(Last year I compiled a list of things that would instantly disqualify your item. I'm going to post them one by one as we approach Round 1 of this year's contest.)
10. Your wondrous item isn't spell-checked or proofread.
This is a pretty simple one: spell-check your item before you hit "submit." Proofread it, too.
There's really no excuse to have typos in electronic documents; every decent word processor has a spell-checker, and nowadays your OS or at least your browser has one, too. If a judge reads your submission and sees a typo, it makes you look rushed or lazy.
Many people will revise their item over and over before submitting it. In doing so, it's really easy to leave in a half-sentence from a previous idea or version of your item, and someone reading it is going to hit that fragment and wonder what the heck is going on. When you decide you've finished your item, set it aside for an hour, then go back and give it a proofread. Get someone else to proofread it, too (having someone else proofread it is allowed, just as long as they're not helping you design the item). A spell-checker may not notice you used the wrong homonym or conjugated a verb wrong (though your grammar-checker might)... read your item from front to back and make sure it makes sense. This is not the place where you want your subject and verb to disagree.
It's a simple thing to check, but every year we see several items that weren't spell-checked and weren't proofread. If the choice is between two equal items, but one is typo-free and the other is not, we keep the typo-free item and reject the other.
You want to make it easy for the person who is editing and developing your work. One error in 300 words = 67 errors in 20,000 words. That's a lot more work for them, so they aren't nearly as happy with you. I'd also recommend turning on the Passive Voice grammar correction tool of your word processor. (MS Word has one.) There is some good info on passive voice here:
Check your first person/third person stuff when describing your item.
Proofread a lot! I recommend checking it at least a dozen times. Read it out loud. Try to fix long or clumsy sentences. Aim for clarity, your item will have rules elements; make sure those elements are fool proof and not able to be broken. A clumsy rule that requires a GM to have to make a house-rule or on the spot adjudication, slow the game down which is no fun. Get different people to proofread, a hard-core gamer/optimizer may notice a vagueness in wording, someone who has studied English but doesn't game, may pick up other things, like assumptions you are making about gamer knowledge or the English language.
Double check any gaming terms you use, especially ones that the spellchecker doesn’t like. For example: Golarion not Golorian.
Here's an example of one I missed from last year's competition:
I really hope this helps everyone learn from my/others previous mistakes.
One last thing, give yourself some time to put it into the Paizo web editor, so you can get your BBCode tags right. Magic Items have a specific formatting, and if you make it look professional, it shows the judges that you are professional.
Don't give the judges anything to ding you on.
Good luck everyone!
Chief Technical Officer
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One last thing, give yourself some time to put it into the Paizo web editor, so you can get your BBCode tags right. Magic Items have a specific formatting, and if you make it look professional, it shows the judges that you are professional.
We specifically give you a BBCode template to follow with your item, so there's really no excuse for not using it.
That template actually *also* serves to test a skill that's often needed by freelancers. Writers may be given special formatting instructions for their assignments, and if you can't figure out how to use the BBCode template for the contest, that's a sign you might not be able to format a professional assignment properly either.
Thanks Vic, you just reminded me of something.
Definitely preview and check your submission looks good before submitting and check that your tags work. (I remember taking over an hour to get everything perfect in one of the later rounds. That it was five in the morning when I was submitting didn’t help. :-)
Also if you have time, check your submission works in a couple of different browsers. I still remember the 'Padma Blossom spoiler tag' incident from last year. (The spoiler tags I used worked in IE, but not in any other browser.)
My two-cents...
This is the part where neatness, professionalism, and attention-to-detail counts. It's kind of like turning in a resume with a bunch of typos and errors on it in the hopes someone will bring you in for an interview. Most times, they don't. And, even if they do, they usually have a far more critical eye on you because of those errors that keep staring back at them from the page in their hand. Look, it's not so much that every entry has to be completely error-free to make the Top 32 (though, you should certainly strive for that!). Instead, it's more of an assessment (or indictment) of your ability to self-edit prior to turning in your work.
