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Difference between revisions of "User:Rasarr/Length Test"
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So, when ''should'' you include the detail? Mostly, in scenes that could be considered crucial to the plot. [[Marsh]] tearing an earring out of [[Vin]]'s ear? Crucial. A [[Stormlight Archive]] character swearing the [[Immortal Words]]? Extremely important. Characters arguing about how wise their plan is? You could summarize that. Mentioning every gesture the character makes in a conversation? ''Definitely'' avoid it.
Something to keep in mind, however, is that same events may hold different weight for different characters. For one, meeting someone could be the most notable thing in their life, in which case you should go into more detail; for the other, that same meeting could be regular Tuesday, in which case you don't need to spend the same amount of time and effort.
How to avoid too much detail, then? After writing the whole history, re-read it; see what you can aggregate, what can be summarized further, what detail you've added has proven unnecessary to the overall narrative. Cut those bits out, then rinse and repeat, until you feel satisfied with the state of the text.
* Use past tense. We're trying to make this the standard for all histories, so we'd appreciate it.
* Use citations. The one you'll need the most is likely {{t|book ref|title|chapter number}}; when using it, replace <code>title</code> with the appropriate shorthand from [[Template:B|this page]]. If you need to add some information from Brandon himself, what you want is {{t|wob ref|number}}. You can find any given WoB's number by clicking on its header in the [[Coppermind:Arcanum|Arcanum]] and checking the tail end of the URL address.▼
* If the section gets long, try to divide it into subsections. If you're not sure how, check other Histories to get some ideas.
==== Citations and you ====
Whenever you write something, cite it. The citation you'll need the most is {{t|book ref|title|chapter number}}; when using it, replace <code>title</code> with the appropriate shorthand from [[Template:B|this page]]. For prologues, use {{t|book ref|title|prologue}}; for interludes, use {{t|book ref|title|i|interlude number}}. For something more unusual (like the prelude in ''[[The Way of Kings]]'', or the Ars Arcana), use {{t|book ref|title|part=name}}.
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Where should you cite? As a rule of thumb, always put a citation mark at the end of a section that all comes from the same source; you don't have to place it at the end of every single sentence if, say, you're writing three of them about the same chapter. However, should you decide to split information from one source into several paragraphs, always put a reference at the end of each paragraph. Remember also to place it ''after''' punctuation, and don't put any spaces between the punctuation mark and the reference.
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