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(→‎Future Theme Schedule: Lets make this official, especially given the 150th anniversary of Darwin's Origin of Species this year and his 200th birthday in Feb 09)
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<center><big><big><big><big>Wednesday August 10th, 2011<br /><br />
<font color="red">
'''Food, history of food, we are all food experts'''<br />
</font color></big></big></big></big>
 
'''Please enter your suggestions for the August topic [[CZ:Monthly_Write-a-Thon#New_Suggestions_and_Discussion|here]].'''</center>
----
The next '''Write-a-Thon''' will take place on Wednesday Aug 10, 2011!
 
We know that not everybody has Wednesday at the same time though, so to make it fair '''our''' Wednesday lasts 48 hours! Therefore, '''Write-a-Thon''' starts on
[http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?month=7&day=5&year=2011&hour=12&min=0&sec=0&p1=0 Aug 10th, 1200 UTC], when it starts being Wednesday in New Zealand, and ends on
[http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?month=7&day=7&year=2011&hour=12&min=0&sec=0&p1=0 Aug 11th, 1200 UTC], when it finishes being Wednesday in Hawaii.
 
== What's a 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.
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 hearty; to exchange ideas with people we might not "meet" otherwise.


But hey, why not show up in between the write-ins, too!
But hey, why not show up in between the write-ins, too!


== When? ==
=== When? ===
Write-a-Thons happen the first Wednesday of every month. The next Write-a-Thon is '''Wednesday, January 7, 2008'''.  Starts on January 6th, 1200 UTC, when it starts being Wednesday in New Zealand, and ends on January 8th, 1200 UTC, when it finishes being Wednesday in Hawaii. Save The Date!  Put it on your calendar!  Set yourself a reminder!
Write-a-Thons happen the first Wednesday of every month. It starts on Tuesday 1200 UTC, when it starts being Wednesday in New Zealand, and ends on Thursday 1200 UTC, when it finishes being Wednesday in Hawaii. Save the next month's 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.
Any new article you create, and any edit you make to somebody else's Write-a-Thon article during that time period will count!


Our [[CZ:Monthly_Write-a-Thon/August_1%2C_2007|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.
Our [[CZ:Monthly_Write-a-Thon/August_1%2C_2007|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? ==
=== So how do I join in? ===
Rules?  This is a party!  There are no rules!
Joining in is really easy:
 
* First of all, show up on the first Wednesday of the month!
Well, OK, maybe there are a couple rules:
* Start a new article. Any new article is fine, although a suggested theme is given each month. Even just a stub will qualify, although the more substantive the article the better. Come back to this page and let everyone know you've started it! The earlier in the day you do this step, the better.
* We'll have a Write-a-Thon the first Wednesday of every month.
* Make a substantive edit (not just a copyedit) to somebody else's ''new'' article! You might need to come back a little bit later in the day to do this, once people have had chance to make all those new articles. Then come back to this page and reply to the person who made the article.
* 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 [[CZ:Subpages|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.
* Optionally, but preferably, mention Write-a-thon in the Edit summary of any pages you create or edit for the party! It lets others who may have forgotten know it is here.
 
* Congratulations, you are an official Write-a-thon partier!
==This month's Party Theme==
 
[[Image:UFO-banner.gif|center]]
 
Wednesday, January 6, 2008 --
<center><font color="red"><big><big><big><big>'''Controversies</big></big></big></big></font></center>
 
<blockquote>I've picked "Controversies".  Not just because it's an opportunity to show how we handle current ones, though that's an idea, too.  No, I was musing over how things can be controversial in one era, and not even raise an eyebrow in another.  Or how one can think a controversy is over, and then the social cycle changes, and all of a sudden it's controversial again.  ''In olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking, but now God knows, anything goes!''. '''Our MC, Aleta'''</blockquote>
 
=== Article suggestions ===
 
Are you stuck finding something to write about? Perhaps you can edit an article suggested by one of the partiers below, or perhaps edit or start one of these. Don't worry about turning out a super-polished first draft! Stubs - short articles that need to be expanded later - are great to start with!
 