Basically, if there are glaring grammatical and typographical errors in your item submission, that's a pretty clear indication you either...a) weren't budgeting your time properly so you got too rushed at the end and didn't have time to proof or spellcheck stuff...or b) maybe you're lazy and/or just flat-out don't possess the professionalism to do those things. Either way, it doesn't present you as a professional, trustworthy freelancer. I mean, when there's a clear mistake that any spellchecker would flag for you and you didn't correct it...what's that say about the designer? Especially when there's at least 32 others who did take the time to correct those little details?
So, this category of rejected items is another "separator" I think. It sets apart the "good, but not great" items (which may have cool ideas and mechanics) from those that eventually make the Top 32. In other words, with all things equal except for the grammar/spelling, the judges are pretty much always going to take the better crafted entry. You've got all kinds of tools at your disposal...from spellcheckers and grammar checkers to proofreaders...to help you clear this hurdle. Avail yourself of those things and you'll put your best foot forward. If you can't focus and get everything right in a simple, straightforward 200- to 300-word wondrous item submission, how can any publisher be expected to trust you with 20,000 words? You're more likely to make their job harder as they have to spend too much time correcting all your grammar to make anything publishable out of it.
So, don't be lazy on this one, folks. Follow the rules of grammar. Spellcheck. Proofread. Take some time away from it. Have someone else proofread. Come back to it later with fresh eyes and proofread it again. Then, when you think you're good, go drop in your BBCode to jazz it up and make it that much more professional appearance-wise. Preview it on the messageboards before you submit. If you wind up editing anything, make sure you proofread it again before you hit submit.
Hope that helps...
--Neil
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Star Voter Season 6
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My 'don't emulate me' comment is pretty simple, this is like those talent reality shows you see on TV in the sense that what cut it before, won't cut it now.
An example would be my bracelet. All the judges commented that my typing and formatting sucked. It snuck by two years ago. It won't today.
Also, 'amour'
...Especially if your resume is for a job in which you are required to write.
Yeah. Kind of important.
Dedicated Voter Season 6
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Also, 'amour'
I just wanted to comment on that, as I saw several of the judges comment on things like that as I've been reading through the past top 96.
That is actually the correct spelling of the word in England and other countries that learned the "Queen's English".
Are the judges going to ding anonymous entries when they don't know whether that is the correct spelling for the person and where they live?
Or, because Paizo is an American company, they expect American spellings?
(Note: If it is a spell or other proper name, then the correct spelling is in the book and should be used.)
Now don't get me wrong, I'm American, and will most likely use American spellings. But I did do some creative work for a text-based MMPORPG at one time, that was based out of London, and as such, used the British spellings of words.
Just sayin...
I think his point was that many spell chequers will give you that word if you misspell armor. When referring to pieces of metal or other tough material that you tie to yourself to keep swords from stabbing you, "amour" is not correct in any English-speaking country.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Star Voter Season 6
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Also, 'amour'I just wanted to comment on that, as I saw several of the judges comment on things like that as I've been reading through the past top 96.
That is actually the correct spelling of the word in England and other countries that learned the "Queen's English".
<snip>
Just sayin...
Actually, the correct spelling is armour. When I went to spell check the Queen out of my entry, I mis-selected 'amour' rather than 'armor'
I can't find the thread, but somewhere I believe Sean said it's 'best practice' to write in the language your publisher is in, whether it be the Queen, the President, or the kangeroo's English ;-)
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Dedicated Voter Season 6
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Also, 'amour'I just wanted to comment on that, as I saw several of the judges comment on things like that as I've been reading through the past top 96.
That is actually the correct spelling of the word in England and other countries that learned the "Queen's English".
<snip>
Just sayin...
Actually, the correct spelling is armour. When I went to spell check the Queen out of my entry, I mis-selected 'amour' rather than 'armor'
I can't find the thread, but somewhere I believe Sean said it's 'best practice' to write in the language your publisher is in, whether it be the Queen, the President, or the kangeroo's English ;-)
That is an incredibly good point.
With the economy and unemployment the way it is, the internet has been rife with resume and job interview advice.
One of the chief things they say, is to personalize your resume to the company to which you are applying. Learn something about the company, and give them nuggets on why you would be good for them.
