Archive:Monthly Write-a-Thon
What's a Write-a-Thon?
It's a bunch of people getting together on a wiki at a particular time to do a bunch of writing. It's like an online party! Heck no, it is an online party! It's also an excuse for infrequent wikiers to show up and party hardy; to exchange ideas with people we might not "meet" otherwise.
But hey, why not show up in between the write-ins, too!
When?
Write-a-Thons happen the first Wednesday of every month. The next Write-a-Thon is Wednesday, August 6th, 2008. August 6th starts on August 5th, 1200 UTC, in New Zealand, and ends on August 6th, 1200 UTC, in Hawaii. Save The Date! Put it on your calendar! Set yourself a reminder!
Any new article you create, and any edit you make to somebody else's Write-a-Thon article during that time period will count, though to be a bona fide partier, you have to write your new articles when it's that day in your part of the world.
Our first Write-a-Thon took place Wednesday, August 1, 2007 and was considered a roaring good time--we had about 30 partiers creating something like 50 articles, and editing lots.
What are the rules?
Rules? This is a party! There are no rules!
Well, OK, maybe there are a couple rules:
- We'll have a Write-a-Thon the first Wednesday of every month.
- To participate, you only have to do two things: (1) start a new article (even just a stub will qualify, if not too short - and please remember to include the subpages template!), and (2) make a substantive edit (not just a copyedit) to somebody else's new article. Then you can list your name here as a partier. Until then, sign in as a porch-sitter, party-crasher, or total party poop.
This month's Party Theme
Wednesday, August 6, 2008 --
Someplace you always wanted to go/something you always wanted to see. And/or a local attraction--go ahead and plug something wonderful about your city, county or village. AND...you guessed it...The Olympics!!!
(You can also be inspired by some of the theme suggestions, below. Or propose one yourself--just scroll down. Or write about something that takes your fancy--or the first thing that comes into your head--JUST DO IT!)
The Big Collaboration topic
- August 6, 2008: Sports
All--I want to do a little experiment and I ask your help. Write-a-Thon participants (and all Citizens) are asked, please, to make at least one edit to the Sports article. Let's see how much the article improves when everybody knows that a lot of other people will be converging on that one page. Thanks in advance! --Larry Sanger
- lent my 2 cents! Supten Sarbadhikari 05:30, 6 August 2008 (CDT)
- Woohoo, video gaming sports! We're like a Zerg Rush! Yuval Langer 11:38, 6 August 2008 (CDT)
- Further suggestions:
The Partiers
- Aleta had pressing business first thing in the morning, and stumbled into the party room at 10:15 Aussie time to find it empty! Aaaarrrgh! Began an article on the Bronx Zoo, one of my favourite attractions, although I have not visited it in many years. Aleta Curry 19:35, 5 August 2008 (CDT)
- Came back to join the Americans, and oooh, Tom, yes, we have no ananas!, so I fixed that quick smart. Also edited the IOC because Supten's right, no article, this close to Beijing, was just ridiculous! Aleta Curry 20:28, 6 August 2008 (CDT)
- Daniel started Gosu cave and added an external link to the Bronx Zoo's entry. -- Daniel Mietchen 20:38, 5 August 2008 (CDT)
- Charles enters the room and begins by putting on some cool jazz fusion music. He also makes a small edit to the Bronx Zoo. --Charles Sandberg 22:30, 5 August 2008 (CDT)
- Hayford, first drinking a 5/1 martini made with Plymouth gin and Noilly Prat, and then a Samuel Adams Boston Lager, began an article about the great Richard Condon, who is primarily known as being the author of The Manchurian Candidate, about which I will eventually write an article. But, on the side, wouldn't you say that this phrase has entered the English language? I see it all the time: "So-and-so is the Manchurian Candidate of the Democratic/Republican Party".... Will do at least one major edit of a new article tomorrow to ensure my status as a partier.... Hayford Peirce 23:31, 5 August 2008 (CDT)
- The next day, still Wednesday here in Tucson, did some editing on the Rideau Canal, thereby confirming my full Partier status. In between time, I've been making some Coq au vin to accompany all the various beverages being drunk here. (Although I've never heard of Coq au pineapple juice.) I could have used some of Howard's Remy Martin XO when it was time to flame the bird, but that would be a waste of that good stuff -- I woulda drunk it and used the Christian Brothers Brandy anyhow.... Hayford Peirce 15:34, 6 August 2008 (CDT)
- Supten thought of writing on Digha - a sea beach he had visited many times, and also thought of showing fondness for Sports. Then he added another external link to Gosu cave. He thought whether the Virtual olympic congress was worth any effort, and was shocked to find that in the month of Olympics, there is practically no entry on International Olympic Committee!
- Cathy started an article on the Rideau Canal and hopes to expand it later today; meanwhile others are welcome to pitch in. She also added her $0.02 to Larry's Sports article, and perusing the edit history was intrigued to see that a couple of other articles seem to have been created as spin-offs, for a very successful experiment! Fun.
