GGD Pre-readers’ Frequently Asked Questions
 
Q1: How do I become a pre-reader?
Q2: Now that I’m a pre-reader, where do I start?
Q3: Why do we only judge a story based off of the first 500 words?
Q4: What if an author “cheats” and only cleans up the first 500 words of a story just to get into the Directory, but then the rest of the story’s grammar is atrocious?
Q5: Why do we only accept stories with two or fewer errors?
Q6: Do multiple instances of the same error count?
Q7: Do we grade on anything not listed in the ten common mistakes on the front page?
Q8: If a word can be written in two ways, like “favorite” and “favourite”, are they both correct?
Q9: How do we handle sentence fragments, given that they can either be errors or a stylistic choice?
Q10: Do we grade on stylistic errors, such as passive voice or run-on sentences?
Q11: How do we deal with characters with accents, such as Applejack?
Q12: If I can’t find any grammatical errors but the story is awful, what should I do?
Q13: If a story doesn't qualify, what is the "standard procedure"?
Q14: Alternatively, if I pre-read a story and it qualifies, what do I do?
Q15: If I read a story that isn’t submitted and it qualifies, can I add it to the group?
Q16: Can I submit and review my own stories?
 
 

Q1: I pride myself on being meticulous about grammar, how can I help to make the Good Grammar Directory great again?
 
If you think you have what it takes, contact us via this thread or talk to one of our active admins (preferably Fistfire) and we will look through your stories/blog posts and see how well-founded your thoughts are. If you are an editor/proofreader, link us to one of the stories you’ve worked on instead. If neither of the former applies to you (you have no published stories/blog posts and you’ve never edited/proofread for any author), but you are still willing to help and confident in your grammar skills, then pick any story from our “User Submissions: Not Yet Graded” folder (please, no Mature-tagged stories) and, in a google doc, proofread the description and first chapter, correcting any grammatical error you can find in suggest mode (that way, we can see both the original error and your intended correction). Then, send us a link to the document and the story via PM.
 
 
 
Q2: Now that I’m part of the team, where do I start?
 
First of all, read the group’s frontpage and all of this FAQ.
 
In short, your duty as a pre-reader is to ensure that only readable stories make their way into the directory. We do this by making sure that there are two or fewer grammatical errors within the description and the first 500 words. Afterwards, we report the verdict to the author and list the story in the corresponding folder/s. Each step is detailed in its associated question later in this FAQ.
 
Lastly, never forget what this group stands for. Our aim is not only to create an oasis for those seeking stories that aren’t riddled with typos and other mistakes, but to help authors realize their grammar issues and, hopefully, encourage them to improve on them.
 
 
 
Q3: Why do we only judge a story based off the first 500 words? Shouldn’t we read more than just that before coming to a conclusion about its grammar?
 
It’s been like that since this group started, and there are two main reasons as to why we do this.
 
1. It would be too time consuming to read more than that. The average story takes about five to ten minutes to pre-read, comment on and include in the relevant folders. Multiply that by the near thousand stories that are currently in queue and the potential future submissions, and you get an insane amount of hours. If we upped it to 1,000 words, for instance, it would literally double the amount of work that we have to do.
 
2. There’s only one chance to make a good first impression. First impressions are key, and if the very beginning of a story isn’t grammatically correct, how can we expect readers to believe that the rest of the story will be, as well? Studies have shown that the average person makes judgments VERY quickly, within a few seconds, so the first 500 words are a good benchmark.
 
Note: 500 words is the minimum reading required to have a valid sample, and is usually enough to make the right assumptions, BUT it’s not a limit nor an imposition. If you wished to keep reading, you are free to do so. Just keep in mind the 2 errors per 500 words ratio.
 
 
 
Q4: What if an author “cheats” and cleans up the first 500 words of a story just to get into the Directory, but then the rest of the story’s grammar is atrocious?
 
Well, that’s obviously a risk that has to be accepted. Sure, an author could do that; but if they manage to get two or fewer errors out of 500 words, we figure that by that point, he or she has a good enough grasp of grammar to not make the same mistakes in other places in the story. What one could view as “cheating” is actually a valuable exercise for the author. Practice makes perfect, and when the author writes in the future, they will likely not make those same mistakes as often, which happens to be one of our goals.
 
Admittedly, authors could get proofreaders to fix the story for them and not learn anything themselves, but proofreaders tend to fix more than just the first 500 words anyway.
 
 
 
Q5: Why three or more errors? Why not four, five, six, seven...? Hell, why not NONE, or just one?
 
Because we don’t want to be too lenient, but we don’t want to be too restrictive either. Two or less errors in 500 words isn’t a lot to ask for. If you submitted a story with just ONE error per 500 words to Equestria Daily, for instance, they’d laugh you off the site, yet many authors on Fimfiction have trouble staying at under TWENTY errors per 500 words.
 
On the other hoof, no one is perfect. Writers aren’t perfect, and neither are we as pre-readers. The three errors is as much to give ourselves leeway as to give the author leeway.
 
And why two errors instead of five, or one? Two is a number that we believe is a middle ground between the near-perfection that a real-world publishing house (or EQD) would accept, and the poorly-written, grammatically incoherent stories that Fimfiction accepts.
 
 
 
Q6: What if the author does just one mistake (e.g. punctuating dialog incorrectly) multiple times over? Does each individual instance count?
 