Not just throwing a generic resume at a diverse selection of random job openings and hope one will stick.
This is similar. Curtail your writing to what the publisher wants.
It's absolutely true that, if you're looking to write specifically for Paizo (and by entering this contest, that should be your goal), you should write using their conventions for spelling, grammar, etc. Not yours. So, if you're based in the UK or Australia, etc., you should start getting the Queen's English out of your system right now. It's unlikely the judges will use the whole "armor" vs. "armour" thing to totally knock someone out of contention for a spot in the Top 32. But, if you have any other problems with your submission, that's certainly not going to help your chances.
Plus, if you look further ahead, and say you won the RPG Superstar contest, you'd be expected to write a 20,000-word manuscript. If your turnover is rife with more of the Queen's English, you'll just make the life of your developers and editors at Paizo that much harder, because they'll have to go back and change everything. Thus, it's far better for a freelancer to purge themselves of their usual writing conventions in favor of the style a specific publisher favors. You want to write for them? Then write like them. And let their existing products be your guide. Always.
A technical thing for those who have the Queen's English set as the default on their word processor. Change it or remove the dictionary. I had this problem with MS Word, it would accept both 'centre' and 'center' as correct. I had to delete the English (Australia) dictionary to get it to mark 'centre' as incorrect.
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We specifically give you a BBCode template to follow with your item, so there's really no excuse for not using it.
That template actually *also* serves to test a skill that's often needed by freelancers. Writers may be given special formatting instructions for their assignments, and if you can't figure out how to use the BBCode template for the contest, that's a sign you might not be able to format a professional assignment properly either.
Vic - Where is this BBCODE template? I did a search on the site and could not find it. - DD
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Director of Narrative
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Dedicated Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8, Star Voter Season 9
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You can find it in the Round 1 Rules
Side note, a fine piece of advice I received from a KQ editor:
"You almost never need the word 'that.'"
And he was right.
-Ben.
The same thing typically goes for the word "will." Instead of saying an item or individual "will" do something...just say they do it. Drop the "will" and your writing improves.
Some writing advice I blogged about long ago:
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Chief Technical Officer
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What about Grey or Gray?
One easy way to find out how we spell things is to search our product PDFs—or if you think the word might be in the Core Rulebook or Bestiary, searching the PRD will be just about the fastest way you'll find. (Gray: 35 hits in the PRD; Grey: No results.)
What about Grey or Gray?
Most American publishers (including Paizo) use gray.
Gray Ooze, anyone? ;-)
Star Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 8
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Gray Ooze, anyone? ;-)
No thank you, I haven't had my dinner yet.
I dunno about TSR's policy, but Wizards' was "If it's the city or world of Greyhawk, it's g-r-e-y, otherwise it's g-r-a-y." :)
I'd say certain codes working in ones browser are a bigger issue than failing to proofread, which is something we all should be doing at this point. I'd have to agree there's little to no excuse for the latter, not so much for the former. Are there any browsers we should NOT be using re: code?
I'd say certain codes working in ones browser are a bigger issue than failing to proofread, which is something we all should be doing at this point. I'd have to agree there's little to no excuse for the latter, not so much for the former. Are there any browsers we should NOT be using re: code?
As long as you're using one of the major, up-to-date browsers, you shouldn't have any trouble with the basic formatting you need for the first round. It's only when weirder things like quotes, spoilers, and dice come into play that you should have any problems, and you shouldn't be using those for your Wondrous Item.
And as the submission tool works like the message boards, you can always hit "Preview" to make sure it looks right before hitting "Submit."
Well, color me impressed. This many posts and no one went on a rant about "grammar Nazis" or "stifling my creativity with your meaningless rules!"
I still remember shaking my head over one poster in a previous contest proclaiming that they had no desire to be a free lance designer, just to demonstrate his or her creative ability. I think that person even threw in the "I already have a life" refrain.
I wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry.
And my pet peeve, the grocer's apostrophe. Because after all, everyone knows that an apostrophe means "Here comes an 's'!"
