So, in the last chapter, I went over why one of my entries ended up eliminated, as well as why some of the stories I read likely got nixed. And here are the stats from that.
Copyright Issue - 1
Deleted - 4
Fanfic Issue - 3
Formatting Issue - 1
Prompt Issue - 9
Representation Issue - 3
Trigger Issue - 2
Word Count - 1
This chapter is going to cover some of the speculation floating around regarding why stories got nixed and whether this speculation is accurate, particularly since some of this speculation involves accusing the ambassadors of having an unfair bias.
Of course, some may argue I'm biased because I'm one of those who had a high level of success in getting stories to pass each round, which in turn means the ambassadors must be biased toward me. I can't possibly know what it's like to have a story nixed during the first round--
--which ignores the fact I actually entered nine entries this year, not eight. Why did that happen if the ambassadors were biased toward me? Of course, I'm not sure I entered that particular story correctly, given the way I felt when I submitted my stories, so they may not have even seen it. However, they may have limited me to eight stories; it might have been eliminated because the ambassadors felt I should have rated it mature because of the abusive home situation that is the Black family in the Harry Potter universe.
Did my story get nixed because I got a low score on grammar?
While they are judging our grammar, this isn't going to factor into judging as much as people think. And I say this knowing how grammar factors into judging, but at the bottom of this entry, I am providing a google link to images of actual judging rubrics for writing because grammar isn't judged to the grueling standard grammar Nazis think should be used as the judging standard.
What you'll see if you do look is that grammar typically factors into these rubrics as 1/4 or 1/5 of the overall score. Most stories submitted for ONC would also score somewhere between 3-4 on a 4pt per section (16-20 pts total) rubric and somewhere between 4-5 on a 5pt per section (20-25 pts total rubric. In contrast, the other sections, such as the use of prompts, will range between 1-4 or 1-5, thus meaning grammar will have less effect on our overall score than the other sections.
Of the stories I read, there is only one I would say got nixed for grammar issues, and that was a serious formatting issue that affected the readability for the judges.
Why did my story get nixed despite my effort to make sure my story was grammatically correct?
There is the potential that you over-focused on the grammar and, in doing so, neglected the other facts that you are being judged by. Still, given the fact most stories for ONC are going to score within the top two scores, this will end up being detrimental to the writers who neglect the other categories.
And it's not fair to the other writers.
Yes, I know there are grammar Nazis out there who feel that grammar should be the most important and that a story should be nixed if the grammar isn't perfect. Still, this mindset is wrong, favoring grammar which is a writing basic, as if it were the make or break it is not. Still, as a dyslexic writer, I'm glad the Wattpad ambassadors don't place importance on grammar as they judge stories - it's frowned upon and always has been.
Did I get nixed for the number of views my story has? Does the lack of views mean they didn't read my story?
Nope.
We are not judged based on the number of reads our stories get, but a lack of views does not mean the judges didn't read your story. Only one of my ONC stories is in the triple digits when it comes to views, while all the rest are in the double digits.
