User:Popcornfud/How to summarize mentions in best-of lists
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For articles about films, albums, video games and other media, it's common to describe when the work has been included in lists such as the best album of the year, etc. These sections often quickly develop into clunky or repetitive prose. Here's some advice on how to simplify them.
Basic formula
[edit]Start with this:
In [year], [publication] named [artwork] the [accolade].
For example:
In 2018, Pitchfork named Paul's Boutique the 15th-greatest album of the 1980s.
Don't include the title of the list
[edit]This is usually a waste of space. Instead, summarize the gist.
- Rolling Stone placed it at number 19 in its list of "the greatest albums of the 1990s".
Rolling Stone named it the 19th-greatest album of the 1990s.
- It was placed number 50 in NME's list of "The Greatest Songs of the 1980s"
NME named it the 50th-greatest song of the 1980s.
- IGN included it in third place in its list of the best Saturn games.
IGN named it the third-best Saturn game.
The exception is when the nature of the list can't be paraphrased in terms appropriate for an encylopedia. This example comes from the article about the song "Ride on Time":
In 2014, Fact included "Ride on Time" in its list of "diva-house belters that still sound incredible".
Include the year
[edit]This is useful context. For example:
- Rolling Stone readers voted the album the 21st-greatest of all time.
When? Rolling Stone readers may be voting for the greatest albums of "all time", but they can't see the future. Who knows how their opinion may have changed since this vote, especially considering the sheer number of albums released each year?
Group by type, then by chronology
[edit]When summarising appearances in multiple lists of the same type (eg "best albums of the year," "best films of the 20th century", etc), group the appearances in chronological order. In these situations it's usually convenient to switch to passive voice — that is, writing [artwork] was named [accolade] by [publication]
.
For example, this paragraph:
- It was named one of the best games of all time by Computer and Video Games in 2000. In 2001, Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked it one of the best games of all time. Electronic Gaming Monthly named it one of the best games of all time again in 2006. IGN named it one of the best games of all time in 2007. It was ranked as one of the best games of all time by G4 in 2012.
... Can become a single sentence with no loss of information:
It was named one of the best games of all time by Computer and Video Games in 2000, Electronic Gaming Monthly in 2001 and 2006, IGN in 2007 and G4 in 2012.
Include commentary where appropriate
[edit]If a publication includes any interesting commentary with the listing, it's sometimes worthwhile to quote or paraphrase it.
This example comes from the Panzer Dragoon Saga article:
In 2008, IGN named it the greatest Saturn game, and wrote: "Panzer Dragoon Saga was the swan song to end all swan songs ... This dark, solemn game [is] wholly unique. It is the gem of the generation."
This example comes from the "Ride on Time" article:
Fact included "Ride on Time" in its 2014 list of "diva-house belters that still sound incredible", writing: "Some people see this as a guilty pleasure now. Those people are fools. Banging piano + Loleatta Holloway = world changing greatness." Mixmag included it in their 2019 list of the best "diva house tracks", writing that its "overall feel and wailing vocal accompaniment still bangs to this day and it is considered one of the first high-profile examples of italo house".