:[[Shakespearean authorship]] | [[Holocaust denial]] | [[Church of Scientology]] | [[Stanley Milgram]] | [[Creationism]] | [[Alternative medicine]] | [[Jesus mythicism]] | [[Conspiracy theory]] | [[William Ayers]] | [[Rick Warren]] | [[Grand Theft Auto (video game)]] | [[Essjay]] | [[Whistleblowing]] | [[Media bias]] | [[Censorship]] | [[Anti-psychiatry]]
 
And, not all controversial issues get people up in arms; some things passionately argued by some folks arouse only mild discussion or interest in others:
 
*Are [[tampon]]s safe?  Yeah, bet all you fellows are just dying to discuss that one.
*does [[coffee]] wake you up?  Or keep you awake?
*Is [[margarine]] safe?
*Is [[logging]] justified or the occupation of satanites?
*Are [[high heel]] sexy, and even if they are, should men be shot for having invented them?
*What about [[suntan]]ing, [[hair straighening]], [[skin lightening]]?
*[[Judy Garland]]:  [[torch song]] goddess, or an old slapper with a couple of talentless [[child|kids]]?
*[[Husband]]s: a necessary evil?
*[[Child]]ren:  a necessary evil?
*Is the routine [[circumcision]] of male babies a good idea? (''did you all just cross yer legs?'')
*How about [[blacksmith|horseshoes]] and [[farrier]]s?
*3,000 interesting facts about the [[brassiere]]
**Does that include that the informal term, in mathematical statistics, for the bimodal normal distribution is the "brassiere curve"?
 
== The Partiers ==
 
*[[user:Aleta Curry|Aleta]] stumbles in wondering if [[coffee|java]] really wakes one up, to find the room already set up.  Thanks, Chris! It's breakfast time, but that doesn't stop her from wondering about [[Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?|dinner]]. [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 21:14, 6 January 2009 (UTC).  Reminded everyone that CZ is coming to you live and [[In Living Color]].
 
*Tried hard to think of a topic more controversial than [[Homeopathy]] and came up with [[Helen Duncan]]. That do?  -and edited [[Bangladesh genocide]] for my ticket.[[User:Gareth Leng|Gareth Leng]] 10:28, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
::Fascinating -- I'd never heard of her! [[User:Hayford Peirce|Hayford Peirce]] 00:52, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
:::Ditto that. Good one, Gareth! [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 02:17, 7 January 2009 (UTC)


*[[User:Supten Sarbadhikari|Supten]] thought of an old controversy from his childhood days and started [[Bangladesh genocide]], and then took a break to wait for a suitable new article to edit and earn the partier's status. Alas, when he came back there were volleys of error messages and he could not define the [[Asian elephant|elephant]] and had to come back a day later to complete the job! [[User:Supten Sarbadhikari|Supten Sarbadhikari]] 05:27, 9 January 2009 (UTC)
==Join the fun!==
When you've created your new article (or improved an existing article, for that matter) on Wednesday 6th July, come and list it here! Don't forget to sign your name so everyone knows you've joined in. Then, when you've edited someone else's article come and let them know!
===<big><big><big>List your new articles here!</big></big></big>===
*[[History of pie]] - [[User:Mary Ash|Mary Ash]]
*[[Doenjang jjigae]] - [[User:Chunbum Park|Chunbum Park]]
:::The Greatest Contribution of All Time. (Why is everyone so apologetic?)
*[[Natural_Gourmet_Institute]] - [[User:Pat Palmer|Pat Palmer]]
** Sorry to miss the date--Wednesdays are too busy for me.  I've create an article one day later.  It is just a stub; it would have been more, but instead, I drained all my energy battling the article creation template.[[User:Pat Palmer|Pat Palmer]] 14:18, 11 August 2011 (UTC)
*[[Haggis]] - also late, sorry [[User:Gareth Leng|Gareth Leng]] 16:21, 11 August 2011 (UTC)
*[[Mozartkugel]] -- Rather small (and late) contribution. --[[User:Peter Schmitt|Peter Schmitt]] 18:27, 12 August 2011 (UTC)


