User:Pinkyoshifan/Sandbox

Writing style stuff

(combined from WiKirby:Writing specifics and WiKirby:Writing style, seeing how they might look merged into something akin to other wikis' manuals of style or even just keeping the writing stuff on one page)

Now that all the basics are out of the way, an aspiring young editor may now want to begin doing the things that all this technology has been developed to do: write about Kirby stuff. That, presumably is why most editors sign up to WiKirby in the first place, unless they really like categorizing images or correcting typos in general, which is also fine.

Here at WiKirby, the rules for article prose are not as strict as they would be in a wiki about international law or even tomato agriculture. However, there are still a few important customs to remember when writing articles on this wiki. The following is a basic overview of preferred writing style on WiKirby.

List of mantras

This is a list of general guidelines for things to avoid. Some of these are adapted from Super Mario Wiki.

1. Summaries that aren't - Story sections and level/stage overviews on articles should only summarize the important bits; specific details can be saved for other articles.
2. Homeric - Readers do not need to be told everything about the story.
3. Padding - Short articles and/or sections aren't bad if there's not much to talk about.
4. Everything but the kitchen sink - Padding on steroids. Basically, don't fill articles with descriptions of things that are only superficially similar to what the page is about.
5. Do it better - Unless it's too long or wrong, don't cut stuff out. Make it better instead.
6. Get it? - Referential humor should be avoided unless it can be gleamed from the content alone.
7. Captain Obvious – Don't explain something if the name already specifies what it is.
8. Yelling - Use of exclamation points and capital letters gives readers a headache.
9. Selling - Don't blow events out of proportion, don't exaggerate, and report the facts. Nintendo is not paying us.
10. Kid's show - Don't lead the readers on or ask them questions.
11. Kid's show deux - Don't talk to the characters. They can't hear us.
12. Reading between the lines – No speculation. (see the conjecture policy for details)
13. Fan worship - Character pages shouldn't have huge paragraphs or excessive details.
14. Fan fiction - Don't make stuff up.
15. Texting - Don't use emojis or shorthand words in articles.
16. Fourth wall – Don't treat gameplay mechanics as if they were part of the story unless they become so.
17. All fluff no crunch - If inserting some playful writing, always pair it with something useful too.
18. No yous - Article text should never refer to the reader directly, especially when it should be referring to the player character instead.

Use of jokes and humor in articles

WiKirby aims to be informative, but also to avoid being dry and authoritative. A matter-of-fact tone is encouraged; a sense of wit is also welcome, but should not take precedence over the essential information of an article. This includes things that are otherwise self-evident, such as image captions. We're not looking to make the reader laugh.

Inappropriate places for humor

Some portions of articles are better served by playful writing than others. Generally, one should avoid being playful in the following areas:

• Introductory abstracts - These should be kept simple and straight as much as possible.
• Technical details - Nobody wants a poem in their statistics.
• File page summaries - See above.
• Documentation pages - See above above.

Remember, WiKirby may handle a cutesy subject matter, but the games take themselves seriously, and so should we.

Tense and perspective

In an article, written prose should always take a third-person perspective. At no point should the editor use first or second pronouns (such as "I", "me", "you", "your", etc.) unless dealing with direct quotes. Even when talking about player actions, the editor should use terms such as "the player" instead of directly talking to the reader. Put simply, the article prose should be generalized, without referring to a specific author or specific reader.

Additionally, unless specifically talking about past events, all prose should be written in present tense format. A basic example is the difference between saying
"Kirby's Dream Land was the first game released in the Kirby series."
and
"Kirby's Dream Land is the first game released in the Kirby series."
To use past tense in this case would imply that Kirby's Dream Land is dead or something, when in reality, it is a finished game that can still be accessed and played today.

Universe

When describing events and objects in the Kirby series, editors should use an in-universe style at all times. For instance, when describing actions taking place during gameplay, editors should specify what the character is doing, rather than what the player is making the character do (or worse yet, inserting the player directly into the game). While the latter format can be technically more accurate, it is not helpful for illustrating the series in a concise manner, and will only lead to annoyance from the reader. If an editor spots such mistakes in an article, the offending parts should be tagged with the template {{rewrite}}, if not fixed on the spot.

For example, instead of "You have to jump as far as you can," use "Kirby must jump as far as he can." In cases where the player performs an action outside of the in-universe context of the game, referring to "the player" rather than "you" is preferred. For example, instead of "You must pop the bubble to free Kirby," use "The player must pop the bubble to free Kirby." If pronouns are required to refer to the player, the gender indeterminate "they" is most preferred.

Subject characteristics

On WiKirby, we try to minimize confusion when talking about characters and other entities across the series. It is often the case that a character may have multiple names over the course of many game appearances (such as Sir Kibble being known as "Load Kibble" in Kirby's Dream Land 2). While these names are worth mentioning where appropriate, it's preferable to not explicitly refer to the character by that name on the wiki, and just use "Sir Kibble" even in the context of Kirby's Dream Land 2. The only exception to this rule is when the alternate name is a very prominent one in the game in question (such as the name "Aeon Hero" for Galacta Knight in Super Kirby Clash). This rule also applies to items and other objects.

