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{{essay|WP:PWIH|category=Category:Wikipedia essays about competence}}
[[File:قريه تونس.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Future Wikipedians hone their writing skills.]]
'''Policy writing is hard'''. When you are writing "rules", regardless of whether those rules appear on a page that is officially tagged as a policy, guideline, procedure, or something else, then you're engaged in policy writing.
{{quote box|width=30%|quoted=y|content=The admonition 'but please be careful' is especially important in relation to [[Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines|policies and guidelines]], where key parts may be phrased in a particular way to reflect a very hard-won, knife-edge [[Wikipedia:Consensus|consensus]] – which may not be obvious to those unfamiliar with the background.|source=— from [[Wikipedia:Be bold]]}}

== Things to consider ==
* '''Do you really need to do this?''' It's rarely necessary or helpful to change a policy or guideline if there has been only one known dispute (or even none). Because [[Wikipedia:Avoid instruction creep|nobody reads the instructions]], policy writing is a long-term solution to a long-term problem. It can take a couple of ''years'' for changes in the wording of written policies and guidelines to have a significant effect on editors' behavior.
* '''Has this already been tried?''' Wikipedia's core policies are the product of hundreds of discussions between editors. Many proposals have been previously discussed, and, while [[WP:CCC|consensus can change]] and the best ideas may be still in our future, it may help you to review the archives of the talk page of the policy, guideline, or process you think you want to change, to ensure that you are not about to post an [[WP:FREQUENT|often-rejected proposal]].
* '''Describe; don't prescribe.''' Try to document what most experienced editors are actually doing. If a choice is popular, but there's no compelling reason to do the same thing everywhere, then say it's a "popular" or "common" solution, rather than that it's "recommended" or "required".
* '''Consider how your proposed change will work for a wide variety of situations.''' Many editors make their first attempts at policy writing because of a specific dispute, and their proposals tend to be designed to solve ''only'' that specific dispute. Look beyond a single example. For example, if you're trying to improve our guidance on reliable sources, then consider how it will affect a wide variety of articles, e.g., an article about a disease, a living person, an organization, and a song.
* '''Provide all of the necessary information, and then stop.''' Don't overexplain or be too precise. When in doubt, make the smallest possible change, and then watch disputes for a while to see whether that small change has solved the problems. If not, then try again.
* '''Try to signal the range of editorial judgment that is usually appropriate.''' This can be done partly by using words like ''should'', ''usually'', ''optionally'', and ''must''. [https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2119 RFC 2119] is one touchstone for some of these words; for example, when we say that editors "should" do something, then we are telling them that "there may exist valid reasons in particular circumstances to ignore" the usual advice and choose to [[Wikipedia:Ignore all rules|ignore all rules]] instead, "but the full implications must be understood and carefully weighed before choosing a different course". Use words like ''must'', ''required'', ''always'', or ''never'' when there are no acceptable options: for example, "''Never'' put a space before a comma", "The first and last words in an English-language title are ''always'' capitalized", and editors ''must never'' violate copyrights.
* '''Consider how your wording might be misunderstood''' – or even [[Wikipedia:Gaming the system|deliberately twisted]] or quoted out of context by a [[Wikipedia:Civil POV pushing|PoV pusher]] or [[Wikipedia:Wikilawyer|wikilawyer]]. If it's easy to misquote or to misunderstand, then copyedit your proposal until that's harder.
* '''Check the related pages''', and [[Wikipedia:Build the web|build the web]] when you can. The ideas that you want to share might already exist on a different page. In that case, it's better to link to the existing advice, instead of spreading redundant advice across multiple pages.
* '''Use the whole range of page types.''' [[Wikipedia:The difference between policies, guidelines, and essays|The difference between policies, guidelines, and essays]] is thin and obscure, but some page types are more appropriate for some types of information or advice. Use [[Help:Help|help]], [[Wikipedia:Processes|procedure/process]], [[Template:Supplement|supplement]], and [[Wikipedia:Information pages|information pages]] appropriately.

== Attitudes that help ==
Good policy writers tend to trust that other editors, overall, will get it right in the end. They leave room for editors to use good judgment and to consider all the facts and circumstances. Their goal is usually to help editors get it right sooner, more efficiently, and with fewer unnecessary disputes. Good policy writers can live with ambiguity, uncertainty, diversity, and experimentation.

Good policy writers tend to listen purposefully. They are also skilled at separating their own views from the views of other people. These traits help them hear the kernel of reality or experience in the middle of a pack of insults and half-truths, and to keep the main point in mind when editors are wandering off on tangents. [[Listening]] and [[conformity]] are separate matters: good policy writers listen to others, and try to see through their eyes, but don't necessarily adopt the other editors' views.

Good policy writers remember that the real policy is what good editors really do, and that the words on a page with a "policy" tag at the top are only pale shadows of the true policy – the operational, day-to-day consensus of how Wikipedia is managed. The English Wikipedia operates on model more similar to the [[British constitution]] than the [[United States Constitution|American one]]: the true policies and principles have real substance, even when they aren't written down. Writing other things down and applying a tag at the top of the page doesn't make them real policies. Good policy writers remember that "the wiki way" is the fundamental principle for resolving all disputes. The wiki way is about what sticks on the page in the end, rather than what some advice page said {{em|ought}} to stick. As a result, good policy writers value the collective actions of experienced contributors over the words on a policy or guideline page.

Finally, good policy writers know [[Wikipedia:How to lose|how to lose]] and [[WP:STICK|when to give up]] on a hopeless cause.

== You might not be very good at this ==
Some editors are skilled at [[Policy analysis|this kind of work]]. Others are not. Don't be embarrassed if you're not particularly skilled at this background activity. Nobody can be good at everything, and exercise of this particular skill may ultimately contribute less to the mission than many other activities.

If you're not good at writing policies, then consider [[WP:PGBOLD|not boldly making substantive changes]] to Wikipedia's advice pages. Instead, try taking your ideas to a talk page, describe the problems you're seeing, and ask for advice on improving Wikipedia's advice.

If you are active in policy and guideline pages, then take a look at how other editors usually react to you. If you find that most of your proposals are rejected, then – even if your ideas and goals are great – you're probably just not very good at this. It might be better for you personally, and for the project as a whole, if you found other ways to contribute. Alternatively, look around for an editor who contributes to related policies and guidelines, and ask for advice and help. Your great ideas and goals might just need a partner.

==See also==
* {{section link|Wikipedia:Editing policy#Edits to policies and guidelines}}
* {{section link|Wikipedia:Content forking/Internal#Policy forks}}
* [[Wikipedia:Centralized discussion]], about ongoing policy discussions.
* [[Wikipedia:Competence is required]]
* [[Wikipedia:How to contribute to Wikipedia guidance]]
*{{section link|Criticism of Wikipedia#Excessive rule-making}}
* {{section link|Wikipedia:Content forking/Internal#Policy forks}}
* [[User:Beeblebrox/The perfect policy proposal]]
* [[User:Newyorkbrad/Bradspeak]]

{{Wikipedia essays|about}}
[[Category:Wikipedia essays about consensus]]
[[Category:Wikipedia essays about style]]

Wikipedia:Policy writing is hard - Revision history

Tachyony: Imported page