Forum:Volume a week club

The idea
As most of you are undoubtedly aware, the majority of the chapter summaries are missing. In fact, everything between volume 2 and volume 39 are missing chapter summaries. So this is what I propose. We form a volume a week club! Basically I am looking for eight other people to help me in the quest to make sure all volumes have completed chapter summaries. I mean, it's a daunting task if anyone tries to do it alone but if we do it as a group I am sure it'll be done in no time!

So here is the plan, since I completed volume 2, we'll start with volume 3. Below is a list of chapters. If you want to participate in this "club" just claim a chapter (like I have with chapter 25) and list the status as incomplete. When you have finished adding the summary for the chapter, just change the status to complete. Once all the chapters are done, we can move on to the next volume. The goal would be to get one volume done per week. But of course if it is done sooner then we'll move on to the next volume sooner. Of course, if you are done with your chapter and want to do another one (that hasn't been claimed yet) then you can do so. But remember! This is suppose to be fun and not stressful! So if you claim a chapter but find that the week has become busy, just unclaim it and don't worry about it.

So, what do you guys think? Anyone wants to join me in the Volume a week club? Feel free to tell me this is a terrible idea that will never work :D Tinni 03:32, October 25, 2009 (UTC)

Current Volume of the Week
3.1 017. 6/17

3.2 018. 6/17 op.2 "Can't Smile Don't Blame"

3.3 019. 6/17 op.3 "memories in the rain" *incomplete*

3.4 020. 6/17 op.4 "face again"

3.5 021. 6/17 op.5 戦う少年

3.6 022. 6/17 op.6 "BATTLE ON GRAVEYARD"

3.7 023. 6/17 op.7 "意志は鋭し、刃は鈍し" - Twocents *complete*

3.8 024. 6/17 op.8 "All One Way Sympathies" - Twocents *incomplete*

3.9 025. 6/17 op.9 "戦う少年2 [The Cigar Blues Mix]" - Tinni *complete*

Targeted completion date for the volume - 1-11-2009

Suggested Guidelines
These are some friendly suggestions to keep in mind when writing summaries and they are also things that might be helpful if you writing a chapter summary for the very first time. They are also designed to comply with wiki best practice.

This section is a work in progress. Please feel free to add your own suggestions, tips and tricks.

1. Please keep in mind that this is a wiki and so please do not speculate when writing the chapter summary. Just describe things as they unfold, and when in doubt, go for neutral tone and wording.

2. The chapter summary is not suppose to be a substitute for actually reading the chapter. As such, there is no need to give minute details of everything that's happening. Remember, it is a summary only.

3. Links - please consider providing one where you think that the reader of the summary might want more information on either a character or a term.

Discussion/Comments
I'm willing to assist! *claims a chapter* I've been looking at working on chapter summaries myself, but the idea of doing well over 300 alone is, as you said, daunting. Twocents 04:02, October 25, 2009 (UTC)

Ok, everything is finally working. so we are now open for business! Please consider signing up and claiming a chapter. It's not really hard and we'll help each other improve, so that we can write really good summaries, really quickly! Thanks in advance! Tinni 08:03, October 25, 2009 (UTC)

After reading some edits to chapters pages recently, I've been thinking: there are things we didn't know when we first read the chapter that we know now. For example, we know now that Aizen betrayed everyone, but that wasn't always clear. With that in mind, I've noticed that some are writing chapters with information that we currently know now. Personally, I'd prefer that we write the summaries as if we're reading it for the first time. However, if other people are more interested in writing summaries with a slant that they garnered with current information, then I'd entertain an argument on that front. But I think it's something to keep in mind.

Also, I know it's easy to be wordy, but I was thinking - the point of reading these summaries, presumably, is to get general information in a smaller amount of time than it'd take to read the actual chapters. Do you think, then, that we should aim to stay underneath a particular word count? Twocents 01:38, October 26, 2009 (UTC)

Well when I was writing the chapter summaries of volume 2 I made a point of referring to Kon in the summaries as "the mod soul" because he wasn't named at the time. But he turned up as "Kon" in the character list so that kind of defeated the purpose. I don't think I was consistent though, because I pretty much referred to Shibata as Shibata from the start while his name wasn't known for a bit and he should have been referred to as the "parakeet" initially. Tinni 01:42, October 26, 2009 (UTC)


 * Well, what I meant more specifically is that some contain references to big twists, rather than just a name thing. Because you're right - the character list would give away their names anyway. I think I just want to have a level of objectivity rather than people taking liberties with things they know now that they didn't know at the time or writing in an opinionated fashion. Does that make sense? I'd rather that the articles remain "here's what happened" rather than creating an opinion for readers. Twocents 01:46, October 26, 2009 (UTC)


