Editing Incubator escapee wiki:Historical archive/Substub (section)

===Turn it into a stub===
# Provide a "This is a stub" message by adding ''<nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki>'' or a categorized stub notice, cf. [[Wikipedia:Stub]]
# Follow the standards of proper English. Write in full, clear sentences.
# To aid in your expansion work, you can incorporate and cite references about the topic in books, magazines, or newspapers; visit external links, if any, within the article; or you can search [http://www.google.com/ Google] or [http://www.yahoo.com/ Yahoo!] for information about the topic. [This paragraph is itself a stub and should be expanded.] [For example: "This process of discovering and providing external references is a fundamental aspect of real research. Additionally, any information you find in your basic research may spur you to write an even higher-quality stub, in addition to the external references you provide."]
# Give a clear, precise definition or description of your topic.  Avoid [[fallacies of definition]].  For biographies and articles about non-concepts (e.g., about countries and cities), definitions are impossible, so begin with a clear, helpful, informative description of the subject.  State what a person is famous for, where a place is and what it is known for, the basic details of an event and when it happened, etc.  A good definition or description may encourage potential contributors by suggesting the limits of the article, indirectly summarizing what needs to be done.  For example, '''''Salvador Allende''' was the President of Chile from 1970 until 1973'' would be a good description.
# Try to give more than just a definition &mdash; at least a little more.  It doesn't hurt to be provocative, as long as you attempt to be [[neutral point of view|unbiased]] and reasonably accurate.  What is interesting and important about the subject?  If your introduction would make someone want to read further, then it will probably entice someone to write further.  As little as one extra sentence can turn a good description into a brilliant stub, e.g. '''''Salvador Allende''' was the President of Chile from 1970 until 1973.  The CIA might have been involved in the coup that ousted him.'' With a start like that, you don't have to know any more yourself; a dozen contributors will be falling over themselves to fill in the details.
# Make sure any relevant linkable words have been linked. But be careful about which words you link to; see [[Wikipedia:naming conventions|naming conventions]]. e.g. '''''Salvador Allende''' was the President of [[Chile]] from [[1970]] until [[1973]].  The [[CIA]] might have been involved in the coup that ousted him.''
# Submit the article with a Summary comment that will attract the attention of others to your stub.  If nothing else, cut and paste the stub itself into the Summary field when you save your article.  
# Feel some responsibility for your stub article.  There is a fine line between helping by outlining out what needs to be done, and being annoying by not doing anything yourself.  If nobody contributes to your stub for a few weeks, roll up your sleeves and expand it yourself.  Take the fact that nobody has contributed as a hint that your stub might not have been that great, and if nothing else, try to make it a better stub.
# Don't just add links. Links are fine normally, but just on their own, they say very little about the topic you are writing about.