Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
There is no universal set length for a plot summary, though it should not be excessively long. Well-written plot summaries describe the major events in the work, linking them together while minimizing the less-important scenes. The Manual of Style provides general guidance on length, with allowances for exceptions.
The reader is warned three or four times in as many sections that (a) the purpose of a plot summary is to explain the story, not to entertain the reader; (b) the summary should be as short as possible; and (c) it's okay to reorder events to make the plot clearer.
Plot summaries and character descriptions should be written in an out-of-universe style, presenting the narrative from an external real-world frame of reference from the characters or setting. For example, instead of starting a plot summary with "It is 2003", which puts the reader in the frame of reference of the work, start with "In 2003 ...
If possible, the page title should be the subject of the first sentence: [4] However, if the article title is merely descriptive—such as Electrical characteristics of dynamic loudspeakers—the title does not need to appear verbatim in the main text. Similarly, where an article title is of the type "List of ...", a clearer and more ...
Plot summaries for feature films should be between 400 and 700 words. The summary should not exceed this range unless the film's structure is unconventional, such as with non-linear storylines, or unless the plot is too complicated to summarize in this range. Discuss with other editors to determine if a summary cannot be contained within the ...
If the title has a parenthetical disambiguator, such as Mercury (planet), the parenthetical should be omitted in the text. [G] Dates and locations should be included in the first sentence if they help the reader to quickly determine if they're reading the right article. For instance, in the article Spanish–American War, the text of the lead ...
Single-sentence paragraphs can inhibit the flow of the text; by the same token, long paragraphs become hard to read. Between paragraphs—as between sections—there should be only a single blank line. First lines are not indented. Bullet points should not be used in the lead of an article. They may be used in the body to break up a mass of ...
Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dates and numbers) gives the general principles of how Wikipedia deals with the representation of numbers and dates. This present naming conventions guideline concentrates on the aspect of how numbers and dates are represented in article titles, that is the names of the articles where the content is (as opposed to redirect pages that also allow non-standardized ...