*[[User:Tom Morris|Tom]] edited the article on [[Helen Duncan]] and started the article on [[circumcision]], a practice he is fiercely opposed to. Will pop back later and write some more. --[[User:Tom Morris|Tom Morris]] 17:39, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
==Upcoming!==
:Oh, oh. It seems to me that when I first joined The Other Place years ago there was an absolutely fierce, all-out battle raging about this, with high emotions on all sides. Like, "I have renamed the article '''Child Mutilation and Torture''' and don't you killers try to change it back!". And so forth.  Dunno how it came out, though. Maybe they're still fighting it. Let's hope that emotions here at CZ about this article stay a little calmer. [[User:Hayford Peirce|Hayford Peirce]] 18:13, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
*August 2011 - (theme still to be chosen--anyone?)
::As I mentioned on the article talk page, it may be appropriate to disambiguate between procedures on males and females. While ''Medical Subject Headings'' does include circumcision; circumcision, male; and circumcision, female, the term "Genital Mutilation, Female" or "Female Genital Manipulation" is common in medical literature. The latter two are preferable, I believe, because there is only one type of procedure in the male but multiple ones in females; the latter are usually more radical. [[User:Howard C. Berkowitz|Howard C. Berkowitz]] 18:25, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
**Please enter your suggestions for the August topic [[CZ:Monthly_Write-a-Thon#New_Suggestions_and_Discussion|here]].
 
*Thinking that CZ can't do a Write-a-Thon on controversies and then ignore the [[Asian elephant|elephant]] in the room, [[User:John_Stephenson|John]] started an article on the [[Gaza Strip]]. The elephant offered some advice, but it involved evolving trunks first. In a completely different vein, he edited Tom's article on [[circumcision]], but was cut off half-way through. Resuming with a new internet connection, he thought he may as well keep it up [[penis|by]]...<''snip'' more> [[User:John Stephenson|John Stephenson]] 18:03, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
:Groaaaaannnn!  :) [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 20:06, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
 
::I suppose a Topic Informant article on my observation, at the National Zoo in Washingon, of the sexual initiation of a mere slip of a 17-year old bull elephant probably comes under what the military calls Negative Need to Know. [[User:Howard C. Berkowitz|Howard C. Berkowitz]] 21:04, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
 
*Daniel started [[synthetic biology]] some hours ago and was cut off when he tried to continue later. So he only made some minor edits to[[penis|by]]...<''snip'' more> and [[Bangladesh genocide]], hoping to have some time to look at [[Ideal gas law]] tomorrow. --[[User:Daniel Mietchen|Daniel Mietchen]] 01:43, 8 January 2009 (UTC)
 
*Controversy? [[User:Derek Hodges|Derek]]'s philosophy has always been "anything for a quiet life" (hmm... I didn't know that's a play by [[Thomas Middleton|Middleton]] and [[John Webster|Webster]]. In my family it's just something we say when going along with something mildly annoying.) Well there is one controversy I've been meaning to get to, which is the [[Shakespearean authorship]] question. One of the problems I have with [[Wikipedia|The Other Place]] is the ease with which fringe theories can be given such even-handed treatment that they start to sound plausible. I think the theory that anyone other than Shakespeare wrote the plays is a load of rubbish. Of course, as someone whose summer vacation often consists of going to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, I may be biased. (They'd have to change the name or even move!) -[[User:Derek Hodges|Derek Hodges]] 02:29, 8 January 2009 (UTC)
:By the way, are we having server problems? I keep getting error messages. -[[User:Derek Hodges|Derek Hodges]]
:Took a look at [[Helen Duncan]]-Medium? I'd say she was a large. -[[User:Derek Hodges|Derek Hodges]] 06:32, 8 January 2009 (UTC)
 
*[[User:Hayford Peirce|Hayford]] came in relatively late, having been preoccupied with his **th birthday, plus doing a lot of computer backups all day long in Safe Mode, which rendered writing anything at the same time just about impossible, but having drunk some Gloria Ferrer bubbly, then eaten a nice steamed lobster washed down with  ''Macon-Clugy "Les Charmes" Chardonnay'', he finally joined the party, writing about the great old (in both senses) baseball pitcher [[Satchel Paige]]. Satch was controversial because he was, possibly, the greatest black pitcher ever excluded from the Major Leagues because of his color, and then, when he *did* make the majors at age 42, 44, or whatever, because he was then considered ''too old'' to be there. Talk about catch-22! Anyway, as Faulkner said, not only did he survive, he prevailed, and is still remembered as a legendary figure. Then, just to finish off the day's work and to qualify fully for The Partiers label, Hayford poured himself a whiskey-soda (J&B tonight, with Canada Club Original Soda) and did some editing on Gareth's fine [[Helen Duncan]] article. [[User:Hayford Peirce|Hayford Peirce]] 05:02, 8 January 2009 (UTC)
*I got started with the [[Asilomar Conference]] and this sent me meandering to copy edit or subpagify other related articles such as [[genetic engineering]] and [[stem cell]]. Earlier I helped Aleta with her [[Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?|dinner]] which qualifies me for full partier status. [[User:Chris Day|Chris Day]] 06:45, 8 January 2009 (UTC)
 
*[[User:Anthony.Sebastian|Anthony.Sebastian]] did not report-in on this Write-a-Thon day (Wednesday), but had he, he would have reported that he started a new article, [[Metacognition]], on Write-a-Thon day, hoping that others will soon join to help develop the concept (thinking about one's own thinking in its broadest sense). Yet he did not edit any of the other Write-a-Thoners' new articles, not for lack of motivation, but for the same time constraints that delayed this entry. --[[User:Anthony.Sebastian|Anthony.Sebastian]] 03:23, 9 January 2009 (UTC)
 
==Keen-as-mustard and jumped the gun==
Whether this is the right heading or not, I couldn't resist "gun".  From my sandbox, maybe a bit early since the top-level articles are still there, comes [[Vietnamese Communist grand strategy]].
 
In recent years, there's been a lot of opening of archives on both sides, and some very serious participation in historical work and personal meetings between the Vietnamese and the American side. I highly recommend the book ''We are soldiers still'' by Moore and Galloway, about their multiple trips back, and some truly touching sharings between once-deadly enemies.
 
A lot of questions now have answers, although it sometimes was a matter of which leader could make less sense.  For me, however, the big controversy is what did the North Vietnamese really have in mind in their operations from roughly October 1965 to January 1966? To me, this remains the single most puzzling aspect of the war.
 
Maybe someone will know of a source I've missed -- easy enough, since I don't read Vietnamese.
 
Anyway, please forgive the semi-sandbox, but if you want controversy, here's one among military historians interested in this. [[User:Howard C. Berkowitz|Howard C. Berkowitz]] 03:11, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
 
==Rather late and missed the boat!==
Paul had his belly full of controversy and didn't want to pour oil on the fire (in case you're wondering: two Dutch sayings), but he happened to come across the beautiful word [[genethlialogy]], so he couldn't resist.
 
== Porch sitters--article creators who didn't edit a new article ==
 
== Party crashers--article contributors who didn't create a new article ==
{{Image|ThePartyCrashers1958 small.JPG|right|200px|Bobby Driscoll and [[Connie Stevens]] in ''[[The Party Crashers]]'' - 1958}}
 
 
==The shy ones, absent-minded profs, and other modest creatures==
 
== The total party poops ==
 
All [[User:D. Matt Innis|Matt]] can think of is, Holy Moly, my watchlist is about to get a lot bigger! [[User:D. Matt Innis|D. Matt Innis]] 04:05, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
:Ohhh!  Mea maxima culpa!  I didn't think what a nightmare this topic might be from a constabulary point of view!  Sorry, amigo! [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 09:39, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
 
