Changes: Forum:Summary tenses

Latest revision as of 01:06, 14 April 2017

Forums: Helping Hand > Summary tenses

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I've noticed that some of the novel summaries were written in present tense, while others in past tense. I was wondering if it's worthwhile to make tenses consistent across the board (and if so, which tense should be used)? Furthermore, when writing summaries for novel articles that lack them, which tense should be used?

Posted by User:Sno4wy on 12:25, 13 April 2017

With few exceptions, everything should be written in past tense as per our past tense policy. We have not managed to correct every article on the wiki yet, so please put a {{Cleanup}} tag at the top of any article that needs to be rewritten in past tense. You can give a specific reason for the need by adding something like {{Cleanup|3=Needs past tense}}. Thanks for helping out!

—Moviesign (talk) 17:18, April 13, 2017 (UTC)

Are novel summaries any different though? Novels are out-of-universe articles.

~ Lhynard (talk) 19:04, April 13, 2017 (UTC)

I think summaries and synopses (of novels, games, adventures, etc.) can go either way. That is, you can describe what happens in the novel (present tense) or you can describe what happened in the novel (past tense). I only edit scientific works, so I'm not aware of any guidelines for this re: fictional works. But since FR novels are exclusively written in past tense, I think what would be preferable and clearest. I haven't been too concerned about these, since the regular articles get and require more attention.

— BadCatMan (talk) 01:06, April 14, 2017 (UTC)

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-I've noticed that some of the novel summaries were written in present tense, while others in past tense. I was wondering if it's worthwhile to make tenses consistent across the board (and if so, which tense should be used)? Furthermore, when writing summaries for novel articles that lack them, which tense should be used?
+{{Forum post|I've noticed that some of the novel summaries were written in present tense, while others in past tense. I was wondering if it's worthwhile to make tenses consistent across the board (and if so, which tense should be used)? Furthermore, when writing summaries for novel articles that lack them, which tense should be used?|Posted by [[User:Sno4wy]] on 12:25, 13 April 2017}}
+{{Forum post|With few exceptions, everything should be written in past tense as per our [[Forgotten Realms Wiki:Remove wiki from timeline|past tense policy]]. We have not managed to correct every article on the wiki yet, so please put a {{tl|Cleanup}} tag at the top of any article that needs to be rewritten in past tense. You can give a specific reason for the need by adding something like <nowiki>{{Cleanup|3=Needs past tense}}</nowiki>. Thanks for helping out!|&mdash;[[User:Moviesign|Moviesign]] ([[User talk:Moviesign|talk]]) 17:18, April 13, 2017 (UTC)}}
+{{Forum post
+| Are novel summaries any different though? Novels are out-of-universe articles.
+| ~ ''[[User:Lhynard|Lhynard]]'' ([[User talk:Lhynard|talk]]) 19:04, April 13, 2017 (UTC)
+}}
+{{Forum post|I think summaries and synopses (of novels, games, adventures, etc.) can go either way. That is, you can describe what ''happens'' in the novel (present tense) or you can describe what ''happened'' in the novel (past tense). I only edit scientific works, so I'm not aware of any guidelines for this re: fictional works. But since FR novels are exclusively written in past tense, I think what would be preferable and clearest. I haven't been too concerned about these, since the regular articles get and require more attention.|[[User:BadCatMan|— BadCatMan]] ([[User talk:BadCatMan|talk]]) 01:06, April 14, 2017 (UTC)}}