...Because after all, everyone knows that an apostrophe means "Here comes an 's'!"
Except when it doesn't. ;-)
...Because after all, everyone knows that an apostrophe means "Here comes an 's'!"Except when it doesn't. ;-)
Ah, stupid thing was stuck.
Nah. It's all good. The sarcasm came through. I just couldn't resist using the awesome setup you had going with it. ;-)
Nah. It's all good. The sarcasm came through. I just couldn't resist using the awesome setup you had going with it. ;-)
Heheheheh ... Dry humor.
Best. Humor. Ever. :-)
And you have to love Bob the Angry Flower.
Edit: All this has peaked my interest. Any other grammar tip's that your willing to share with us that we will use to improve our items better?
Edit: All this has peaked my interest. Any other grammar tip's that your willing to share with us that we will use to improve our items better?
You mean like "piqued" vs. "peaked" or "tips" vs. "tip's"...or "you're" vs "your" or any of the other small bits you slipped into that statement? :-)
Actually, in all seriousness, there are other grammar and writing-related pieces of advice that we haven't talked about yet. Such as:
Serial Commas:
Bad: Evil dragon colors are black, blue, green, red and white.
Good: Evil dragon colors are black, blue, green, red, and white.
Spacing:
Passive vs. Active Voice:
Also from Sean's list of "Freelancer Advice and Punishments"...Use active voice whenever possible! Passive voice is when you make the object or recipient of an action into the subject of a sentence. In passive sentences, the verb is given in past participle form and preceded by a form of “to be,” and the recipient of the verb’s action is promoted to subject:
Active voice:
Many people hate leeches.
Passive voice:
Leeches are hated.
Leeches are hated by many.
Thus, passive voice can be identified by the presence of a form of “to be,” the verb appearing in past participle form, and, optionally, a “by” phrase. (Did you notice how that last sentence was passive? The active form would be “Thus, you can identify passive voice by the presence of a form of “to be...”)
Active voice adds flair to your writing and usually makes it more concise, whereas passive voice tends to lead to dull, unimaginative writing. With each sentence that you write, ask yourself how you could write it in active voice. Have pity on your readers (and editors)!
Passive voice:
In most cases, active voice is found to be more effective than passive voice.
The town was invaded by a storm of orcs.
In 4613 ar, Elvanna was installed as sovereign of Irrisen by her mother Baba Yaga.
A pair of pryolisks were held in the remaining two cages.
Active voice:
In most cases, readers find that active voice trumps passive voice.
A storm of orcs invaded the town.
In 4613 ar, Baba Yaga installed her daughter Elvanna as sovereign of Irrisen.
The remaining two cages held a pair of pryolisks.
Keep in mind that exceptions exist and in certain situations passive voice is acceptable. For example, passive voice is often found in rules text in order to illustrate complex ideas in a clearer fashion. The general principle is that if used sparingly, passive voice can sometimes be effective, but it is important to examine each sentence you write and question whether the information might be better expressed in active voice; in better than nine times out of 10, the answer is be a resounding “Yes!”
Hope that helps,
--Neil
Edit: All this has peaked my interest. Any other grammar tip's that your willing to share with us that we will use to improve our items better?You mean like "piqued" vs. "peaked" or "tips" vs. "tip's"...or "you're" vs "your" or any of the other small bits you slipped into that statement? :-)
0:)
Spacing:
Never use double spaces after a period, comma, semicolon, etc. That's an old convention that mechanical typewriters had to rely on. A single space after a period is all you need now. I believe the submission tool here at Paizo automatically trims those extra spaces. But, as a designer who will eventually be working on manuscripts in a word processor, you need to get out of the habit of using double spaces after every sentence.
Wow. That's the first time I've heard that - for periods anyways. I think intra-sentence puncuation was never supposed to be followed by two spaces, but I make no claims to have ranks in Knowledge (editing).
I do have to admit that when I'm doing bulk editing in a text editor, having those extra spaces is really handy when I need to discern between the end of a sentence and an abbreviation.
Wow. That's the first time I've heard that - for periods anyways.