And just when I thought I could breathe, John Stephenson showed up!  [[User:D. Matt Innis|D. Matt Innis]] 19:54, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
 
Sorry, I couldn't handle starting a new article about anything remotely controversial, since I still have so many already-started ones that need my attention.  So I did a little authoring on [[C (programming language)]] as penance.[[User:Pat Palmer|Pat Palmer]] 18:12, 8 January 2009 (UTC)
 
==Special Requests==
I'm not sure where best to put this (probably Military and History workgroup pages and forums), but I just happened across a list of "most wanted" research topics of the U.S. Army's Combined Arms Center. [http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/MilitaryReview/CACCGResearchList_2008to2009.pdf] Perhaps some people here might like to look at this to see the questions that are being asked, and get some article ideas. [[User:Howard C. Berkowitz|Howard C. Berkowitz]] 20:05, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
 
== Questions ==
 
==It's a wrap!==


==Previous shindings==
{{CZ:Monthly Write-a-Thon/Previous shindigs}}
{{CZ:Monthly Write-a-Thon/Previous shindigs}}
== 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 (beverage)|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 [[shandy|shandies]] and [[spritzer]]s 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!
* September - Given the music theme, i assume it was [[pop music|pop]]?
* October - [[Cranberry]] juice.  ''Some nut who shall remain nameless but whose initials are HP suggested [[Drano]], (i.e. what cleans better than Drano?) but....''
* November - [[Spring water]] (''Now Bruce just has to write it!'' [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 04:00, 3 December 2008 (UTC))
* December - [[Piña colada]] - get some light rum, mix it with pineapple and coconut cream. Instantly warp back to the eighties.
===2009===
* January - [[Bloody Mary]] - because, as Nietzsche said, we should only love that which is written with blood. Controversial enough?
==Bonus point winners==


== Write-a-Thon Theme Suggestions==
== Write-a-Thon Theme Suggestions==
===New Suggestions and Discussion===
===New Suggestions and Discussion===
 
* History of food/foods. [[User:Anthony.Sebastian|Anthony.Sebastian]] 22:59, 7 July 2011 (UTC)
* How about another Spring cleaning in March 2009? [[User:Daniel Mietchen|Daniel Mietchen]] 08:20, 6 October 2008 (CDT)
* What about red links in [[Special:Random|Random pages]]? --[[User:Daniel Mietchen|Daniel Mietchen]] 10:15, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
::Not a bad idea at all, unless I get swamped with new, untried requests in the mean time. [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 18:47, 6 October 2008 (CDT)
:::Possibly the theme could be subpages. Some of them need a lot of housekeeping. Or getting some decent images for the articles we do have. [[User:Chris Day|Chris Day]] 19:17, 6 October 2008 (CDT)
 
* I've picked "Controversies".  Not just because it's an opportunity to show how we handle current ones, though that's an idea, too.  No, I was musing over how things can be controversial in one era, and not even raise an eyebrow in another.  Or how one can think a controversy is over, and then the social cycle changes, and all of a sudden it's controversial again.  ''In olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking, but now God knows, anything goes!''. [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 19:06, 6 October 2008 (CDT)
 
*What about red links in [[Special:Random|Random pages]]? --[[User:Daniel Mietchen|Daniel Mietchen]] 10:15, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
 
