WikiQueer:Manual of Style/Writing about fiction

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WikiQueer contains numerous articles on fiction-related subjects, fictional worlds, and elements from them.

When an article is created, the subject's real-world notability should be established according to the general notability guideline by including independent reliable secondary sources—this will also ensure that there is enough source material for the article to be comprehensive and factually accurate.

Next, if the subject warrants inclusion in WikiQueer, editors should consider what to write about a subject, and how to best present that information. Because these questions are complementary, they should not be interpreted in isolation from one another, and editors should address both these questions simultaneously in order to create a well-written article.

This page is a guideline, not policy, and it should be approached with common sense and the occasional exception. However, following the basic notions laid out in this guideline is generally a good way to improve articles on fictional topics.

Real-world perspective

Articles about fiction, like all WikiQueer articles, should adhere to the real world as their primary frame of reference. The approach is to describe the subject matter from the perspective of the real world, in which the work of fiction and its publication are embedded. It necessitates the use of both primary and secondary information.

Exemplary aspects of real-world perspective include:

• Careful differentiation between the work of fiction itself and aspects of its production process and publication, such as the impact a work of fiction has had in the real world (see also below)
• Careful differentiation between narrated time and fictional chronology on the one hand, and narrative time and actual chronology of real-world events on the other (of particular relevance to all film and TV-related topics)
• The presentation of fictional material
  • particularly for film and TV-related topics, this may include cinematographical aspects
  • for literature, this may include writing style and literary technique
• Description of fictional characters, places and devices as objects of the narrative
• Making (referenced!) mention of the author's intention

See below for a list of exemplary articles which employ a consistent real-world perspective. However, consider that real-world perspective is not an "optional" quality criterion but a general, basic requirement for all articles.

The problem with in-universe perspective

An in-universe perspective describes the narrative from the perspective of characters within the fictional universe, treating it as if it were real and ignoring real-world context and sourced analysis. The threshold of what constitutes in-universe writing is making any effort to re-create or uphold the illusion of the original fiction by omitting real-world info.

Many fan wikis and fan websites (see below) take this approach, but it should not be used for WikiQueer articles. An in-universe perspective is inaccurate and misleading, inviting unverifiable original research. Most importantly, in-universe perspective defies community consensus as to what we do not want WikiQueer to be or become.

See also the sections on fair use, accuracy and appropriate weight, and templates.

Problems associated with an in-universe perspective include:

• Disregarding all or most aspects of a work of fiction as a creative endeavour
• A plot synopsis written like a historical account
• Fictography – a fictional character article or section written as if it were a biography
• Description of fictional places written like a geographical account
• Using past tense when discussing the plot or any of its elements
• Trying to reconcile contradictions or fill gaps in a fictional continuity, rather than reporting them as such
• Discussing a fictional topic's appearances in major works and obscure spin-off material in equal detail
• Placing spiritual successors in the same continuity as the works that inspired them
• Using throwaway comments or jokes as a source of information
• Using infoboxes intended for real world topics
• Using image captions for film stills and screenshots asserting that what is depicted is the character, rather than a film scene depicting the character
• Referring to the fictional events or dates which occur in the story, rather than the fictional works themselves
• Ordering works by their fictional chronology, rather than the actual order they were published

These restrictions should and do hold for serious satire such as Gulliver's Travels or Candide (and many works for the stage) where the fictional elements are designed to camouflage the serious political or social criticism within the work. In such cases, it is legitimate to freely examine the fictional elements and the design of the storyline in order to attempt to decipher the author's original intent. The same exemptions might apply to other special forms of literature where the fiction/non-fiction categorization is disputed, such as the possibly historical elements of religious scripture.

Primary and secondary information

Where the above section discusses the principal perspective from which an article is written and makes the distinction between real-world perspective versus "in-universe" perspective, this section discusses the incorporation of information. Please see also the related policy on the use of primary, secondary, and tertiary sources.

Primary information

The term primary information describes information that originates from primary sources about the fictional universe, i.e., the original work of fiction or an affiliated work of fiction (e.g., another episode of the same series). Even with strict adherence to the real-world perspective, writing about fiction always includes using the original fiction itself as a source. See also the sections on fair use and templates.

