

I only find a fanfiction to be 5/5 if it's better than most books I've read. If it's at the same level of books I didn't like (Catcher in the Rye, for example), then I rate it 4/5. 3/5 is the rating for things I read but wouldn't read ever again, shortof looking for material to make an argument for how bad it is. 2/5 is for things like Dangerverse, which don't excel at anything but don't exactly fail. 1/5 is about 70% of fanfiction, where either one or more aspects fails incredibly bad, or every aspect is fairly revolting.

Characterisation, at the beginning of a story (where most of the judgemental process happens), can be replaced by how well the alternate universe is explained/portrayed, but I can't fully replace it, because as the AU is fleshed out further the characterisation also becomes more important.I usually judge works on a whole; I think about the grammar, plot(and any subplots; without subplots a story usually feels bare), characters (interaction, development), pacing, and how much I liked it overall. Unless one aspect far outweighs the others, a 5/5 story is always one that is a good balance of the above (but grammar or characters alone never make a 5/5).

 

If a fic has less than 5 - 7 chapters (or an equivalent word count) I don't "rate" it - that is, I don't touch the actual rating tab at the top. Nor do I rate anything that includes elements I'm clearly biased against - usually, these are stories that include slash, a pairing that I don't like, etc - if said elements are prevalent enough to affect my objectivity.

Other than those caveats, I rate as Oz outlined.

 

1: An absolutely terrible story, no redeemable qualities about it.
2: Story might have a couple decent (if you can call it that) ideas in the story, but is still a horrible written story due to the author being an illiterate idiot.
3: The story is just your average story (or boring), with quite a few spelling errors with a few good ideas here and there, even if some are cliche.
4: Story is above average in quality (good grammar, and such). Story might have cliches, but is still well written with grammar and spelling.
5: Story is exceptionally well written with his own ideas (or good ideas well written better than others), and uses cliches in a very different and/or amusing way. Story is similar to a well written book. A well written story of the time is "Nightmares of Future's Past". The ideas are original and pretty well thought out, but the story is just plain boring to me, even though the author uses really good grammar and spelling in his story. Plus it's also Harry/Ginny.

The average story on ff.net is usually a 2 or a 3. You'll find a few good 4 ot 5 rate stories there, but it's not too common among the trash being posted all the time.

 

1 - Hated it.
2 - Didn't like it.
3 - Meh / Mixed feelings.
4 - Pretty good.
5 - Loved it.

There are no other requirements (like some clichés or proper grammar and spelling etc).

 

I rate based on how much I like a story. The only other things that factor in are grammer and spelling, and only when they are truly atrocious.

 

I rate on two levels basically. The first level is overall grammar/spelling/punctuation/plot coherence. If a story adheres to these and does a good job, they have at least a 3/5. Lack of spelling, grammar, and/or punctuation takes off a point (two in extreme cases; these may also result in no points in the enjoyment scale as well), and lack of a decent plot removes another. The last two points are for how much I liked the story. If I hated it, it stays at a 3, if I enjoyed it, but didn't think it was anything groundbreaking, it gets bumped up to a 4, and 5 is reserved for phenomenal, groundbreaking works.

In short, I give more weight to the basics of writing than I do to whether I personally liked the plot devices/characters/etc.

*Edit* My type of reviewing seems especially different from others, especially on stories that are technically sound but don't conform to the DLP preferences. For example, the Dangerverse. It got a ton of 1 and 2 star reviews simply because people didn't like the concept. However, it is technically sound, and while I probably wouldn't enjoy it now, I did when I read it a few years ago. In my eyes, that would place it in 3/5 territory, maybe 2.5 because the later plots do get a bit stupid.

 

1. Hated it.
4. Great.
5. Loved it.

There is no 2 or 3 for me. I either like it or I hate it.