Line #1 Administrivia/ClearConciseWitty

Context Administrivia / ClearConciseWitty

Go To


1	The official Website/TVTropes trope-naming mantra, [[AuthorCatchphrase signature line]] of the former tropes webmaster Tropers/FastEddie, and laconic guidelines of Administrivia/NamingATrope. These are to trope names much as Creator/IsaacAsimov's ThreeLawsOfRobotics are to ArtificialIntelligence:
2	# The name of a trope must be '''clear''', so that readers can intuitively [[Administrivia/GuessThatTropeDefinition figure out the definition]] at a glance;
3	# The name of a trope should be '''concise''', so long as conciseness does not conflict with clarity, defined above;
4	# The name of a trope should aim for '''witty''', provided it does not conflict with either of the first two.
5
6	The specific order of these items is very important: Names that fail in clarity will attract misuse more often than names which are overly long (but clear), or so clinically devoid of humor that it [[ThereShouldBeALaw should be a crime]]. It's no mere hyperbole, either, but a proven fact of our Administrivia/TropeRepairShop -- renames are proposed (and evaluated) on the grounds of active misuse or misleading titles more often than any other criterion.
7
8	----
9
10	The same guidelines apply to trope examples.
11
12	# An example should '''clearly''' illustrate how it is an example of the trope. [[Administrivia/ZeroContextExample Simply mentioning the trope]] is not enough, nor is [[Administrivia/WeblinksAreNotExamples linking offsite]] and calling it a day. When writing an example, imagine that your audience is familiar with neither the work nor the trope.
13	# An example should be as '''concise''' as possible, so as not to look like a WallOfText. A clear sign that you're violating this guideline is when an example starts [[Administrivia/JustifyingEdit justifying]] itself or [[Administrivia/ThreadMode heading off into tangents]]. So don't add useless Administrivia/WordCruft like "Just to make it perfectly, crystal clear".
14	# An example should be '''witty''', written in an entertaining and breezy style. This doesn't mean that it should be filled with in-jokes and irrelevant details, but the wiki is best when it's enjoyable to read.
15
16	Again, the specific order is important. If being funny makes the example unreadable, then stop and get to the point. If an example takes so much text to explain that it takes over the page, ask yourself if it's really an example, or if all those details are really necessary. Above all, an example must be understandable.

Context Administrivia / ClearConciseWitty