Warning
When contributing please note that I, Ragno, retain ownership of the Encyclopedia and reserve the right to monetize it. By contributing you agree that any material you submit becomes the property of the project and may be monetized with no need for further permission. You also acknowledge that, by virtue of the projects license, others may copy, modify, and distribute anything you submit.
All pages across the Encyclopedia Mysenvaria are expected to follow a set of writing guidelines to ensure consistency, quality, and maintain the setting’s themes. Anyone who attempts to contribute to the project through page editing is expected to follow these guidelines.
This page serves to cover all guidelines which editors are expected to follow, including explaining core themes of the setting. Remember, when contributing to the Encyclopedia you must adhere to the contribution policy.
Thematic Guidelines
Mysenvar is a low-magic dark fantasy setting intended for a mature audience intended to explore complex themes with moral ambiguity. The world is grounded in reality, with magic serving as a tool for delivering messages to the audience.
Magic is powerful but limited. For detailed descriptions on the magic system, see pages like stars and God Tongue. Magic is expected to adhere to the rules described in these pages.
Violence and gore are inevitable in a setting like Mysenvar, however they must serve narrative purpose and be explored through the professional and academic tone of the Encyclopedia. Obscenely offensive, profane, or sexual content are not permitted in the Encyclopedia and will be denied.
Page Structure
To maintain consistency, ensure organization, and set a professional tone all pages should follow the structure described in this section. Contributors can find a template folder on the GitHub which includes a series of templates for each sub-topic, intended to help streamline the process of structuring pages.
All pages should begin with a YAML section which specifies the page’s title, tags, and whether the table of contents is enabled. As an example, this page’s own YAML is provided:
---
title: Writing Guidelines
enableToc: true
tags:
- meta
---Following the page metadata should be any callouts regarding whether the page is incomplete or otherwise a stub. After any callouts should be the page’s abstract and introduction, providing a concise summary of the page’s contents.
Following the introduction the page should be divided into sections. A good rule of thumb to know if something is worthy of its own section is if you can write two paragraphs to fit inside of it. If the page includes visual aids they should be linked to using footnotes1. Each page should also include a See Also section to link to related pages which were not linked to in the body of the page.
Writing Rules
When writing for the Encyclopedia to help maintain an academic tone there are specific rules which must be followed to ensure proper grammar, tone, formatting, and cross-referencing.
To start, all pages should use proper grammar, including punctuation and spelling. Tone should be formal and neutral, remaining in the present tense unless describing the history of a subject. Active voice is preferred, but passive voice may be used where necessary to improve clarity. Language should also remain clear and concise, flowery or redundant language is not up to standard.
When it comes to terms throughout the Encyclopedia they should remain consistent. New terms should be clearly defined and consistent with existing lore, and if necessary
Footnotes
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