Grader Wages 5/22 - 8/21

Yeah, so I can’t keep my mouth shut. You get a few things to consider from me….

At any rate. There are a lot of these, so I probably missed one or two. Or a page. I did triple-check my math, but if any of you spot errors, go ahead and let me know. It’d be cool if you could add up your own wages to make sure my figures are right. Especially because if I did something funky to my adding, you’re probably getting paid less. Also, Galleon did a page of wages; he said he started at the beginning of the period, but I couldn't line up some of the grades because of reposting, et cetera. There's a high likelihood I missed earlier grades. Yell at me for those, too.

I handed out various bonuses for incentive: First off, three thousand for every ten grades, to reward prolific effort; second, three thousand for producing mainly Moderate level grades, to encourage the maintenance of that level; third, three thousand for grades above the moderate level, for extra hard work. Keep in mind that grades above Moderate level should be reserved for fics above Hard level; Extensive grades should usually be reserved for 50k+, if even that. As to Moderate level grades themselves—that should be your goal with every grade. And as far as the ten grades go, Weak grades do not count towards the number.

…Also, you all got a bonus for the wait.

alaskapigeon: $52,600
$5,500 Moderate - From Kittypet to Clan Cat
$3,600 Basic - Nothing to Lose
$3,000 Basic - Redemption
$3,000 Basic - Pursuit of the Legendary Leafeon
$2,600 Basic - The Lost Cause
$2,400 Basic - Taking Back from Silver
$2,200 Basic - New Beginnings: First Gym Battle
$2,200 Basic - One Crazy Guy, an Adventure, and a few Robberies
$2,200 Basic - Shifting Tides
$2,200 Basic - The Trainer Life: Origins
$2,200 Basic - The Worst Friend Ever
$2,000 Basic - A Cave Walk
$2,000 Basic - A Raging Lake
$2,000 Basic - The Sheep
$2,000 Basic - A Day at Lake Tranquil
$1,000 Weak - Full Meteorological Panic!
$0,900 Weak - Stranded
$0,800 Weak - Tears: A Swablu Story
$0,700 Weak - Outbreak
$0,700 Weak - Protecting the Puppy: Part 2
$0,700 Weak - New Beginnings
$0,600 Weak - Operation PASPOI: Chapter 1
$0,600 Weak - Operation PASPOI: Chapter 2
$0,500 Weak - I Want to Be a Hero
$0,500 Weak – The Tales of Weedle the Bard
$0,500 Weak - Today Only
+$3,000 - Ten grades
+$3,000 - Wait

Weak grades are not a particularly good thing. Next wages, I expect to see significantly more Basic+ level grades than Weak grades. First step is to include a full paragraph per section, and a bit more than that on the “most” important sections—mainly, plot and detail. Talk to some of the grader councilors if you want advice on improving your levels, or work it out on your own—just do something to get that quality up. Quite a few of your Basics were barely there, and just managed to push their way up because of the fact that they were well suited for the authors’ writing level.

On a grammatical note, some of your instructions about dialogue tags are incorrect. When a verb other than “said/asked/synonyms” is used, and/or the dialogue tag can stand on its own grammatically, grammar should be arranged so that the dialogue tag is no longer a dialogue tag. Not vice versa.

Elrond: $8,500
$5,500 Moderate - Protecting the Puppy: Part 1
+$3,000 - Wait

EmBreon: $9,000
$6,000 Moderate - Sacrifice
+$3,000 - Wait

evanfardreamer: $22,000
$6,500 Moderate - Something to Protect
$5,500 Moderate - A Story to Remember
$2,000 Basic - Caterpie Capture
$2,000 Basic - the story of a ranger
$2,000 Basic - The Guardian of Voyagers: Chapter 1
+$3,000 - Wait
+$1,000 - Regrade bonus

Something I want to point out. THIS GOES FOR ALL GRADERS, actually.

“I’ll reiterate that you should have the Pokémon in question play a larger role in the story as a whole, instead of being tacked on at the end.” This statement is not actually true. The Pokémon in question doesn’t have to have a major role. As long as it shows up at some point, it’s good to go. In the instance of the grade that I quoted this from, the inclusion of the Pokémon was a plot point that made no sense, broke the flow of the story, and made things look odd—which you explained, so all is good. But there isn’t a “this must be involved for AT LEAST 65% of the story” sort of rule. Inclusion without awkwardness is the “minimum requirement.”

