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All The Tropes:How to Write An Example: Difference between revisions
All The Tropes:How to Write An Example (view source)
Revision as of 13:46, 3 August 2021
, 2 years agoadded two more guidelines
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* '''State the source:''' This is ''mandatory''. You cannot assume that just because ''you'' know from context where your example comes from, everyone or ''anyone'' else will. The name of the work the example comes from ''must'' be clearly stated, ideally near the beginning of the example. The name should be either italicized or put in quotes depending on the medium (if you're not sure which to use, see what someone else did for a work in the same medium), and be marked up as a link to the work's page. '''''Examples without a work name to identify them are subject to deletion.''''' Listing a character name, episode name, or actor's name is ''not'' a substitute for the work name. (No, not even if you [[Pothole]] it -- which, by the way, ''don't do either''.) Listing a well-known quote and leaving it at that is also clumsy. Being clever is always fun but being ''clear'' is much more important. Author's names are acceptable when referring collectively to multiple series by them.
** '''Make sure you're using the right link.''' Make sure the link you're using goes ''directly'' to the work you're citing. Check to make sure it's not a redirect or disambiguation page.
** '''Don't [[pothole]] the work name.''' This is another facet of not assuming that just because ''you'' know from context where your example comes from, everyone or ''anyone'' else will. For example, one might say that "[[Discworld/Going Postal|Spike]] can be very snarky" - but blind readers who use page-reader software to listen to the wiki page aren't going to know that you didn't mean [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|this Spike]].<ref>For these readers, these two characters named Spike are from ''[[Discworld/Going Postal|Going Postal]]'' and ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''.</ref> Make it obvious which work you're talking about.
*** '''Don't turn the work name into multiple links.''' We have inherited entirely too many cases where someone thought it was a good idea to link half or more of the work name to a franchise it was part of, and sometimes as little as a single character to the actual work being discussed. Here's an actual example (now fixed) from one of our trope pages: <code><nowiki>[[Grand Theft Auto]] [[Grand Theft Auto IV|IV]]</nowiki><code>. This is confusing and deceptive. Like to the work and the work ''only''.
** '''State the [[Word of God]] source:''' While we don't require strict Wikipedia style citations, one ''should'' say where a [[Word of God]] statement originated from. Something as simple at "[http://www.example.com this interview]" or "''Wizard'' magazine issue 200" or "in the commentary on the DVD" is sufficient. This is because a lot of people like to [[God Never Said That|claim]] such and such is [[Word of God]] to make their claims seem more valid.
** '''Be Specific:''' There are some things that are nearly universal with a medium, [[Executive Meddling]] being one of them. But saying "An interview with person X reveals that there was a lot of [[Executive Meddling]] going on" and not explaining it is ultimately an empty example. We want to know ''what'' was screwed around with and even the ''why'', even if it doesn't make sense.
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