To Complete the Test of Wisdom

The Test of Wisdom is a test meant to gauge a member's abilities to write a story. Fiction writing is a large component of the Brotherhood, ranging from short, single writer pieces to larger group writings (called run-ons).

In this exam, you will be asked to submit a story meeting certain requirements (detailed below). The course grader will provide feedback and work with you to improve the story. The goal is to help you find ways to improve your own story writing by developing techniques such as better ways to show rather than tell, writing dramatic fight scenes, engaging dialogue, and developing character through plot. Also, as this exam is marked according to the official fiction rubric, you will gain an increased understanding of how this rubric is applied.

In order to successfully complete this exam, you may be asked to write several drafts, depending on what issues are found. While not everything may be completely fixed by the final draft, you should see improvement between the drafts.

Requirements

• Your story must be a titled, original work about one of your characters (from any period in their life).
• Your story does not have to be a new story, and it is acceptable to submit work already submitted to a competition, so long as it meets all other requirements of the Test of Wisdom.
• You must be the sole author of your work, and your character must be the main character.
• There is no specific length required for the story you are submitting, so long as you have a complete story.
• Your story must stick within the (albeit large) confines of the Star Wars universe.
• Include your name and dossier number (PIN) in your submission.
• Submit your story via the exam link below.
• Please do not submit AI-generated text. The structures used by AI for story writing are very easy to spot, but aside from plagiarism issues, it doesn't do a very good job anyway. AI entries typically fail on the creativity and story categories of the rubric, while often making major realism issues with club canon.

Judging/Grading

• The first submission to this course will be graded according to the DB fiction rubric: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/125hThvIEweRL-nHDepON-PV-ixeC8zLp9xmYkI9wkM0/edit#gid=0, where your score is 8 x story + 6 x realism+ 3 x creativity + 3 x syntax for a score out of 100
• Subsequent submissions will be graded according to how well you improved on the initial submission, with a 100 grade being awarded if 1) the story's main weaknesses have been addressed and 2) a minimum of 4 is attained for each category on the rubric
• Your writing ability will play a factor in the judging, but proof reading will be done during the drafts, hopefully to identify and correct issues. Please inform the course grader if English is not your native language.
• Failure to show serious attempts at editing (as needed) will result in your test being failed.

Final Notes

All feedback from the grader is meant constructively, even though it may seem harsh. Don't take anything personally.

Please note that passing this exam does not make you a great writer, or necessarily even a good one. However, if you learn from it and continue to practice, you will likely see improvement in your own writing.