Magikchicken: $21,400
$6,500 Moderate - Old Man and the Seel
$5,500 Moderate - Noble Redemption
$2,200 Basic - Chronicles of Isshu: Chapter Two
$2,200 Basic - Just Like Oil and Water
$2,000 Basic - Protecting the Prey!
+$3,000 - Wait

Neighborhood-Guest: $10,500
$7,500 Moderate - Snap!
+$3,000 - Wait

Phantom Kat: $32,000
$7,000 Moderate - Cklorglovf
$7,000 Moderate - The “Island” Lesson
$6,500 Moderate - Chronicles of Isshu: Chapter One
$5,500 Moderate - The Moral High Ground: Part 1
+$3,000 - Majority Moderate
+$3,000 - Wait

Scourge of Nemo: $56,500
$42,000 Extensive - Remembering the Past, Fighting the Future
$5,500 Moderate - Where the Mirage Ends and the Truth Begins
+$3,000 - Majority Moderate
+$3,000 - Above Moderate
+$3,000 - Wait

sorocoroto: $123,100
$10,500 Moderate – Finding Refuge: Part 1
$9,000 Moderate - A Hop and a Skip
$9,000 Moderate - Faith
$8,000 Moderate - No Time like the Present
$7,500 Moderate - Hoppyfred’s Grand Adventure! (sorta)
$7,500 Moderate - Pikmon
$6,000 Moderate - Keeper of the Cave! (a bit extra, because your regrade is the length of a grade)
$6,000 Moderate - Operation: Damsal in Distress
$6,000 Moderate - Vs Shellos
$5,500 Moderate - A Spire Apart!
$5,000 Moderate - Buizel Your Way Out of This!!!
$5,000 Moderate - Galactic Shellos
$5,000 Moderate - The Aloof Bidoof
$3,200 Basic - Through Mud and Water
$3,000 Basic - The Shellos Crew
$2,800 Basic - To End with a Leap
$2,600 Basic - Rock Head
$2,600 Basic - The Pink One
$2,600 Basic - Zero’s Tale: The Snag Heard Around the World
$2,400 Basic - For Want of a Nail
$2,200 Basic - Every Rose Has Its Thorns
$2,200 Basic - Superstition
$2,000 Basic - A bridge just far enough
$2,000 Basic - Hog Wild for a Wild Hog
+$3,000 - Ten grades
+$3,000 - Ten grades
+$3,000 - Majority Moderate
+$3,000 - Wait
+$1,000 - Regrade bonus

I would give you a three paragraph ramble, but I didn’t actually evaluate most of your grades. Galleon did the first dozen and a half or so. At any rate, the main thing that caught my attention was your use of grammatical terms. Like I mentioned, while writers probably should know what a gerund and a dangling participle are, a lot of them don’t. Your grammatical sections’ll benefit if you take a moment to explain some of the more technical terms you use, and talk about why the issue is, in fact, an issue. Other than that minor quibble, nice job.

Taras Bulba: $110,400
$17,000 Complex - The Journey Home
$10,000 Complex - A PokeGreek Story
$8,000 Moderate - Opening a Casket of Worms
$7,500 Moderate - Star-Zilla and the Star-Hunters
$6,500 Moderate - Smile
$6,000 Moderate - As Cold as a Warm Swinub
$6,000 Moderate - The Moral High Ground: Part 2
$6,000 Moderate - The Obelisk
$5,000 Moderate - Crybaby
$5,000 Moderate - Dreams from the Future!
$5,000 Moderate - Mastering the Machop with a Case of the Munchies!
$2,200 Basic - Midnight
$2,200 Basic - Vulpix Venture
$2,000 Basic - A Dream Start
$2,000 Basic - Steelix Alert
$2,000 Basic - The Mystifying Magikarp
+$3,000 - Majority Moderate
+$3,000 - Above Moderate
+$3,000 - Above Moderate
+$3,000 - Wait

You produce very strong grades when you don’t bombard the author with a massive grammar section and instead expend effort and emphasis on the other aspects of story. I’ve seen you grade a few of the experienced authors; as far as grammar goes, when you’re dealing with that group, consider fiddling around with the nuances of their grammatical styles and making suggestions on how to alter effectiveness. I’d like to see some more focus on detail, additionally; the brevity of the sections there almost knocked a few of your Moderate grades down to Basics.

A note on your statement about including grammatical breakdowns if stories are hopelessly riddled with errors: Bad idea. Most newbie authors with icky grammar will get more out of general troubleshooting and basic instructions than a full explanation of every little thing they did wrong. It’s a gradual, arduous process; slamming it all on at once is often discouraging.

All that said, you’re doing a really good job.

 

That's a nice chunk of money. Claiming it; thank you for the feedback.

(Although I'm going to try and make it more next time, which would involve doing more grading, which I think is a good thing)

Did Soro break NG's wages from the last batch?

 

Nope, NG's still got the title.

 

Lol, that's ok, as long as I'm getting paid. Thank you for all the hard work you and Galleon did! And yeah, I'll try to explain more of the grammatical terms I use.

Claiming my first grader's paycheck !!!!!!

 

Claiming my paycheck! YAY! Thank you Scourge! Also, I won't post as many crap grades next time. 0_0 :sweat:

 

*claims*

 

Hey, wages!
*claims*

 

Belatedly claiming my wages. ^_^ I'll probs grade at least a bit more over the coming few months, thank goodness.