Cathy later added material to Daniel's Gosu cave article, thereby (arguably) officially qualifying as a participant in the write-a-thon.
By the way, last month Cathy found out about the write-a-thon after it closed and decided to particpate belatedly by proofreading the articles. Hampered by the absence of a list on this page of the articles contributed, she didn't get further than copyediting Supten's William Osler before she got sidetracked on writing Ibn Sina, inspired by the mention of Avicenna in the aforementioned article, and considers it (the Ibn Sina article) to be her belated contribution to the July write-a-thon (as a porch-sitter, since adding a missing letter "t" to "the" can hardly count as a major contribution to an article!).
(Cranberry-Raspberry "real juice blend", and two chocolate-chip pancakes prepared by her daughter.)
- Tom has a large glass of cool, pineapple juice, writes Death of God theology, edits Sports and gets ready to work on some pop culture! He then props open a large book on metaphysics and starts reading about universals and particulars with the intention of creating an article on the subject.
- Larry Sanger started the day by writing about one of his favorite places on Earth, Prince William Sound, Alaska, and then edited sports quite a bit. Also visited DuPont State Forest though I've never been there.
- Howard, in reading about the libations, cannot help remembering an online incident, in a chatroom that included various kinds of role-playing. I was in a vaguely academic, vaguely James-Bondish mood, sipping Remy XO (why not get the good stuff if it's virtual), when a seven-foot tall Gorean warrior stormed in, waving his greatsword, and demanded my obeisance. In character, I said "I sigh, reach down to the floor, pick up a M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, and empty a 200 round magazine into the warrior." He screamed where did you get a machine gun? Howard sipped again, and replied "same place you got the sword." Anyway, I shall wander about. Cathy's comment about the Rideau Canal reminds me that I try to stay around Rideau Center whenever I'm in Ottawa, and makes some Canadians nervous with the trivia question "What was Ottawa called before it was called Ottawa?" Today, I've done some mundane fill-in-stubs on some weapons systems, tweaked a medical article, and am trying to some drawings that will explain anycasting. Seriously, as a Write-a-Thon contribution, I've started Joint Forces Command, which is a very major U.S. military force whose role is hard to explain, and I've been avoiding.
- Humber bridge nearly missed the wednesday. Alexander Wiebel rescued it in the last two minutes.
- Matt found out that Cathy was coming to the party and decided that, after meeting her at Ibn Sina earlier this week, she might need help with her American English. He actually started an article on one of his favorite places in North Carolina to hike, DuPont State Forest, where it felt good to reminisce while writing it! After failing to find a place for Nascar(is that a sport?), he did wiggle some sports medicine into the sports article and did some ice sculpture and bed racing on Cathy's Rideau Canal.. that was just too cold!
- Anthony.Sebastian started earlier than Wednesday this week, beginning Photosynthesis, which Chris Day importantly elaborated on and fine-tuned. Anthony also wiki-formatted for Jeff Maehre an article on the 'alternative rock' group, R.E.M.. Hearing his 'master's voice', he also edited Sports.
Keen-as-mustard and jumped the gun
- Because I'll do anything to avoid actual work (or worse yet, grading papers), I've started my September composition (he he): Abc_(music_notation)Pat Palmer 18:36, 18 August 2008 (CDT)
- "Composition" - ha, ha.
- Wow! jumping the gun already! Will one of you wizards please archive the August page so we can get September's up if people are going to be so johnny-on-the-spot? Wow!
- Aleta Curry 18:40, 19 August 2008 (CDT)
Porch sitters--article creators who didn't edit a new article
Abby was inspired by her last weekend getaway and started a White Mountains article.
- Hi there Abby! Thanks for coming by! Aleta Curry 21:41, 6 August 2008 (CDT)
Party crashers--article contributors who didn't create a new article
Louise Valmoria was wondering where this category went...! It's Thursday in Australia, so this may not count, but threw in her shotput for Larry's Sports experiment. Louise Valmoria 20:13, 6 August 2008 (CDT)
- 'Course it counts! You'll be a bona fide partier next month, I'm sure. Good to see you, I was getting worried! Aleta Curry 20:21, 6 August 2008 (CDT)
The Sports article is a strange place to read about video games, but Yuval Langer had wrote a short paragraph about this phenomenon. Yuval Langer 23:48, 6 August 2008 (CDT)
The shy ones, absent-minded profs, and other modest creatures
- Eric tries ye olde snake oil routine, aided and abetted by Sandy
- And yet another David lends spirit to the occasion!
- Another David thinks it's elementary!
The total party poops
- Joe might miss this Write-a-Thon, and since he had a great idea, he doesn’t think that’s fair!!
- Gareth is jet-lagged in Palo Alto and doesn't know what day it is...Gareth Leng 23:17, 6 August 2008 (CDT)
- User:Pat_Palmer missed this one due to heavy real-life workload but has tried to compensate by creating, one day late, Grounds_for_Sculpture.