In addition, it is also often the case that characters may be referred to by different genders depending on the game in question, often erroneously (a good example is Dyna Blade). For characters established as individuals, this mismatching must be avoided, and their gender must be consistent throughout article text and based on the most consistently-used pronouns in games ("he/she/they" generally takes priority over "it"). It is not appropriate to refer to these characters using different pronouns based on the game unless there is a specific special story or lore-based circumstance for doing so. Note that this rule does not apply across different canons (For example, Kracko in the games VS. Kracko in the anime.), only within canons. If a character has no confirmed pronouns, go with what the majority of users feel is correct, as long as it's consistent. This should be determined by consensus on the talk page for the subject or the wiki Discord server.

Opinions

WiKirby has a casual style of writing that suits the whimsical nature of the Kirby series. However, WiKirby does not intend to have subjective opinions on these subjects which may color the reader's judgments, especially if those opinions are comparison-based. For example, it is perfectly fine to talk about positive or negative qualities relating to King Dedede in isolation (even though he's already perfect), but it is not okay to make an argument about whether or not he's better than Meta Knight unless criteria are narrowed down to provable points such as "damage per second" or "movement speed".

Put simply, article text should remain objective at all times, even when it wants to be funny or cute.

Brevity

WiKirby strives to be a full repository of Kirby information, containing every important piece of information regarding the franchise. However, editors should keep their writing as concise as possible to avoid making pages longer than they need to be.

The following is a real example of a paragraph from an article that could be shortened:

The level begins on a cloud platform, with a bottomless pit to the left, and a continuing path to the right. A number of enemies come to meet Kirby as he jumps from cloud to cloud, being careful to avoid the additional bottomless pits along the way. There are also a number of invulnerable enemies to contend with here, who need to be avoided. The path zigs and zags across several clouds, which will really test Kirby's maneuvering skills up to this point. Inside a small cloud cave, a horde of Scarfies appear. While cute at first, if Kirby tries to inhale them, they will transform into terrible monsters and chase him down, then explode. It is best to either avoid them, or hit them with a star or air pellet projectile. The path eventually makes way to a solid stone walkway, where a Parasol-wielding Waddle Dee will float down to 'greet' our hero. He is followed by an entire battalion of Parasol-wielding enemies further down the path, including a suspended Shotzo. The door to the next section lies beyond them, in a gatehouse guarded by several flying foes. 

Note that this paragraph describes only one room in Bubbly Clouds, yet is several sentences long, and contains lots of unnecessary detail about enemies that could be saved for their own articles instead. A suitable shortened version could look like the following:

The level begins with a long path made of isolated cloud platforms and littered with various enemies, including Shotzos, Scarfies, and parasol-wielding Waddle Dees. Kirby will have to travel to the right by jumping over gaps and dealing with any enemies that get in his way in order to reach the door at the end of a long stone walkway.

Details

Those are the basics of how to write properly in WiKirby's articles. There are a few cases where different writing styles can be used, such as in talk pages, and a few more specific rules exist for some material. For more information, please see the following pages:

• General content policy - what kind of content is and is not allowed in article text.
• Language policy - what language standards are enforced on the wiki.
• Localization policy - what version of events should take priority.
• Conjecture policy - rules regarding conjecture in articles.
• Long page policy - rules and guidelines regarding when a page or section has gotten too long.

References

WiKirby's help and policy

Basic help

Getting started • Categories • Colors • Disambiguation • File uploading • Formatting • Formatting file pages • Moving pages • Protected Page • Redirects • References • Tables • Talk pages • Templates • User Navigation Bar • Userboxes

Advanced help

Advanced tables • Creating navmaps • Creating templates • Custom Signatures • HTML • Page history • Special pages • Tabs • Template documentation • Using infoboxes

Policies

Abbreviations • Article creation • Article manipulation • Audio standards • Blocking of users • Categories • Citing • Community polls • Conjecture • Cookies • Copyrights • Deletion of content • Disputes • Featured content • File use • Formatting specifics • General content • General disclaimer • Glitch disclaimer notes • Glitches • Image standards • Infoboxes and Navboxes • Interwiki • Language • Layout • Localization • Long pages • Naming • Non-Kirby content • Personal content • Privacy • Sourcing standards • Stubs • Talk pages • Trivia sections • User accounts • Videos • Writing style • Writing specifics

Useful links

About WiKirby • Affiliates • April Fools • Archive • Current events • Dedication • Discord • Featured Article Nomination • Featured Picture Nomination • Good recommendations • IPA • Maintenance (Project Clean-Up) • Proposals • Ranks (Bots • Check user • Editor-in-Chief • System Admin) • Sandbox • Social media • Special pages

[[Category:Wiki policy pages]]

List of AFD articles

Basically WiKirby:April Fools' subpages but all in one place

Castle Dedede: Twilight of Stars (2012) Dracula Waddle (2019) Green Greens - Pixel 13 (2020) Samwell Mass Attack (2021) Those Things That're Usually Stuck in the Ground in Dream Land (2021) Zan whatever (2021) 2021 DYK Keeby Main Page (2022) Keeby (2022) Google Translate Kirby (2022) Early 2010s Main Page (2023) Writing unspecifics (2023) The Synth (2023) Grandfather Haltmann (2023) Kirby Fighters 2 (2023) Radish Ruins - Hub (2023) Eggolor (2023) Olde World (2023) Google Translated Sleep (2023) Pteran (2023) Kany (2023) Sphere Doomer (2023) Dream Friend (2023) Honorable mention to That book Meta Knight was reading on the knoll in the opening cutscene for Kirby's Return to Dream Land and Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe