User talk:81.86.40.39

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[edit] Your recent edits

Hi there. In case you didn't know, when you add content to talk pages and Wikipedia pages that have open discussion, you should sign your posts by typing four tildes ( ~~~~ ) at the end of your comment. If you can't type the tilde character, you should click on the signature button Image:Signature_icon.png located above the edit window. This will automatically insert a signature with your name and the time you posted the comment. This information is useful because other editors will be able to tell who said what, and when. Thank you! --SineBot (talk) 18:19, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Stylistic Choices

One of the best choices for any discussion page posting is that which provides brevity and clarity. The breaks between paragraphs can be confusing, leading some to think that each paragraph is a separate, unsigned post. Look, I don't want to cramp your style. I get it; you are new and want to make your mark, but the way to do so is not with squiggles, different fonts or colors but with a strength of edits alone. Trust someone who has been precisely where you are, back around 14,000 edits ago. Look at the other posts on the page, or most other pages. For the best in editing quality, take a look at WP:AN/I; while the subject matter is often disappointing, the writing skills are usually exemplary, and that's how I learned how to post clearly. I am not trying to 'school' you or anything, I am just trying to help you be a better editor. Take the advice or leave it. I won't alter your formatting again, but you can change it yourself. - Arcayne (cast a spell) 02:21, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

I don't feel that adding linebreaks detracts from brevity or clarity. I feel that it adds to clarity. I'm not looking to make a mark. I'm an anonymous i.p. I added my thoughts simply because I wanted to. I didn't expect for a minute that they would be accepted, but I wanted to add them anyway.
I've not used squiggles, fonts or colours. All I've done is put a linebreak betweeen paragraphs. That's what I do whenever I post to the internet. That's what most people do. That's the way the articles on Wikipedia are formatted. That seems to me to result in the most readable prose.
Thanks for posting here, and thanks for agreeing not to remove the linebeaks again. As you point out, most discussion page contributors tend not to use linebreaks. Personally, I'd prefer that they did. But I'm a relative newbie, and they've been around a while.
14,000 edits is a heck of a lot. Thanks for the work you've clearly put into Wikipedia. I'm not convinced by your arguments on this issue, but I'll bear them in mind and think it through again.