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Post by yellowperil on May 2, 2020 12:13:29 GMT
I agree not all constituencies are the same and it is not unreasonable for our almanac entries to vary in length and complexity, say 3:1 between longest and shortest is not unreasonable. But I do also take the point that a bit of discipline in favour of brevity will make for a better product and therefore maybe there is a case for an upper wordage limit in the final product: perhaps 1000/ 1200 words, say?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2020 12:17:50 GMT
No. For it to be credible, we need to agree on a structure. I mean this, it's how I was taught over years of writing for both business and pleasure. A house style, a maximum number of words, broad brush where it needs to be, detailed otherwise, all tied up in a fixed number of paragraphs. The Internet has no maximum space, I know, but readers' attention does. Brevity means better, focused writing which sticks to the facts. So yes, we need a uniform format. I can't see how a fixed number of paragraphs could work, if we're examining the different areas within each constituency. Compare Leeds West with Oxford West and Abingdon. The former is a very homogeneous seat, with just four wards, which have very similar characteristics (other than Kirkstall having a significant minority of students). The latter covers parts of three council areas, with wide variations between the Abingdon wards, the rural villages to the west of Oxford, Kidlington, and the immense wealth of North Oxford. You'd struggle to write more than a couple of paragraphs about the former, and less than three about the latter probably wouldn't do the topic justice. I personally consider having a consistent level of detail more important than a consistent length. Fair on the number of paragraphs. But a fixed word limit is a must. These are profiles, not the transcripts of episodes. |
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Post by John Chanin on May 3, 2020 10:57:34 GMT
I have now unfortunately completed all the seats I know well, which haven’t been done by someone else, with the exception of Warwick & Leamington which greenchristian said he would do. There are a number of others that I know bits of, albeit in some cases a long time ago, which I could have a go at if no-one knows them better. These would include Bromsgrove, Mid Worcestershire, Maldon, Clacton, Central Suffolk, Suffolk Coastal and possibly Banbury. What do people think? |
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Post by bjornhattan on May 3, 2020 11:11:41 GMT
I have now unfortunately completed all the seats I know well, which haven’t been done by someone else, with the exception of Warwick & Leamington which greenchristian said he would do. There are a number of others that I know bits of, albeit in some cases a long time ago, which I could have a go at if no-one knows them better. These would include Bromsgrove, Mid Worcestershire, Maldon, Clacton, Central Suffolk, Suffolk Coastal and possibly Banbury. What do people think? I've already done Banbury, but there's probably a lot of room for improvement in my account, so if you want to have a go then I wouldn't be offended! |
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Post by John Chanin on May 3, 2020 11:27:52 GMT
I have now unfortunately completed all the seats I know well, which haven’t been done by someone else, with the exception of Warwick & Leamington which greenchristian said he would do. There are a number of others that I know bits of, albeit in some cases a long time ago, which I could have a go at if no-one knows them better. These would include Bromsgrove, Mid Worcestershire, Maldon, Clacton, Central Suffolk, Suffolk Coastal and possibly Banbury. What do people think? I've already done Banbury, but there's probably a lot of room for improvement in my account, so if you want to have a go then I wouldn't be offended! Somehow I missed that. I’ve just gone and read it, and I probably wouldn’t be able to do any better, so no I won’t be having a go. |
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Post by Pete Whitehead on May 3, 2020 12:18:56 GMT
I've covered all of the Hertfordshire seats and additionally the Harrow seats and Hendon. I intend to do the HIllingdon seats and I had also reached a Yalta style agreement with @barnabymarder on the division of Ealing, whereby I would do Ealing North which I know quite well (but I am happy for Barnaby to take that one if he wants it). I may add some more thoughts to the Brent seats which I had intended to do but probably can't add anything to the other Barnet seats. Other than that I may do Chesham & Amersham and could do Beaconsfield but would not want to step on Merseymike 's toes. I could also do some meaningful profiles of the Wolverhampton seats but that general area seems to be quite well covered. |
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Post by greenchristian on May 3, 2020 12:56:26 GMT
I have now unfortunately completed all the seats I know well, which haven’t been done by someone else, with the exception of Warwick & Leamington which greenchristian said he would do. There are a number of others that I know bits of, albeit in some cases a long time ago, which I could have a go at if no-one knows them better. These would include Bromsgrove, Mid Worcestershire, Maldon, Clacton, Central Suffolk, Suffolk Coastal and possibly Banbury. What do people think? I'm mostly done on Warwick and Leamington. But there are sections of it that are quite weak, I'll be happy to edit in anything you have to say about the seat into my post when I am finished. |
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Post by Robert Waller on May 3, 2020 13:52:07 GMT
In the original Almanacs, some seats had significantly longer entries than others - that's just how it is. That is true, and for what it's worth, I myself see no need for fixed word limits, formats (within reason) or a house style here. So please, anybody, don't feel put off. (I believe someone has given me some authority here by deeming me - without my solicitation or knowledge, actually! - moderator of this sub-forum.) Robert |
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Post by andrewteale on May 3, 2020 13:58:10 GMT
I can't see how a fixed number of paragraphs could work, if we're examining the different areas within each constituency. Compare Leeds West with Oxford West and Abingdon. The former is a very homogeneous seat, with just four wards, which have very similar characteristics (other than Kirkstall having a significant minority of students). The latter covers parts of three council areas, with wide variations between the Abingdon wards, the rural villages to the west of Oxford, Kidlington, and the immense wealth of North Oxford. You'd struggle to write more than a couple of paragraphs about the former, and less than three about the latter probably wouldn't do the topic justice. I personally consider having a consistent level of detail more important than a consistent length. Fair on the number of paragraphs. But a fixed word limit is a must. These are profiles, not the transcripts of episodes. When I write the Previews, I don't have a word limit and I write as much or as little as I like. There is a rough structure and I aim for a minimum of three paragraphs per by-election unless I have genuinely nothing to say, but rules are there to be broken. If Robert Waller ever wants to commit this subforum to print then some judicious editing may be necessary, but that would be more to fit around the page breaks. |
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Post by AdminSTB on May 7, 2020 18:09:20 GMT
This is not to say they are "done", but all the West Yorkshire constituencies now have profiles, and not just because of me.
I might cast the net a little further afield, although I've already dabbled into East Yorkshire (where I also used to live for a number of years), Beverley & Holderness with its disappearing coastline, and Harrogate & Knaresborough.
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Post by John Chanin on May 7, 2020 18:31:41 GMT
I have now unfortunately completed all the seats I know well, which haven’t been done by someone else, with the exception of Warwick & Leamington which greenchristian said he would do. There are a number of others that I know bits of, albeit in some cases a long time ago, which I could have a go at if no-one knows them better. These would include Bromsgrove, Mid Worcestershire, Maldon, Clacton, Central Suffolk, Suffolk Coastal and possibly Banbury. What do people think? Since I’m still bored I think I will have a go at these, including alternative entries for the Suffolk seats. |
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Post by yellowperil on May 8, 2020 14:34:11 GMT
I see that we have now got 327 constituencies in the system, of course of varying length and quality, but in that very limited sense we have passed the half-way point. I don't know how other people feel about their entries, but as far as "mine" are concerned - and I have now offered entries in some state or other of completion for 7 Kent constituencies and 4 Sussex ones- none of those are remotely near being the finished product, nor were they intended to be.As far as those two counties are concerned,I think 2 Kent constituencies and 4 Sussex ones have been done by other folk, and I have indicated I might be prepared to take on two more,Arundel & South Downs, and East Worthing and Shoreham, which would take us to 18 in Kent & Sussex together. That would I think still leave 6 Sussex constitiencies (Bexhill & Battle, Chichester, Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex and Wealden) and 8 more Kent ones(Chatham & Aylesford, Dartford, Gillingham & Rainham,Gravesham, Rochester & Strood,Sevenoaks, Sittingbourne & Sheppey, Tonbridge & Malling) which I believe are unclaimed.
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Post by greenchristian on May 8, 2020 15:26:01 GMT
I feel like I've run out of places I'm qualified to write up.
The remaining parts of Warwickshire are bits I don't really know (North Warwickshire, Rugby) or only know very partially or superficially (I'm familiar with Green Party target wards in Nuneaton, but not with the rest of the town). My knowledge of Colchester (where I grew up) and its surrounding constituencies is two decades out of date (visiting family a few times a year doesn't count as keeping up with how the constituency is now). And anything else either has existing write-ups that I can't add much to (Solihull, Meriden, Stratford-on-Avon) or are places where the nearest I come to having local knowledge is happening to visit occasionally or hearing political gossip.
I don't really wish to claim any of those unless somebody pressures me into doing them, so I'll probably be using any remaining writing time under lockdown for non-psephological stuff.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2020 16:44:22 GMT
I could attempt other parts of Lancashire but I would be stretching my actual knowledge and will be entering the realm of making copy from Google searches and the end result might be mechanical and forced.
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Post by yellowperil on May 16, 2020 13:58:18 GMT
I see that we have now got 327 constituencies in the system, of course of varying length and quality, but in that very limited sense we have passed the half-way point. I don't know how other people feel about their entries, but as far as "mine" are concerned - and I have now offered entries in some state or other of completion for 7 Kent constituencies and 4 Sussex ones- none of those are remotely near being the finished product, nor were they intended to be.As far as those two counties are concerned,I think 2 Kent constituencies and 4 Sussex ones have been done by other folk, and I have indicated I might be prepared to take on two more,Arundel & South Downs, and East Worthing and Shoreham, which would take us to 18 in Kent & Sussex together. That would I think still leave 6 Sussex constitiencies (Bexhill & Battle, Chichester, Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex and Wealden) and 8 more Kent ones(Chatham & Aylesford, Dartford, Gillingham & Rainham,Gravesham, Rochester & Strood,Sevenoaks, Sittingbourne & Sheppey, Tonbridge & Malling) which I believe are unclaimed. A week on from the above and as I have now reached the point where I have written a first draft of all the profiles I intend to do, though I'm still adding a few statistical addenda to those 13 constituencies, finally 7 Kent ones and 6 in Sussex. I am particularly looking at where we have got to , across "my" region, Southeast England.We have now passed the half way point here in that limited sense referred to in the above post- something down for 42 constituencies, 41 with nothing. Kent has 9 done, 8 to go, Sussex 11 done and 5 to go. Surrey and Oxon are doing even better-Surrey 8 out of 11 and Oxon 4 out of 5. Less good is Berks (3 out of 7),Bucks (3 out of 9) and definite wooden spoonists Hampshire (5 out of 19). I guess more and more of us are reaching the limits of our comfort zones. Of course outside the region the real black hole is Scotland! |
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iang
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Post by iang on May 16, 2020 20:19:57 GMT
I've covered all of the Hertfordshire seats and additionally the Harrow seats and Hendon. I intend to do the HIllingdon seats and I had also reached a Yalta style agreement with @barnabymarder on the division of Ealing, whereby I would do Ealing North which I know quite well (but I am happy for Barnaby to take that one if he wants it). I may add some more thoughts to the Brent seats which I had intended to do but probably can't add anything to the other Barnet seats. Other than that I may do Chesham & Amersham and could do Beaconsfield but would not want to step on Merseymike 's toes. I could also do some meaningful profiles of the Wolverhampton seats but that general area seems to be quite well covered. I've still got Halesowen & Rowley to do, then I've done all the Sandwell and Walsall seats. I could do Dudley & Wolverhampton as well, but I don't know those anything like as well, and wouldn't have much additional local knowledge except that the daughter of the new MP for Dudley North is in my Year 12 group! Happy to do them, but if other people want to, no problem, and will probably start with the Dudley seats anyway |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2020 4:29:50 GMT
I can't find a general discussion board for the almanac any more but I can do this seat plus Birkenhead, Wirral West and Wirral South. |
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2020 13:21:51 GMT
Would anybody object if I were to do Cotswolds and/or Tewkesbury?
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2020 22:24:25 GMT
Would anybody object if I were to do Cotswolds and/or Tewkesbury? Go for it  |
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WJ
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Post by WJ on May 24, 2020 17:36:16 GMT
Following on from Richard Allen's excellent Ludlow entry, I though I would try my own poor imitation for North Shropshire. Comments and edits are welcome. |
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