User:Cryptic C62/Balance

When reviewing articles, I find that I often refer to the balance of the lead. I have realized that this term is not universal, so here I offer a wee bit of explanation to aid the curious. When I check if a lead is balanced, I am looking to see if:

• The relative weight of topics presented in the lead accurately reflects the relative weight of topics presented in the body.
• The individual statements in the lead are supported by sourced statements in the body.
• The lead is of an appropriate size for the article.

These are listed by the likelihood that I'll actually think to check them—I will always check the relative weight; I will usually only spotcheck the individual items that seem fishy unless I actually find the article interesting, in which case I'll check each sentence; I will generally only mention the size if it is blatantly wrong.

Cheers! --Cryptic C62 · Talk 02:56, 26 April 2011 (UTC)