I edited a Wikipedia article

There have been a few discussion in the online writing community about whether Wikipedia is a valid source. Most people say no, but I disagree: While I don't think it is always reliable or high quality, I do think Wikipedia offers a good source for general or background information, and an excellent jumping-off point for more in-depth research.

But I am getting away from my point: I edited a Wikipedia article just now, and it felt good.

I often find grammatical mistakes and other minor problems in Wikipedia articles, but I've never tried to change them. Tonight I finally did. Someone had written that so-and-so "shot dead" a bunch of people. That bothered me to no end — what is this, a Western? — so I changed it to "shot and killed."

I was pleasantly surprised to see that my change showed up instantly — no review or anything. While that is obviously why there are so many errors in Wikipedia — and why pages never stay the same for very long — I have to admit, it was rather satisfying.

Even for a published writer, who should be above getting her kicks by making changes to lowly Wikipedia articles!