*I suggest "Numbers".  [[User:Richard Pinch|Richard Pinch]] 07:21, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
*I suggest "Numbers".  [[User:Richard Pinch|Richard Pinch]] 07:21, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
* "Hometown Heroes" - write about someone famous from your part of the world (either where you're from, or where you are now).
* "Hometown Heroes" - write about someone famous from your part of the world (either where you're from, or where you are now).
* "Poles Apart" - find the spot directly on the other side of Earth from you, and write about someone or something in the vicinity. (Contributors on other planets, follow a similar procedure for whatever planet you're on. Contributors not on planetary bodies permitted to write about whatever they feel like.)
* "Poles Apart" - find the spot directly on the other side of Earth from you, and write about someone or something in the vicinity. (Contributors on other planets, follow a similar procedure for whatever planet you're on. Contributors not on planetary bodies permitted to write about whatever they feel like.)
Line 163: Line 61:
* All articles must start with the same letter of the alphabet, allowing for diacritics and transliteration (so Å, Á, and あ would all count if A were the letter, for instance).
* All articles must start with the same letter of the alphabet, allowing for diacritics and transliteration (so Å, Á, and あ would all count if A were the letter, for instance).
* Photo stubs - no minimum word length, no theme requirement, but must contain an image.
* Photo stubs - no minimum word length, no theme requirement, but must contain an image.
* Choose a random number from 1 to 500, then go to [[Special:WantedPages]] and start an article on the topic currently at that rank.
* Choose a random number from 1 to 500, then go to [[Special:WantedPages]] and start an article on the topic currently at that rank.[[User:Petréa Mitchell|Petréa Mitchell]] 19:15, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
* How about an alternate weekend date, say the Sunday after the official Write-a-Thon, for those of us who spend our Wednesdays working at places that frown on extensive personal use of company computers?  --[[User:Petréa Mitchell|Petréa Mitchell]] 19:15, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
:There's a current forum thread on this-the proposal was to move the WaT to the weekend.  Your suggestion might pose a good compromise. [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 21:33, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
 
::I would be a lot more able to participate on weekends.  My weekday workdays are 11+ hours.[[User:Pat Palmer|Pat Palmer]] 02:51, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
 
*What will people most enjoy writing that could lead many different contributors to a short, but complete and interesting article that links to larger articles? Maybe "Events" could be a theme - pen-portraits of memorable sporting moments (see [[try]], or notable historical events - including tsunamis, eruption of Krakatoa, comet collision with Jupiter, the birth of Dolly the sheep, freeing of Nelson Mandela, the sinking of the Titanic, assassination of Martin Luther King, the Mutiny on the Bounty, the discovery of the Americas? Can I suggest asking that every new article should have at least one external link and links to other articles here?[[User:Gareth Leng|Gareth Leng]] 12:31, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
*What will people most enjoy writing that could lead many different contributors to a short, but complete and interesting article that links to larger articles? Maybe "Events" could be a theme - pen-portraits of memorable sporting moments (see [[try]], or notable historical events - including tsunamis, eruption of Krakatoa, comet collision with Jupiter, the birth of Dolly the sheep, freeing of Nelson Mandela, the sinking of the Titanic, assassination of Martin Luther King, the Mutiny on the Bounty, the discovery of the Americas? Can I suggest asking that every new article should have at least one external link and links to other articles here?[[User:Gareth Leng|Gareth Leng]] 12:31, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
::*I like this idea.  Further, definitions and other subpages are preferable, even for stubs. [[User:Chris Day|Chris Day]] 17:01, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
::*I like this idea.  Further, definitions and other subpages are preferable, even for stubs. [[User:Chris Day|Chris Day]] 17:01, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
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:::*Link to at least three other articles, even if they are redlinks in a Related Articles subpages
:::*Link to at least three other articles, even if they are redlinks in a Related Articles subpages
:::*Have at least three other articles link to them
:::*Have at least three other articles link to them
* I propose "childish things" as a topic. --[[User:Larry Sanger|Larry Sanger]] 15:51, 6 May 2009 (UTC)
::Er...you talkin' 'bout me again???  You can always tell who's got a toddler at home, huh, Larry?  [[User:Aleta Curry|Aleta Curry]] 02:57, 7 May 2009 (UTC)
*For this revival, to open it to lots of partiers, suggest theme: '<font color="darkred">Topic of Your Mind's Desire</font>', or, '<font color="darkred">Whatever</font>', or something in that vein, with the proviso that article be consistent with CZ standards. [[User:Anthony.Sebastian|Anthony.Sebastian]] 02:28, 30 June 2011 (UTC)


