All The Tropes:How to Write An Example: Difference between revisions

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* '''Keep It An Example:''' Making a blanket statement on the behavior of '70s [[Live Action TV]] may be interesting information, but it technically doesn't add anything new as an example. If you feel the information is important, then add it to the description instead of the examples. Examples are about specific works, the description is the general behavior of the trope. See [[Needs a Better Description]].
* '''Keep It An Example:''' Making a blanket statement on the behavior of '70s [[Live Action TV]] may be interesting information, but it technically doesn't add anything new as an example. If you feel the information is important, then add it to the description instead of the examples. Examples are about specific works, the description is the general behavior of the trope. See [[Needs a Better Description]].
* '''Keep it Brief:''' [[Brevity Is Wit]]. No one wants to read [[Walls of Text]]. Over-long examples can encourage other tropers to carry on too long and can quickly turn a trope from a fun read to a long slog. Examples should have enough substance so that readers can get a relatively clear picture of how a given work used the trope in question, ''and no more.'' Don't bog the example down with unnecessary detail or canned analysis. Sometimes saying [[It Makes Sense in Context]] is enough information. As a general rule, if you ever find yourself feeling the need to indent and start a new paragraph, chances are you've gone on too long. A quick way to shorten your example is to scan it and excise any [[Word Cruft]].
* '''Keep it Brief:''' [[Brevity Is Wit]]. No one wants to read [[Walls of Text]]. Over-long examples can encourage other tropers to carry on too long and can quickly turn a trope from a fun read to a long slog. Examples should have enough substance so that readers can get a relatively clear picture of how a given work used the trope in question, ''and no more.'' Don't bog the example down with unnecessary detail or canned analysis. Sometimes saying [[It Makes Sense in Context]] is enough information. As a general rule, if you ever find yourself feeling the need to indent and start a new paragraph, chances are you've gone on too long. A quick way to shorten your example is to scan it and excise any [[Word Cruft]].
** '''...But Not Too Brief:''' Remember, examples sections are more than just long lists of shows -- they are here to ''serve as examples''. If you don't explain how a show used a given trope, what have you really said? Remember, nothing is [[Self Explanatory]] unless it is [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]] (even then, err on the side of [[Viewers are Morons|readers are morons]] and explain it anyway). Unless it provides context, an example is just a series name floating in space, probably not worth much to anyone who doesn't already remember it (and what's the point of telling people something they already know?). Oh, and most of us are pretty sick of [[Two Words: Obvious Trope]], so please don't do that either. It's easy to assume that everyone else is familiar with the same things you're familiar with, but this is usually not the case, so think before you break out the internal jargon and [[Fan Nickname|Fan Nicknames]] without explanation. There are still some people who don't know [[It Was His Sled]].
** '''...But Not Too Brief:''' Remember, examples sections are more than just long lists of shows -- they are here to ''serve as examples''. If you don't explain how a show used a given trope, what have you really said? Remember, nothing is [[Self Explanatory]] unless it is [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]] (even then, err on the side of [[Viewers are Morons|readers are morons]] and explain it anyway). Unless it provides context, an example is just a series name floating in space, probably not worth much to anyone who doesn't already remember it (and what's the point of telling people something they already know?). Oh, and most of us are pretty sick of [[Two Words: Obvious Trope]], so please don't do that either.<ref>At least one moderator hangs the {{tl|context}} tag on every use of the phrase "Obvious Trope" as a near-Pavlovian reflex, so the example would end up needing to be re-written if you do this anyway.</ref> It's easy to assume that everyone else is familiar with the same things you're familiar with, but this is usually not the case, so think before you break out the internal jargon and [[Fan Nickname|Fan Nicknames]] without explanation. There are still some people who don't know [[It Was His Sled]].
* '''Simplify For Non Fans:''' Instead of saying "[[Alice and Bob|Alice kills Bob]]," for instance, try to instead identify them by character archetype, as in "[[Femme Fatale]] Alice kills Bob, [[The Fool]]." If stating this explicitly in the sentence would be too clunky, use potholes: "[[Femme Fatale|Alice]] kills [[The Fool|Bob]]." This approach has the added bonus of telling the uninitiated who the characters are. If the information is spoiler sensitive, then shift it up a little. "[[Femme Fatale]] Alice kills [[The Fool]] of the work."
* '''Simplify For Non Fans:''' Instead of saying "[[Alice and Bob|Alice kills Bob]]," for instance, try to instead identify them by character archetype, as in "[[Femme Fatale]] Alice kills Bob, [[The Fool]]." If stating this explicitly in the sentence would be too clunky, use potholes: "[[Femme Fatale|Alice]] kills [[The Fool|Bob]]." This approach has the added bonus of telling the uninitiated who the characters are. If the information is spoiler sensitive, then shift it up a little. "[[Femme Fatale]] Alice kills [[The Fool]] of the work."
* '''Stay on Topic:''' Don't be a [[Left Fielder]] who inserts completely irrelevant topics into an existing subject. If you're talking about a TV show, don't switch in midstream to another one. A new work always deserves its own bullet point, at the very least.
* '''Stay on Topic:''' Don't be a [[Left Fielder]] who inserts completely irrelevant topics into an existing subject. If you're talking about a TV show, don't switch in midstream to another one. A new work always deserves its own bullet point, at the very least.
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