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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/5561
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/5561
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I see two separate paths you can take:

**1) You might have to back up and set down some rules for the _writing_ before developing rules for the _judging._**

For example, if one of your judging rules is "The story must have a beginning, middle, and end," but someone submits an amazing _in medias res_ piece, is that going to be penalized for not meeting an arbitrary criterion?

As a teacher, figure out what you want the contest to accomplish (telling a coherent story, having a character learn something, revealing something to the audience), and you can use that to develop the metrics which will tell you if your students have accomplished it.

**2) Admit that structure and content are two different things, and judge them separately.**

I recall one time in middle school where we were assigned a report, and two teachers graded it: one for structure (grammar and spelling) and the other for content. We received two separate grades for the same assignment. You could do that here, so that you could have many students getting perfect Structure grades (which are objective) and varying Content grades (which you make clear beforehand are subjective).

The judges who are grading the content can then just decide, "Is this a good story? Does it hold my attention? Does it hold together? Does the ending work?" — basically all the criteria you would normally use to judge a piece of fiction.

Original score: 4