The truth is, writing Wikipedia articles is actually fairly difficult. You are asked to be an expert on a subject you previously had little to no knowledge of, using terminology you are becoming acquainted with as you write it and it has to fit Wikipedia's bizarre formatting regulations. The truth is, anyone can write a Wikipedia article, but it's going to take them quite awhile to do so.
Having written several that were deleted, I finally started doing some basic research into what prevents such things from happening. A few thoughts on what I've learned:
Have you tried writing Wikipedia articles? What are your bits of advice?
Having written several that were deleted, I finally started doing some basic research into what prevents such things from happening. A few thoughts on what I've learned:
- If you are writing a biography or company profile, make sure your subject has notoriety. Just being a person, or a unique company, or even a politician doesn't ensure notoriety. What does? Well, I think it's a bit vague, but basically you have to show how that person is unique. What has that CEO, songwriter, mayor, etc. done that no one else with that title has done before him?
- Globalize the article. If you are writing about a broad subject, make sure the article isn't US-centric. Find out how to draw in a global perspective.
- Make sure your sources are reputable. Use as many outside sources as possible to validate the claims of your article. These are best if they are news sources, journals or somehow objective pieces of information about your subject matter.
- Cite Wikipedia internally. Don't overuse this, but make as many references as possible to Wikipedia's other articles.
Have you tried writing Wikipedia articles? What are your bits of advice?
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