User:Jongarrettuk/Better writing guide

This is a working page to see whether all the guides (rather than policies) on writing better articles can be effectively merged and simplified. This is an exercise in consolidating existing non-binding guidance on writing better articles. It is not intended to become policy, but it is intended to supplement documents that are policy: Manual of Style, How to edit a page.

The proposal is that every article noted below as being 'merged in' would become a redirect to a Guide to writing better articles page instead.

The proposal does not refer to guidance on writing articles that are lists or are disambiguation pages.

See also: User:Jongarrettuk/Better writing guide (current draft)


 * How to write a great article
 * The perfect article

Articles to merge into one:


 * 1) Wikipedia:Avoid blanket statements (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 2) Wikipedia:Avoid making your articles orphans (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 3) Avoid peacock terms (merged in)
 * 4) Avoid weasel terms (merged in)
 * 5) Wikipedia:Balance parts of a page (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 6) Wikipedia:Define and describe (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 7) Wikipedia:Distill fact from opinion (not covered - not official policy/guideline and not clear what it means) (now a redirect)
 * 8) Wikipedia:Don't use external links where we'll want Wikipedia links (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 9) Wikipedia:Establish context (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 10) Explain jargon (merged in)
 * 11) Follow highlighting conventions (merged in)
 * 12) Guide to layout (merged in)
 * 13) How to break up a page (merged in)
 * 14) Wikipedia:Integrate changes (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 15) Wikipedia:Lead section (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 16) Long article layout (merged in)
 * 17) Wikipedia:Make a personal copy (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 18) Make articles useful for readers (merged in)
 * 19) Make omissions explicit (merged in)
 * 20) Wikipedia:News style (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 21) One-sentence paragraphs (merged in)
 * 22) Wikipedia:Pay attention to spelling (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 23) Wikipedia:Principle of least astonishment (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 24) Wikipedia:Pronoun (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 25) Wikipedia:Use color sparingly (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 26) Wikipedia:Use of 'refers to' (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 27) Wikipedia:Use other languages sparingly (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 28) Use short sentences and lists (merged in)
 * 29) Wikipedia:Summary style (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 30) Stay on topic (merged in)
 * 31) Check your facts (merged in)
 * 32) Wikipedia:Check your fiction (merged in) (now a redirect)
 * 33) Wikipedia:Describe external links (merged in) (now a redirect)