Tips for Writing on Wikipedia
We’re all familiar with the world’s most convenient information source, Wikipedia. You have read from Wikipedia, but have you considered writing for Wikipedia?
Wikipedia offers many resources to show you what they are looking for when you write or edit an article. In their Editing Wikipedia brochure, Wikipedia introduces the qualifications for writing on their platform. They offer advice on choosing a topic, adding images, and even provide checklists to help you later.
But you’re not here for what Wikipedia has to offer; you’re here for advice. Yes, writing for Wikipedia can be overwhelming at times. Especially when you are looking for sources. Don’t worry. I have come up with five things to keep in mind when you are working on your article.
Pick a topic that interests you.
Don’t choose something you think your teacher is looking for. You are going to be spending a lot of time researching this subject. Make sure it’s something you want to learn everything about. It helps if you choose a subject that you already have personal experience with, especially if you are going to write an article instead of editing one. Christine M. Tardy’s article “Writing for the World: Wikipedia as an Introduction to Academic Writing” gives outlines and worksheets to use during the writing process. These worksheets help you draw from personal experience to pick topics and provide the right kind of information to the article.
The shorter the article is, the easier it is to edit.
This is not true for all future articles, but the assignment will be easier if the article is lacking. The subject you choose must need you.
Check the citations and talk page.
After choosing my article, I felt at a loss for where to start, so I decided to begin at the end. Skimming the references for outdated and broken links provided a great place to begin.
Don’t use your school’s online library for sources.
You can start there, but remember that you’re paying for access to this information. If you use this information as a source, you may not be able to provide a link that others can access. If you find something there, look for it outside of the library or in a published textbook to cite. Other places to look include Google Scholar and, of course, the library. Be creative when searching for sources. In my situation, I was able to refer to local websites. I used previews of books on Amazon and I even pulled from a book that I found on iBooks. Deciding to get creative was my “ah-ha moment.” I spent so much time trying to make the library links work, I forgot about the other sources out there.
Talk to your peers.
When I tried to figure it out on my own, I found myself feeling overwhelmed every time I sat down to write. It was frustrating to find that some people didn’t seem to care about doing the work in the class. While I took all my questions to my professor, it seemed to be more of a relief when I reached out to my peers and found out some of them felt the same way I did. There was an occasion where I would have missed a deadline had it not been for my peer asking me how the essay was going. It’s a lot to take on, so having someone you can talk to can help reduce some of the stress, especially if your class is online. Wikipedia also encourages discussion with other editors, providing talk pages on each article. The idea is to collaborate with others because you aren’t supposed to know everything.
Writing for Wikipedia doesn’t have to be an overwhelming, stressful experience. Take a deep breath, remember these tips, and try to have fun learning about the subject you choose.