*Well, next Wednesday is rapidly approaching. Anyone got any firm opinions on what the theme ought to be? My suggestion is "Thoughts and Books", which is broad enough for us to cover a wide variety of different things: authors, famous books, revolutionary ideas and theories, and all the meta stuff that can be layered on top of it. I'm also going to suggest that whatever the theme is, if we could try and decide it before the weekend, then we could set up a page off of the Write-a-Thon page to list pages we'd like to see existing that are covered by the theme. --[[User:Tom Morris|Tom Morris]] 15:26, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
:: Kinds of [[Phobia]]s, or [[mammal]]s, or [[insects]]s or [[arachnid]]s or [[butterfly]]s or [[flower]]s or [[medication]]s or [[symmetry group]]s or [[legends in sports]]. But wait, there are many [[tree]]s and [[automobile]]s and [[computer program]]s, and [[ice cream]] flavors. Sooo many choices, so little time. [[User:David E. Volk|David E. Volk]] 23:48, 11 July 2011 (UTC)
 
Thoughts and books is a great idea, would fit in nicely with what I'm working with at the moment. How about a biography day for the month after? They wouldn't have to be particularly long but we could fill a lot of red links with a few well written and brief bios of important folks... [[User:Denis Cavanagh|Denis Cavanagh]] 17:07, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
 
:That actually fits really well with something I'm working on right now too.  I'm all for it! --[[User:Joe Quick|Joe Quick]] 19:42, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
 
::While it's current work of mine, is there a good place to discuss some issues of writing biography articles in general? Choices in flow?  And, as is fairly nightmarish with [[Ho Chi Minh]], when the subject changed names or had simultaneous aliases? [[User:Howard C. Berkowitz|Howard C. Berkowitz]] 21:11, 29 January 2009 (UTC)
===Future Theme Schedule===
*January - '''Controversies'''
*February - '''Thoughts and Books'''
*March -
*April -


== See also ==
== See also ==
Line 193: Line 78:
* [[CZ:Weekly Wiki|Weekly Wiki]]
* [[CZ:Weekly Wiki|Weekly Wiki]]
* [[CZ:Article of the Week|Article of the Week]]
* [[CZ:Article of the Week|Article of the Week]]
* [[CZ:New Article of the Week|New Article of the Week]]
* [[Archive:New Draft of the Week|New Article of the Week]]


{{initiatives}}
{{initiatives}}

Revision as of 05:02, 8 March 2024

Wednesday August 10th, 2011

Food, history of food, we are all food experts

Please enter your suggestions for the August topic here.

The next Write-a-Thon will take place on Wednesday Aug 10, 2011!

We know that not everybody has Wednesday at the same time though, so to make it fair our Wednesday lasts 48 hours! Therefore, Write-a-Thon starts on Aug 10th, 1200 UTC, when it starts being Wednesday in New Zealand, and ends on Aug 11th, 1200 UTC, when it finishes being Wednesday in Hawaii.

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 hearty; 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. It starts on Tuesday 1200 UTC, when it starts being Wednesday in New Zealand, and ends on Thursday 1200 UTC, when it finishes being Wednesday in Hawaii. Save the next month's 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!

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.

So how do I join in?

Joining in is really easy:

  • First of all, show up on the first Wednesday of the month!
  • Start a new article. Any new article is fine, although a suggested theme is given each month. Even just a stub will qualify, although the more substantive the article the better. Come back to this page and let everyone know you've started it! The earlier in the day you do this step, the better.
  • Make a substantive edit (not just a copyedit) to somebody else's new article! You might need to come back a little bit later in the day to do this, once people have had chance to make all those new articles. Then come back to this page and reply to the person who made the article.
  • Optionally, but preferably, mention Write-a-thon in the Edit summary of any pages you create or edit for the party! It lets others who may have forgotten know it is here.
  • Congratulations, you are an official Write-a-thon partier!

Join the fun!

