Wikipedia:Write the article first

This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

Shortcuts WP:WTAF WP:WRITEITFIRST

This page in a nutshell: Editors are encouraged to write the article on a given subject BEFORE adding a link to the article in list pages, disambiguation pages, See also sections, or templates.

Wikipedia editors should write a new article before they create links to that article in list pages, disambiguation pages, "See also" sections, templates, or redirects in the encyclopedia. This is an exception to the general rule encouraging red links for notable subjects.

Frequently, editors (mostly inexperienced ones) add wikilinked entries in lists, "See also" sections, navigation templates, hatnotes, and disambiguation pages, or create redirects to pages that do not yet exist. If such an entry links to an article that does not exist, the result is a red link like this one. When the editor goes on to create the new article, the red link in the list turns blue, and assuming the article follows Wikipedia's practices (such as notability, verifiability, and other relevant policies and guidelines), everything is fine.