 * I totally agree with you. The summary is just suppose to be a description of what happened, speculation and the editor's opinion doesn't come into it. It's just the bare facts with no hinting of what comes after. I.e. we should pretend that when we wrote this summary this was the latest chapter. Tinni 02:03, October 26, 2009 (UTC)

Great! I'm glad we're in agreement on that aspect. What is your opinion on length? Twocents 02:05, October 26, 2009 (UTC)


 * That's a tough one. I would say that keep things to the bare bones and not pad it out with excessive description. I seem to recall having this issue while I was describing the chapter 9. It could have been padded out easily because I could have gone into excessive detail on what Ichigo said about Karin not crying and not to mention the fight. But the way I see it, the summary is suppose to give the essence of what happened. It is not suppose to describe every minute detail, it is not suppose to be a replacement for actually reading the chapter. However, if there is a lot happening in the chapter, the summary can be longish. So I guess my stance is, no fluff or excessive details and we are all good! Tinni 02:23, October 26, 2009 (UTC)


 * Definitely makes sense. Because in some chapters, a lot really does happen so those require more detail. But I think it'd be best if, like you said, if we aimed to be as concise as possible. In my mind, that means summarizing quotes, rather than copying them exactly, particularly if they're long. And also, no need to provide exact play-by-plays of every single panel. I think we're on the same page - that someone could read a summary and get the gist of what happened, but that if they wanted to catch every minute detail, they should read the actual chapter. (As a side note, I hope you don't mind me making the discussion into a subhead - those handy edit buttons on subheads make it easy for me to edit the exact section I want to edit.)

Great. ^_^ Since we have clearer guidelines, I'll go work on my chapter now. (And do you think we should provide a brief summary of these guidelines at the top?) Twocents 02:29, October 26, 2009 (UTC)


 * Good idea! I'll do my section within the next few hours. Tinni 03:11, October 26, 2009 (UTC)

I finished Chapter 23 if you want to take a look at the summary. Otherwise, I'll claim chapter 24, too, and work on that later. :) I think the guidelines look good and should provide direction for those who want to help. Twocents 03:14, October 26, 2009 (UTC)

Well I just finished 25 and claimed 19. I'll do it either later today or tomorrow. Hopefully a few other editors will join-up and help us out. Tinni 05:53, October 26, 2009 (UTC)

With this in mind, should we apply the same ruling to episode summaries re length? I appreciate that episodes contain more info than chapters and may warrant a bit more depth, but I've seen a wide variety of different styles to the writing of the summaries. TomServo101 11:21, October 26, 2009 (UTC)


 * I think the rule for "fluff" applies to all things. Not just summaries but also when content is added to articles and such. Everybody has their own style and there isn't really a right or wrong style unless we are talking about a style that is 1) inherently opinionated/full of speculation and foreshadowing from chapters/episodes that come after, 2) difficult for readers to follow, 3) weighed down by unnecessary detail/fluff. Just because if a summary is like that, someone has to go back and do a lot of clean-up, maybe even redo the whole thing. So it's always good to get things in a state that only requires minor corrections afterwards (if at all). So yeah, wide variety of different styles isn't a problem. The problem lies else where. If that makes sense. Tinni 11:36, October 26, 2009 (UTC)

I'll Join!!! ^_^
Hey!!! I'm fed up with the same problem too! So I'll gladly join your volume a week club! I've already completed the first two chapter summaries in Volume 30 if you want to go and check them out. As you will notice, they are Very detailed and I ABSOLUTELY PRIDE Myself with how detailed I make the chapter Summaries I work on. I do this because the one thing I ABSOLUTELY HATE is Chapter Summaries that are Half-Assed ,with little or effort into making them grammatically correct or informational at all, merely putting information there to fill up space. I ask that you invite me to join your club and I Know that we will get a lot of work done together. ^_^

--Saru Lunarjack333 03:36, October 25, 2009 (UTC)

Thank You Very Much for letting me participate!!! For now, Please leave volume 30 to me!! I'll try to have it finished by the end of this upcoming week. (I would finish it in a matter of days, but I am a Senior, and have other work to do......) :(

I hope you don't mind.....

--Saru Lunarjack333 04:28, October 25, 2009 (UTC)

I appreciate the friendly reminder, I'll admit that I got carried away there, which is not what one should do mere days after joining. I must also admit that my actions stem from a fear that endless hours of hard work would be deleted & undone in mere moments by some ignorant troll member. (I hope that doesn't happen, it would bring me to tears) :(

I also hope that despite this, we can all continue to work together.

--Saru Lunarjack333 02:15, October 26, 2009 (UTC)