User talk:WMcP

I recently discovered that there is a Wikipedia biography under my name. I do not know who put it there but It contains many errors, which I have been trying to correct through the editing process. I'm still working at it. (It isn't immediately easy to understand how this works.) But there is one thing I want to do but can't manage to do it. The heading of the article is "William McPherson (critic)" to distinguish me from the other William McPhersons. It would be more correct to say, "William McPherson, writer and journalist" (which I would prefer and is more accurate) or "William McPherson, novelist and journalist." With or without parentheses, that doesn't matter to me. At this point in my life I am more a writer and journalist or a novelist and journalist than a critic. Can someone help me make that change?

The changes I'm making in my entry are solely in the interest of accuracy, to provide a more complete biography, and to supply documentation.

Thanks for any help. William McPherson
 * I strongly suggest you read through WP:COI before you make further changes to the article, to learn about editing articles in which you have a conflict of interest.
 * Please do not remove anything between  tags; these are citations which are used to support claims madein the article, and it is counterproductive to remove them. Also, don't remove   brackets; these provide links to other articles. Check out the Cheatsheet for info about our syntax.
 * I agree that "critic" isn't the best disambiguator for your article. Our policy is to put disambiguators in brackets, but I think "writer" would certainly be a better disambiguator. I have changed this for you. — This, that, and the other (talk) 08:55, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

My biography
Thanks for changing "William McPherson (critic)" to "William McPherson (writer)." However, when I search "WMcP (critic), that entry comes up. So I seem to have two almost identical entries on Wikipedia. Please delete "William McPherson (critic)". I am still in the process of correcting my biography. I expect to finish it today. As I said earlier, the changes I am making are in the interests of accuracy, not self-promotion. As you know, anyone can put up an entry on Wikipedia. I have no idea who put my biography on Wikipedia but whoever it was didn't have all the facts.

My biography
I have deleted this sentence. It is false. I have never written for any of these publications. All of them have reviewed my books but I have NEVER written for them. I took this out once but it has mysteriously reappeared. "McPherson also contributed to periodicals such as American Spectator, Booklist, the Chicago Tribune, Publishers Weekly, and TIME magazine among others."

WMcP (talk) 05:24, 23 January 2012 (UTC)

corrections finished
I have finally finished making corrections to my biography—William McPherson (writer). It is now accurate. I do not know what more references you require but I can supply them. There were many errors in the previous biography, "William McPherson (critic). When last I checked, both entries are still on Wikipedia. Please remove "William McPherson (critic)." I can always supply more information, but this seems enough. I know you don't want false information, mistakes, errors in Wikipedia. I believe I have removed the errors in my entry. WMcP (talk) 05:45, 23 January 2012 (UTC)


 * That other article should have been removed; I think the other editor kept it duplicated by mistake. I've fixed the "(critic)" version so that it redirects to the "writer" version.  Looking very briefly at the (writer) version, the main problem I see is the way you've done the references.  References should be put into tags at the end of the sentence that is being referenced, not done as direct links in the text. More information can be found at Help:Citations.  If your not comfortable making those edits; you can just leave it, and at some point someone else will do the copy-editing.  It looks also like a bit of that info isn't verified in any source; that would be best fixed by adding more sources.  I'm going to add a couple of tags to the article which will alert interested editors on the clean-up that needs to be done. Qwyrxian (talk) 05:57, 23 January 2012 (UTC)

Thanks
Thanks for your help. I've done all I can but I;ll take another look at it tomorrow. Or rather, later today. I can tell you that I believe everything there is now correct. There ae an awful lot of citations, which are now referenced by footnotes. Not everything can be verified—for instance, that I came to the Post in 1958 and became a reporter a few months later. It's true, but how do you verify that? I've done a lot of google searching on the web tonight and a lot of the stuff there contains small errors.You want it accurate and I've made it accurate. I could have made it a lot longer—I;ve been on a lot of boards, but really who cares? It's long enough. I'm going to save it now. WMcP (talk) 10:32, 23 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I've gone ahead and revised your request for help. If you are attempting to communicate with a specific individual, you may wish to contact them directly on their talk page. If you have general questions or need assistance with anything, please feel free to contact me. Best regards,  Cind.   amuse  (Cindy) 10:57, 23 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Actually, to clarify, WMcP, when Wikipedia says that we want something to be "accurate", that means we want it to say what's in reliable sources, not necessarily reflect what you "know" to be true. I know that sounds weird, but the fact is that if a reliable source said one thing, and you told us another, we would be required by good sense and our policies to go by what the reliable source says.  For things like when you started working for a particular company, it's likely that no one will challenge it, and it will just stay there unsourced, but someone could conceivably tag and/or remove anything unsourced.  In a few days I'll try to take a look at the article itself and see if I can provide any constructive input. Qwyrxian (talk) 11:52, 23 January 2012 (UTC)

Line 32
User:Qwyrxian: The first bio was apparently up there for three years, full of errors and largely unsourced. That I was the middle of three sons? Where did that come from? That I was a Union Carbide heir? That I was a well-known gay activist? If my bio stood there full of errors for three years, how is one to trust other people's bios on Wikipedia? I can't believe that Wikipedia would prefer sourced inaccuracies to facts that could be checked the way reporters check facts—by public records (many of which are not on line) and by phone calls, often to the source him- or herself. The source "knows" (your quotes) better than anyone whether he's the middle or the youngest of three sons, if he's a Union Carbide heir, or a gay activist—none of which was sourced. It would be hard to source because all of it was wrong. Of course, sources like me may lie but no reasonable person could believe that I was lying about where I ranked among my siblings, or that I started at the Post in 1958.

I had no idea there was so much stuff about me on the web, or how slipshod much of it was. The first Wiki bio has gone all over the place—to Amazon, which got it from Wikipedia, and various other sites, which either took it from Amazon or from Wiki. I assume that one of these days these other sites will catch up. I'll check with Amazon myself because I think a lot of other literary sites take their cues from there. I've been an editor much of my life. This has been about the most frustrating editing job I've ever encountered. It's taken many, many hours. I'm exhaused and exasperated, and I think you can understand why.

I've dealt with a number of people tonight but you're the last and therefore the lucky one to be on the receiving end of my diatribe. Don't take it personally.

William McPherson

P.S.
The two people who helped me on the forum were very good. One of them was Munchkin (?) and the other Osaa. . . (?).

How does X work?
Your question. WMcP (talk) 14:17, 13 March 2012 (UTC)How can I add an "author's blog"page to wikipedia entry? the blog's url is http://williammcpherson.tumblr.org
 * It's actually http://williammcpherson.tumblr.com ;I'll add it for you. Dru of Id (talk) 14:25, 13 March 2012 (UTC)
 * Your link didn't work for me; I follow one although I don't have one myself. I went to that one, copied your link into it, noticed the difference, and verified the change. Good luck. Dru of Id (talk) 14:42, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Howard Moss
I have just read the Wikipedia entry on Howard Moss. I knew him for years. He was not flamboyant but to describe him as a "closeted homosexual" is demeaning. I think that line should be taken out. Members of his family are still living. I think they will verify that he was not closeted.

WMcP (talk) 00:13, 28 March 2012 (UTC)

There's a much better biography of Howard Moss at the Poetry Foundation: Here's the link. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/howard-moss WMcP (talk) 01:48, 28 March 2012 (UTC)