When you've created your new article (or improved an existing article, for that matter) on Wednesday 6th July, come and list it here! Don't forget to sign your name so everyone knows you've joined in. Then, when you've edited someone else's article come and let them know!

List your new articles here!

The Greatest Contribution of All Time. (Why is everyone so apologetic?)
  • Natural_Gourmet_Institute - Pat Palmer
    • Sorry to miss the date--Wednesdays are too busy for me. I've create an article one day later. It is just a stub; it would have been more, but instead, I drained all my energy battling the article creation template.Pat Palmer 14:18, 11 August 2011 (UTC)
  • Haggis - also late, sorry Gareth Leng 16:21, 11 August 2011 (UTC)
  • Mozartkugel -- Rather small (and late) contribution. --Peter Schmitt 18:27, 12 August 2011 (UTC)

Upcoming!

  • August 2011 - (theme still to be chosen--anyone?)
    • Please enter your suggestions for the August topic here.

Previous shindings

empty form

Write-a-Thon Theme Suggestions

New Suggestions and Discussion

  • History of food/foods. Anthony.Sebastian 22:59, 7 July 2011 (UTC)
  • What about red links in Random pages? --Daniel Mietchen 10:15, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
  • I suggest "Numbers". Richard Pinch 07:21, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
  • "Hometown Heroes" - write about someone famous from your part of the world (either where you're from, or where you are now).
  • "Poles Apart" - find the spot directly on the other side of Earth from you, and write about someone or something in the vicinity. (Contributors on other planets, follow a similar procedure for whatever planet you're on. Contributors not on planetary bodies permitted to write about whatever they feel like.)
  • Fill in an item from this interesting list of natural objects. Or this interesting list of people.
  • All articles must start with the same letter of the alphabet, allowing for diacritics and transliteration (so Å, Á, and あ would all count if A were the letter, for instance).
  • Photo stubs - no minimum word length, no theme requirement, but must contain an image.
  • Choose a random number from 1 to 500, then go to Special:WantedPages and start an article on the topic currently at that rank.Petréa Mitchell 19:15, 1 January 2009 (UTC)
  • What will people most enjoy writing that could lead many different contributors to a short, but complete and interesting article that links to larger articles? Maybe "Events" could be a theme - pen-portraits of memorable sporting moments (see try, or notable historical events - including tsunamis, eruption of Krakatoa, comet collision with Jupiter, the birth of Dolly the sheep, freeing of Nelson Mandela, the sinking of the Titanic, assassination of Martin Luther King, the Mutiny on the Bounty, the discovery of the Americas? Can I suggest asking that every new article should have at least one external link and links to other articles here?Gareth Leng 12:31, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
  • I like this idea. Further, definitions and other subpages are preferable, even for stubs. Chris Day 17:01, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
Dare I suggest that even stubs can and should be non-orphans? Basic criteria: Howard C. Berkowitz 18:00, 14 January 2009 (UTC)
  • Reachable from the front page or a core article/workgroup page
  • Link to at least three other articles, even if they are redlinks in a Related Articles subpages
  • Have at least three other articles link to them
  • I propose "childish things" as a topic. --Larry Sanger 15:51, 6 May 2009 (UTC)
Er...you talkin' 'bout me again??? You can always tell who's got a toddler at home, huh, Larry? Aleta Curry 02:57, 7 May 2009 (UTC)
  • For this revival, to open it to lots of partiers, suggest theme: 'Topic of Your Mind's Desire', or, 'Whatever', or something in that vein, with the proviso that article be consistent with CZ standards. Anthony.Sebastian 02:28, 30 June 2011 (UTC)
Kinds of Phobias, or mammals, or insectss or arachnids or butterflys or flowers or medications or symmetry groups or legends in sports. But wait, there are many trees and automobiles and computer programs, and ice cream flavors. Sooo many choices, so little time. David E. Volk 23:48, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

See also


Citizendium Initiatives
Eduzendium | Featured Article | Recruitment | Subpages | Core Articles | Uncategorized pages |
Requested Articles | Feedback Requests | Wanted Articles

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