These columns refer primarily to the Celebrity pages, but contain useful information any type of submission made to an editorless page.
These columns are designed to supplement and further clarify the Person Submission Guidelines, and anyone intending to contribute should read those guidelines as well.
So for our first column...
Write Like You Talk
TV.com understands that the majority of its contributors are not professional writers, and we don’t expect contributors to write professionally to get material accepted. That would be unfair to our many volunteer contributors who lack professional training.
However, there are a few guidelines you can follow that will increase your chance of getting submissions accepted and help your fellow users understand what you’re submitting.
When we say “write like you talk,” we don’t mean use slang, nicknames, internet speak, etc.
What do we mean?
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Most people speak in complete sentences when talking about other people. We get a lot of incomplete sentences submitted. Complete sentences have a subject noun and almost never start with a verb. Acceptable sentences can start with “She said she liked oranges” or “He was married to Jane” or “Fred starred in Beat the Weasel.” Your best bet is to start a sentence like these.
Don’t write “Said she liked oranges” or “Was married to Jane” or “Starred in Beat the Weasel.” Some sites do this because the person they’re writing about is an “implied noun.” TV.com doesn’t. People don’t talk that way in real life, so don’t write that way either.
This isn’t just correct grammar but also how people talk in real life. The next time you have a conversation, listen and see how many times someone starts a sentence with a verb.
Putting the person’s name or pronoun at the beginning of every sentence on a biography page may seem boring. But putting “is” or “was” at the beginning of every sentence is boring too.
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Second, you should take into account the “flow” of what you’re writing. Combine ideas.
Bad: She's Ernesto Villa's wife. He's a huge film star in Mexico and Central America. He made $20 million in 2006.
Good: She is the wife of famous Latino film star Ernesto Villa, who made $20 million in 2006.
With the Bad, you sound like you’ve just run several miles and are short on breath.
This applies not only when you’re writing a biography or summary, but also when submitting separate Trivia items. If you’ve got one idea/concept, flow it into one submission.
Bad: (three separate submissions)
She's Ernesto Villa's wife.
Her husband is a huge film star in Mexico and Central America.
Her husband made $20 million in 2006.
Good: She is the wife of famous Latino film star Ernesto Villa, who made $20 million in 2006.
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There is one exception to writing like you talk. In a casual conversation, you’re face-to-face with someone and if you say “currently” or “now” or “recently,” they know what you mean. But a reader who checks out the page two years later doesn’t know if “now” when they’re reading it is “now” when you wrote it. They also don't know if the entry is up to date.
When you can, include the date that the event started and then everyone can reasonably assume it’s still continuing to the current day. If the event changes, then go in and update.
Bad: He is currently living in Los Angeles.
Good: He moved to Los Angeles in 2003.
Later when you need to update, combine ideas as above.
Good: In 2003 he moved to Los Angeles, then relocated to New York in 2006.
Also if you see another site that uses “currently” or “recently” or “now,” don’t assume that they are up-to-date. You should dig a little deeper, and get a date or two.
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Contractions are often used informally, but the brain processes “she is” more readily than “she’s” so try to avoid them when possible.
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Finally, after you write something but before you click the Submit button, read it aloud. You might be surprised how often you realize, “This sounds kind of confusing.”
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Next column: sourcing your material!
Edited on 01/27/2007 2:40pm
Edited 4 total times.
Edited 4 total times.
