Okay folks, I am modifying my rating system once again.  This due in 
part to MichaelD38's review of my reviews, and in part because I will 
never be satisfied that I can explain in a few words how good or bad 
a story is.  What follows is the new system.

If you are interested in reading MichaelD38's critique then here is 
the link:

http://search.dejanews.com/=gh/getdoc.xp?AN=449137636&fmt=raw

It includes critiques of my reviews and of the reviews of others.


Part 1.  OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS

SCORE = AROUSAL SCORE + STORY SCORE

AROUSAL SCORE

0  Not
1  Barely
2  A Little
3  Somewhat
4  Very
5  Extremely

STORY SCORE

0  This barely resembles a story
1  Definitely lacking, but its possible it has a redeeming quality
2  Effort is evident, but I have some problems with this story
3  Nothing exceptional, but on the other hand there are no major flaws
4  Well crafted, but is missing something, or something does not work entirely
5  Beautifully crafted, it does not seem to be missing anything


Part 2.  SUBJECTIVE ANALYSIS

Not Good = This was a waste of my time, don't bother reading it

Good = This is a good attempt, but I don't recommend it

Very Good = If you have the time or like this variety of story then I 
recommend this story, otherwise I would go with something that I rate 
as Excellent or Outstanding

Excellent = I recommend that you read this story, and I really liked it, but 
it did not give me the same feeling that an outstanding story does.

Outstanding = This story was not only enjoyable, but it also gave me a 
special feeling that I cannot describe


~~~


Note that there is not necessarily a direct correlation between 
the objective analysis and the subjective analysis.  On the other hand 
the terms objective and subjective as I have used them are relative and 
not absolute terms.  In other words the objective analysis is more objective
than the subjective one, and vice versa.  This new system may not work in 
the long run, but for the moment I am going with it.

This still does not get to one of MichaelD38's criticisms, which is how 
much better is an Outstanding than an Excellent, and Excellent than a 
Very Good, etc.  To be perfectly honest I'm not sure myself.  All I 
know is that like Outstanding stories better than Excellent ones, etc.
I have a hard time quantifying "like", or "love" for that matter.  I 
can tell you if I liked something better than something else.  I can 
tell you why I did.  I can't put on a number on it however and say that 
I liked it 20% more or twice as much.  That just does not work for me.


BTW you may have noticed that I have dropped Grudgingly Good from my 
rating system.  That rating really represented a case where I did not 
like a story, but only because I was revolted or disgusted by the subject 
matter.  With the new system I'll just say under the Subjective Analysis 
that a story was Not Good.  The Arousal score is somewhat subjective, so 
that score may suffer, but I think that I can recognize good writing 
even when it revolts me.

2/27/99