User:Avignonesi


 * There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.
 * &mdash; Ernest Hemmingway


 * I am writing for other ages. If this could read me, they would burn my books, the work of my whole life. On the other hand, the generation which interprets these writings will be an educated generation; they will understand me and say: 'Not all were asleep in the nighttime of our grandparents. '.
 * &mdash; José Rizal


 * I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide..
 * &mdash; Harper Lee

Stuff I've done, interspersed, perhaps, with scurrilous POV commentary which I can't put anywhere else.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, (11 January 2016) I decided to write stubs for Wikipedia. I've written over 2000 articles off of Wikipedia, so I though that "qualified" me in some small way to consider myself worthy of editing. Then I realised what a giant undertaking that was, and travelling and living in fourteen different countries in less than a decade, I found less and less time to contribute.

But recently I have started again.

From 2016 to 2024 the landscape in Wikipedia-land had drastically changed. Acronyms used by editors had become de rigueur, and felt like a needed a codex to understand all the terms flying about, not to mention I had to learn everything all over again including how to cite, how much to cite, and what to cite all over again.

Starting back, I felt once again, like a child running with scissors, so I am taking it easy, editing only minor things, or contributing to subjects I am quite familiar with that don't bring me heartburn.

I prefer to identify as both a WikiGnome and an inclusionist, working to save or improve articles rather than discard. By editing to fix pages before they end up listed as Articles for Deletion I hopefully spare a few authors from the inevitable deletion wars.

Hoping that I would get my sea legs quickly, by dusting off my somewhat rusty "live" editing skills, in the spirit of collective good, I also hoped that in exploring and learning the new lay of Wikipedialand from others, they would be as friendly as the old world editors of yester year, gently guiding and giving helpful suggestions to fix any mistakes I might make as I try to become a better editor.

What I've seen instead is a vast sea of disillusions.

Humans creating multiple editor accounts to criticise and control article editing, more often than not starting from the bottom of Graham's hierarchy of disagreement. Too often I come across editors who are not taking the time to welcome or mentor newcomer editors, and even some editors who intentionally attack new editors or break things because they see Wikipedia as a whole, or Wikipedia articles they are invested in, as their own independent fiefdoms. I've also seen editors who excel at "winning" an editing debate as if it was their singular superpower.

Despite all that, my engagement motto will always be to be civil. And to treat everyone with consideration and respect, much in the way I would want to be treated by them. Sometimes it is hard, but I try to assume that everyone here, editors I jive with and editors I don't, are each their own unique and funky goat, despite when their behaviour tests my patience and is impolite, aggressive, or troll-like.

My editing ethic is to treat each article I work on as important, no matter how heavy or light, or big or small. For now, I will be focusing on editing what I enjoy, what I am sufficiently knowledgable about, and the random flotsam I have the time to sift through and document verifiable facts to improve upon the original article.

I like articles on individual humans, those I respect who often don't get enough attention and those who have had brushes with the law and who I want to try to understand better. I like articles on Italian wine (hence my editor profile name) and winemaking, poets and poetry, art, artists, history, crime, organised crime, money laundering, criminals, and food.

I don't like to edit articles which are controversial, unless I see that those who have come before me have not been neutral in tone. When I elect to work on such, I try to suss out if my corrections will create drama or editing wars. If the answer to that is yes, I pass them by as I'd rather fix 5 articles than argue the merits of one just for the sake of editorial disagreements.

Avignonesi (talk) 10:24, 20 February 2024 (UTC)