It's a hard habit to break if you were trained that way in school. That was my case. Over the years, I've weeded it out of my system. And it's definitely something you'll need to put aside when working on a massive 20,000 word manuscript. You'll make your editors and developers jobs that much easier if you do.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32, 2010 Top 8
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Star Voter Season 6
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Wow. That's the first time I've heard that - for periods anyways.It's a hard habit to break if you were trained that way in school. That was my case. Over the years, I've weeded it out of my system. And it's definitely something you'll need to put aside when working on a massive 20,000 word manuscript. You'll make your editors and developers jobs that much easier if you do.
Good. To. Know. :-)
And that's one of the better examples of active vs passive voice I've seen. My grammar checker always came down on me for 'passive voice' but never told me what it meant. (Or is that I was never told what it meant?)
Thank you Neil for sharing (and Sean for writing).
But it makes it tricky sometimes to tell whether I'm in a situation where the passive really is the best choice or it's just my odd preferences playing up again. :)
As Sean indicates...and I agree...over 90% of the time, active voice is the much better choice.
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Dedicated Voter Season 6, Star Voter Season 7, Dedicated Voter Season 8
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Edit: All this has peaked my interest. Any other grammar tip's that your willing to share with us that we will use to improve our items better?You mean like "piqued" vs. "peaked" or "tips" vs. "tip's"...or "you're" vs "your" or any of the other small bits you slipped into that statement? :-)
Actually, in all seriousness, there are other grammar and writing-related pieces of advice that we haven't talked about yet. Such as:
Serial Commas:
** spoiler omitted **
"Flair" vs. "flare"
Good to know Paizo's preference on serial commas. I was taught the other way (don't put a comma before "and") so it's a conscious effort to use that style.
Good to know Paizo's preference on serial commas. I was taught the other way (don't put a comma before "and") so it's a conscious effort to use that style.
+1
This is an example of a Paizo-specific style item, since it's actually a matter of preference, not of correctness. It's good to know, but I hardly think it's the kind of thing they'd ding someone on, unlike, say, using grammar so horrific that an item is hardly legible.
After all, of the 32 items that the judges let through the gate, they'll end up working in a professional capacity with four of them, and the judges have no say on which ones those four will be once they're part of the initial 32.
This is an example of a Paizo-specific style item, since it's actually a matter of preference, not of correctness. It's good to know, but I hardly think it's the kind of thing they'd ding someone on, unlike, say, using grammar so horrific that an item is hardly legible.
Correct.
After all, of the 32 items that the judges let through the gate, they'll end up working in a professional capacity with four of them, and the judges have no say on which ones those four will be once they're part of the initial 32.
Hey now, the judges can vote, just like anyone else. ;)
After all, of the 32 items that the judges let through the gate, they'll end up working in a professional capacity with four of them, and the judges have no say on which ones those four will be once they're part of the initial 32.Hey now, the judges can vote, just like anyone else. ;)
heheheh ... You know, I was thinking that as I wrote it.
Let's just say that the judges have virtually no control over which of the contestants they'll have to work with once they've opened the gates and let some small subset of the unwashed masses in.
Thus, I can imagine it's all the more important to you that you choose items that seem to be from people that you will be able to work with.
Which is as it should be.
A team that works well together will do great things. A team that annoys the heck out of each other will spend all their time annoying the heck out of each other.
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Chief Technical Officer
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I believe the submission tool here at Paizo automatically trims those extra spaces.
We don't trim them—if you view source*, you'll see that multiple spaces are stored just as they're entered. HTML renderers, though, are supposed to collapse multiple spaces by spec, and that's why you don't see them.
We don't trim them—if you view source*, you'll see that multiple spaces are stored just as they're entered. HTML renderers, though, are supposed to collapse multiple spaces by spec, and that's why you don't see them.
Interesting. Did not know that. Cool. And yeah, no additional spaces showing up in my browser.
After all, of the 32 items that the judges let through the gate, they'll end up working in a professional capacity with four of them...
Actually, Ryan and I may not have that privilege. So that's at least half the judges who won't necessarily be directly impacted by who gets into the Top 4. I'll be voting regardless. ;-)