- David E. Volk missed this one due to tropical storm Edoard, which just missed him by a few miles to the east.
Special Requests
Questions
I'm quite active in the travel Wiki wikitravel.org; user page there is http://wikitravel.org/en/User:Pashley
To what extent, if any, should we just link to them instead of doing attractions here? And to what extent, if any, can/should we incorporate their text here? They are still CC-by-SA 1.0, I think. There's been extensive discussion of a license upgrade, mostly at http://wikitravel.org/shared/Tech:License_upgrade, but I do not think it has actually been done. Sandy Harris 23:01, 6 August 2008 (CDT)
- Hi Sandy, and welcome aboard! Since the Write-a-Thon is over, I think the place thing is for you to copy this to the forums, which you can get to by clicking 'forums' under 'communicate, third one down in that list to the left of your screen which is called a sidebar, if I remember correctly.
- We discuss all kinds of questions and policy at the forums.
- Aleta Curry 19:55, 7 August 2008 (CDT)
It's a wrap!
How wonderful that so many of you turned up, even though it's summer hols in much of the world.
Thanks everyone!
Next month, something on which everyone has an opinion: MUSIC!
So no excuses, be here Wednesday September 2nd.
Start writing now, if you must.
Be there. Aloha.
Previous shindigs
- July 2, 2008
- June 4, 2008
- May 7, 2008
- April 2, 2008
- March 5, 2008
- February 6, 2008
- January 9,2008
- December 5, 2007
- November 7, 2007
- October 3, 2007
- September 5, 2007
- August 1, 2007
Official libations
2007
- Inaugural - beer!
- September - champagne
- October - we were refurbishing the bar and only had coffee!
- November - made up for last month with more vodka than was good for us and plenty of rum.
- December - eggnog and wine
2008
- January - Whisky and the Cocktail of the Month, a pharisee
- February - schnapps and the Cocktail of the Month, the caipirinha (considered the national drink of Brazil)
- March - port wine (which should probably live at port (wine), no? (Someone put that on their list, please....Oh, *someone* did--thanks, Ro) and the Cocktail of the Month, a Dead Aunt
- April - Akpeteshie hot and fresh from Ghana. And cool shandies and spritzers if that took your fancy. Lotsa staggering around the bar after this party!
- May - Was it champagne? No, we were dry, I think.
- June - Were we abstaining yet again?
- July - Sherry
- August - pineapple juice Well, that's all right, I guess!
Bonus point winners
Write-a-Thon Theme Suggestions
New Suggestions and Discussion
Go ahead and propose one!
- National Parks - most countries have them but Citizendium doesn't...yet.
- I had a thought the other day - why don't we have a Subpages day - either separate or as a Write-A-Thon theme? There's tons of them Bibliographies, Related Articles and Definitions that need writing. --Tom Morris 11:48, 4 July 2008 (CDT)
- It's a good thought, Tom, and I can see where the subpages need doing. Trouble is, whenever the Write-a-Thon has been too narrowly restricted, particularly when the suggested 'theme' is really a codename for 'work', it doesn't go over well. The WaT's great success is the fun, write-what-you-want atmosphere.
- Maybe a separate subpages initiative?
- Aleta Curry 18:25, 4 July 2008 (CDT)
- Edited to add: Actually, why don't I add this in to October's spring clean? The more options, the more likely people will find something they like doing. Aleta Curry 18:33, 4 July 2008 (CDT)
- Could fall under the category of 'Attractions', and 'National Parks' also covers some of these too. Most countries also have at least one UNESCO Heritage Listed location--could well be worth a shot, as these locations would have a rich history as well as artistic/cultural significance. Louise Valmoria 20:16, 6 August 2008 (CDT)
Future Theme Schedule
- July - Biographies! The Good, the bad, and the altogether ugly. Also: The Olympics, because I will well and truly have Olympic fever by then!
- Computer authors please note the list of people needing biographies
- August - Attractions - Someplace you always wanted to go/something you always wanted to see. And/or a local attraction--go ahead and plug something wonderful about your city, county or village. AND...you guessed it...The Olympics!!!
- September - My Favorite Band! - Or your favourite Music Genre...your favourite orchestra...recording artist--their best song (I may shudder, but hey, it's up to you!) If it's musical, and it's your fave, write about it!
- October – Spring Cleaning (or “housekeeping”, for those of you for whom it’s not Spring) Let’s mass-attack some of our outstanding chores, particularly “lists”, such as: Common words with multiple uses (in need of disambiguation), e.g. as in CZ:List of words with multiple uses. * Further suggestion: Wanted pages * computer science biographies needed * Redirects * Write a subpage
(feel free to add in your own pet peeves)
- November - National Parks - most countries have them but Citizendium doesn't...yet.
See also
- Larry Sanger, Why the Write-a-Thon worked, Citizendium Blog, August 9, 2007
- Weekly Wiki
- Article of the Week
- New Article of the Week
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