Forum:CT:Article Quality, Proper Grammar, and You

This is something I feel could be added to the Manual of Style: More clarifications on proper grammar. Now, I am not trying to stand in the way of ideas, but when conveying one's ideas, one should follow proper grammar and sentence structure so that others may be able to understand and appreciate one's ideas. In articles, we have cracked down on grammar, and I have seen an improvement, and other articles that fall below those seemingly-unspoken guidelines are usually dealt with promptly. This has nothing to do with articles, though, as I am directing this towards narrative texts.

Now, for the most part, the narrative texts I have come across during my Random Paging were pretty sound. Though, I have seen a few that fall well below our MoS. If they were articles, they would've either been tirelessly edited until they fit the guidelines, or out-right deleted. So, I propose we add to the MoS a section further detailing the importance of proper grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure in narrative texts. At the moment, the section in the MoS concerning narrative texts only discusses the naming of the pages, categorizing, and linking to parent pages. This is misleading, as since the sections concerning grammar are indicated for the mainspace articles, then one could misconstrue the sections to not pertain to narrative texts.

Granted, there are users with varying levels of writing skills and not all of us can be Rhea, but we should still has some guidelines in place for narrative texts. Proper spelling and grammar should still matter, no matter the levels of one's writing ability. How to properly format dialogue, for example. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just the basics, such as using quotation marks and separating the speakers by paragraph. Also, proper punctuation and capitalization. Just basic stuff, nothing fancy or extremely in-depth, that's what the Writing Center is for. But, even just adding the basics and making users aware of it and urging them to follow such guidelines will not only help them improve their writing (after all, who wouldn't want to sharpen their skills?), but also make conveying their ideas easier to understand for others.

We are trying to rid ourselves of an undeserved reputation for being a dumping ground, are we not? Then, it is only logical to extend our quality control to narrative texts as well. As for penalties with failure to observe and follow guidelines? I'll leave that up to you. I'm just tossing out a suggestion.  Trak Nar  Ramble on 05:15, May 15, 2010 (UTC)

I agree! Quality matters over quantity, even in narrative texts!

 * 1) As the proposer.  Trak Nar  Ramble on 05:15, May 15, 2010 (UTC)

In the discussion's belly, the proposal will be slowly digested over a thousand years
Throwing it to the wolves, guys. Rip it to shreds, spread its entrails all over, but remember to remain civil.  Trak Nar  Ramble on 05:15, May 15, 2010 (UTC)