Wikimedia Developer Summit/2018/Writing Tips

This is a collection of tips and links to writing tips for creating your position statement.

The intention is to provide additional support for individuals who are not familiar with writing positions statements, are writing in English, when it is not their native language, or would just like some additional guidance.

The Position Statement

Length: 100 – 500 words
Language: English
Include:
- A title for your position statement
- One to two sentence position statement that directly answers one of the questions asked in this year’s Thematic Overview or proposes a unique way of “imagining, creating, planning, building, and maintaining the technology foundation to enable the key tenets of our strategy,” and demonstrates how this supports the objectives of the movement.
- Supporting and clarifying information that further illustrates and enhances your position statement.

Tips for writing your statement

Putting your ideas into words

Things to think about before you start writing

At this year's developer's summit we will strive to "...think about ways of imagining, creating, planning, building and maintaining the technology foundation needed to enable the key tenets of our strategy..."

Your audience will be members of the program committee. They will screen and evaluate your position statement to ensure it fits with the thematic overview of the summit. Think about how would you communicate with members of the program committee in person, what you think they already know, and what they might need to know. How do you think your audience will understand and respond to your ideas?
What key idea or impression would you like to leave the program committee with?
Why should this idea or impression matter to members of the program committee and other summit attendees?

Tips for writing and proofreading

As a starting point, consider directly answering one of the questions posed in the summit's thematic overview.
Don't worry about sounding overly academic. Communicate your ideas with your own words.
Write down everything you can think of, and don't worry about spelling or grammar. You won't use everything you write down, but this will help clarify your ideas for your final draft.
Keep the final position statement short and simple. The position statement should be only 100 - 500 words. There is no preference for whether the position statement is closer to 100 or 500 words. Solid, cogent ideas matter the most in the selection process.
If English is not your native language, consider asking a native English speaker to review your statement before you submit it.
Run a spelling and grammar check only when you feel you have finished communicating your ideas.
Read your final position statement out loud or have someone read it out loud to you. This will help you find spelling and grammar errors you might not always notice while writing. It will also allow you to "hear" your words from another perspective.

Formatting your position statement

Here are some examples to follow when formatting your statement.

Submitting your position statement

(The following hyperlink will take you to a Google Doc) Submit your position statement

Links

Purdue OWL: Writing Academic Proposals: Conferences, Articles, and Books

Additional Help

You are welcome to email Sarah <srodlund wikimedia.org> with a draft of your position statement, if you would like someone to review it in advance of submission.