Puddingstone writing is the result when a series of Wikipedia editors each add a discrete factoid to an article without regard for organizational concerns such as thesis or narrative structure, yielding an article that consists of self-contained lumps of information held together by a loose matrix. Puddingstone is the natural state of writing produced on a wiki, and active maintenance is needed to prevent its recurrence once it has been eradicated from an article. Articles containing puddingstone writing have the advantage of being generally usable, and possibly even well-referenced, but they lack the cohesiveness and professionalism of an article in a traditional encyclopedia.
This essay is not "please don't edit my articles". (They're not mine, and please do.) It is not meant to imply that the wiki method doesn't work. It is not something to smack people with when they edit your articles. It is also not just about writing, but about content.
Disclaimer: this is currently a draft of an essay by a single author writing past her bedtime. Since the essay is about writing, there are surely poor phrases, typos, and other embarrassing goofs in here. Please feel free to edit this essay, but don't turn it into puddingstone!
Puddingstone writing is the result when a series of Wikipedia editors each add a discrete factoid to an article without regard for organizational concerns such as thesis or narrative structure, yielding an article that consists of self-contained lumps of information held together by a loose matrix. Puddingstone is the natural state of writing produced on a wiki, and active maintenance is needed to prevent its recurrence once it has been eradicated from an article. Articles containing puddingstone writing have the advantage of being generally usable, and possibly even well-referenced, but they lack the cohesiveness and professionalism of an article in a traditional encyclopedia.
This essay is not "please don't edit my articles". (They're not mine, and please do.) It is not meant to imply that the wiki method doesn't work. It is not something to smack people with when they edit your articles. It is also not just about writing, but about content.
Disclaimer: this is currently a draft of an essay by a single author writing past her bedtime. Since the essay is about writing, there are surely poor phrases, typos, and other embarrassing goofs in here. Please feel free to edit this essay, but don't turn it into puddingstone!