Difference between revisions of "User:Dank"
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Please see my [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Dank userpage on Wikipedia]. |
Please see my [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Dank userpage on Wikipedia]. |
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| − | Please see my [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Dank userpage on Wikipedia]. |
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| − | This is my version of [[w:WP:FAU]]; I'm guessing people will edit the Wikipedia page over time, but the original is here. |
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| − | *An '''appositive''' follows and is the same [[#part of speech|part of speech]] as another element: "my cousin Edna", "later, that same day" |
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| − | {{anchor|chronology}} |
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| − | *'''chronology''': Write your storyline or narrative in chronological order within one section or subsection. |
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| − | {{anchor|clarity}} |
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| − | *'''clarity''': If you can't avoid using terms in your article that many of your readers won't know, at least link the terms to a Wikipedia page or section (or rarely, to Wiktionary). For particularly confusing sentences, give a quick hint or definition in the text in addition to the link. |
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| − | {{anchor|consistency}} |
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| − | *'''consistency''': Usually, use the same word or phrase throughout an article for the same thing. Use consistent units, presentation and formats when possible. |
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| − | {{anchor|conciseness}} |
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| − | *'''conciseness''': Look for ways to trim long sentences and phrases, and don't say the same thing twice, using the same or different words. |
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| − | but don't worry too much about how to say something in the fewest possible words. |
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| − | If there's a way to replace any whole sentence or long phrase with a few words without losing any information, do it. Check to see if clauses starting with ''that'' or ''which'' can be replaced by shorter phrases. But don't take conciseness too far: mashing six different ideas into one sentence to save a few words will read poorly. |
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| − | {{anchor|dangling}} |
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| − | *'''dangling words''': An element (especially a pronoun) "dangles" if you can't tell which other element it's referring to. It's not clear whether the pronoun ''which'' refers to the order or the abrupt exit here: {{!xt|He left abruptly after delivering the order, which was misinterpreted by the sergeant.}} |
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| − | {{anchor|element}} |
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| − | *An '''element''' is a word or string of words that functions as a grammatical unit; so, an '''adverbial element''' is a word or string of words that acts as an adverb: "in the dark of night". |
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| − | *'''emphasis''': Politicians, advertisers and con artists repeat their points emphatically and use fancy-sounding words just to let you know how smart they are. If you don't want to sound like them, don't do the same. |
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| − | *'''endash''': See [[WP:ENDASH]]. |
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| − | *'''hyphen''': See [[WP:HYPHEN]]. |
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| − | {{anchor|intention}}{{anchor|intent}} |
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| − | *'''intent''': Don't use state-of-mind words like ''intended'', ''decided'', ''wanted'' and ''focused on'' in a narrative (storyline), unless the sources indicate that what people were thinking was an important part of the story. Instead of {{!xt|They decided to build torpedo boats}}, just say {{xt|They built torpedo boats}} or (occasionally) {{xt|They started building torpedo boats}} or {{xt|They submitted an order for torpedo boats}}. |
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| − | {{anchor|part of speech}} |
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| − | *'''part of speech''': a noun, pronoun, adjective, article, verb, adverb, conjunction, preposition or interjection, or sometimes, an [[#element|element]] that acts as one of these. |
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| − | {{anchor|repetition}} |
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| − | *'''repetition''': If possible,Avoid ''New'' here: {{!xt|New}} {{xt|carriers under development}}. |
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| − | {{anchor|second commas}}{{anchor|second comma}} |
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| − | *'''second comma''': If a comma comes before a parenthetical word or phrase, then a comma is needed after that word or phrase unless there's already some punctuation there (according to [[WT:FAU|most American style guides]], at least). Try visualizing a parenthesis in place of the first comma, then try to figure out where the end parenthesis would go; that's where you need a second comma. This includes dates and places: {{xt|on July 4, 1776, ... in Raleigh, North Carolina, ...}}. Especially for longer parenthetical phrases that begin with a comma, readers are expecting a second comma to tell them where the end of the phrase is. The comma after ''Korea'' is necessary here: {{xt|UN troops, mainly from the US, UK and Republic of Korea, enjoyed overwhelming air and sea superiority.}} |
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| − | {{anchor|series}} |
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| − | *'''series''': The elements in a series ("X, Y and Z") should be parallel. Avoid ''her'' in: {{xt|The ship's AA guns, aircraft crane and}} {{!xt|her}} {{xt|fuel tanks}}. ("{{!xt|her aircraft crane and her fuel tanks}}" would be parallel, but "her" is redundant to "The ship's".) If one element is more complex than the others, that element should usually go last in the series. |
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| − | {{anchor|because}}{{anchor|since}} |
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| − | *'''since''': Give some thought to whether ''since, because, caused by, as a result, due to, thus, therefore'', and other cause-and-effect words are the words you want in a narrative (storyline). Use ''after'' instead of ''because'' in: {{!xt|they retreated because the enemy broke through their lines}}, since the readers can figure out that one led to the other. Avoid ''therefore'' in: {{xt|The ship stayed in port two days loading low-grade coal, and}} {{!xt|therefore}} {{xt|never caught up to the fleeing destroyer.}} (Therefore ... because the ship stayed in port two days, because it loaded coal, or because the coal was low-grade? It's better not to raise the question if the answer isn't clear.) Even when there's some degree of causation ({{!xt|Unrest caused by government repression}}), it's often better to find a less emphatic word ({{xt|Unrest spurred by government repression, government repression led to unrest}}); motivations are usually complex, and misrepresenting complex questions as simple may be considered [[WP:NPOV|non-neutral]]. And of course, don't say or imply that one thing caused another if your sources don't back that up. |
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Latest revision as of 20:22, 21 January 2012
Please see my userpage on Wikipedia.