Yes. Seeing the same mistake over and over doesn’t make it less annoying, quite the contrary. Three or more grammatical errors of any kind in the first 500 words and the story fails to qualify.
 
 
 
Q7: Do we grade on anything other than the ten common mistakes listed on the front page?
 
Definitely. Any grammatical mistake can be counted as an error. The list on the front page is not meant to be comprehensive, it merely includes the ten most common errors that we see in stories on this site.
 
 
 
Q8: How do we handle spelling divergences, like “color” and “colour”?
 
Both are correct. It's a matter of style between the American and European versions of the word.
 
 
 
Q9: How do we handle sentence fragments, given that they can either be errors or a stylistic choice?
 
This is another area where we ask you to use your judgment. For instance:
 
The apple fell from the tree. Applejack looked at it. Golden delicious. Her favorite.
 
Even though “golden delicious” and “her favorite” are not technically sentences, this is obviously a stylistic choice on the part of the author. Though it might not be the best stylistic choice, no error is counted.
 
But, in this instance:
 
Applejack looked over the fields. As she was coming home from the barn.
 
That is not a stylistic choice, but an error. It should be one sentence.
 
 
 
Q10: Do we grade on stylistic errors, such as passive voice or run-on sentences?
 
We don’t grade on passive voice. We may count a run-on sentence as an error if it’s particularly egregious. Discretion for that is up to the pre-readers, but we normally only count off for run-on sentences if they’re really bad. If it could be its own paragraph, let alone a sentence, then yes, we count that as an error. If it just really could stand to be broken up but it’s coherent enough, then it’s not a matter of grammar, but of style.
 
 
 
Q11: How do we deal with characters with accents, such as Applejack?
 
Authors may write accents however they wish, but they have to be internally consistent. If you notice Applejack saying, “Ah am goin’ to the barn” in one paragraph, but then “I am going to the barn” in the next, that would count as an error. Two errors in that example, actually.
 
 
 
Q12: I can’t find any grammatical errors, but the story is so terribly awful it hurts. What should I do?
 
We have no concerns with the quality of the storytelling, characters, settings, plots, or any other aspect of the stories that we grade besides grammar. A bad story can still have good grammar, BUT a good story will NEVER have bad grammar.
 
And yes, there will be “bad” stories that find their way into the directory as a result. On the bright side, authors who take their time to ensure that their stories have proper grammar usually tend to also make sure that their stories are well-written; therefore, the average quality of the stories included in our group ends up being far above the average quality of the stories that aren’t.
 
 
 
Q13: I’ve gone through the first 500 words of a story and it had more than three errors, failing to qualify. What follows?
 
First step is to add it to the "User Submissions: Graded, Does Not Yet Qualify” folder and delete it from the “User Submissions: Not Yet Graded” folder. Remember you can easily add a story to any folder in one of your groups from the drop-down in the top-right corner of a story’s main page. As for deleting a story, there are two scenarios: if you uploaded the story, simply uncheck the “User Submissions: Not Yet Graded” from the drop-down or, if you are inside the folder, click on the trashcan by the title; if you didn’t upload the story, you’ll have to also place it in the subfolder “Graded Stories”, found inside the “User Submissions: Not Yet Graded” one.
 
The second step is contacting the author. Now, unless the author specifically stated the means of communication (which rarely happens), the usual procedure is to approach the author by commenting on their story. Why? Two main reasons: first, to give visibility to the group and their efforts; second, to “force” the author into taking action and fixing their story. Mean as it sounds, it’s the most effective way to truly get things done. Just remember to always link the group and to be extremely careful when/if listing examples of errors, else exposure becomes a double-edged sword. However, if you wished to PM the author instead (to avoid filling the comments with grammar-related discussions or make the author feel ridiculed), so be it.
 
We are not very strict with how refusal notifications should be written, but you can use the following structure as a guide:
 
Your story was submitted to the Good Grammar Directory, but failed to qualify.
 
-Reasons-
 
And remember, always be polite. You do not have the authority to use the GGD name to harass authors with bad grammar. Such behavior is grounds for banishment.
 
Here, a practical example.
 
 
 
Q14: If a story has two errors or less, meaning it qualifies, what do I do?
 
Firstly, add it to the “Main” folder and all other related to the story, regardless of its rating. For instance, a story with Teen rating and Sex, Romance, Dark and Tragedy tags will go in all these folders: “Main”, “Clop”, “Romance”, “Dark” and “Tragedy”. Follow this up by deleting the story from the “User Submissions: Not Yet Graded” folder. Further instructions on how to do these two things can be found in Q12.
 
Secondly, leave a comment on the story regarding its inclusion on the group. The only compulsory part is including a link to the group, although we recommend you try to abide by the following template:
 
Your story has been accepted into the Good Grammar Directory.
Congratulations!
 
-Additional comments (optional)-
 
 
 
Q15: I found a story that I like and it qualifies. Can I add it?
 
Sure. As a pre-reader, you are the one to evaluate the stories, so you can choose what to put in.
 
 
 
Q16: I’m a full-fledged pre-reader, and my impeccable record proves my absolute control over the mighty grammar. Could I start adding my stories to the group now?
 
You can always submit your stories like everyone else, but you are not allowed to review them yourself. Get a fellow pre-reader to do it for you, or wait for your turn. For ethical reasons, if you get caught pushing your own work through, no matter how well-written it is, your story will get removed and you will get dishonourably divested of your powers.