Examples of information available in primary sources include:

• the birth and death dates of fictional characters;
• performance statistics or characteristics for fictional vehicles or devices;
• history of fictional locations or organizations;
• background information on fictional creatures; and,
• the plot itself

Secondary information

The term secondary information describes information external to the fictional universe, and is usually taken from secondary sources about the work of art or the fictional world contained therein, or from primary and secondary sources about the author and the circumstances of creation. Publications affiliated with a particular work of fiction (e.g. fan magazines), are mostly not considered suitable secondary sources about the primary works. However, such publications may be suitable primary or secondary sources in an article about the fan publication itself or other related topics.

The rule of thumb is to use as much secondary information as necessary and useful to give the article a real-world perspective, not more and not less. Another rule of thumb is that if the topic is notable, secondary information should be available and possibly already in the article.

Examples of useful information typically provided by secondary sources about the original work, or primary and secondary sources about information external to the work:

• the author or creator
• other key figures of the creation process, e.g., the cinematographer for films or notable translators for novels
• the film or software company or publishing house
• the design
• the development, both before its first appearance and over the course of the narrative
• real-world factors that have influenced the work or fictional element
• for a fictional character in a dramatic production, the actor who portrayed the role and their approach to playing that character
• foreign translations
• its popularity among the public
• its sales figures (for commercial offerings)
• its reception by critics
• a critical analysis of the subject
• the influence of the work on later creators and their projects

Contextual presentation

There are generally two possible issues to be considered: The context of the production and the context of the original fiction. Whenever the original fiction itself is the subject of the article, all out-of-universe information needs to be set in the context of that original fiction (e.g., by including a plot summary). When the article concerns, e.g., a documentary about that original fiction, then it would not necessarily be important to discuss the content of the original source material.

Details of creation, development, etc. relating to a particular fictional element are more helpful if the reader understands the role of that element in the story. This often involves providing plot summaries, character descriptions or biographies, or direct quotations. By convention, these synopses should be written in the present tense, as this is the way that the story is experienced as it is read or viewed (see also WQ:TENSE). At any particular point in the story there is a 'past' and a 'future', but whether something is 'past' or 'future' changes as the story progresses. It is simplest and conventional to recount the entire description as continuous 'present'.

Presenting fictional material from the original work is fine, provided passages are short, are given the proper context, and do not constitute the main portion of the article. If such passages stray into the realm of interpretation, secondary sources must be provided to avoid original research.

Plot summaries

At the beginning of a plot summary, it's usually best to begin with some language that makes it clear that the section is talking about fictional material, to ground the plot summary and avoid confusion. Phrases such as "The novel begins with", "The play opens upon...", and the like help with this. For more complicated works, it's particularly helpful to begin with a one-sentence summary of the work, such as "The book deals with the Langstrom family, and their slow decline over three generations", before going into detail.

In order to facilitate using WikiQueer as a way to find information, it's often useful to ground the plot summary by referring to where things are found in the work, using phrases such as "In the first book", or "In Act II". This helps a user trying to find something in the work by directing them to where to look. This is especially useful in plot summaries that encompass multiple works, such as a series of novels.

The length of a plot summary should be reasonable for the complexity of the work, and the analysis and criticism it's meant to support. In particular, an over-detailed plot summary in an article with little other content is best avoided. Avoid creating pages consisting only of a plot summary; an encyclopedic article requires context.

In cases where trimming down a plot summary is necessary (usually due to excessive detail), great care is required: It's necessary to make sure that later parts of the summary or other sections of the article do not refer back to parts of the plot being deleted from the summary. Unless the situation is particularly bad, it's usually best not to attempt to trim a plot summary of a work you are not familiar with.

For more advice on writing plot summaries, the essays WikiQueer:Plot summaries and WikiQueer:How to write a plot summary may be useful.

Summary style approach

Main page: WikiQueer:Summary style

Sometimes, when an article gets long (see WikiQueer:Article size), a section of the article is made into its own article, and the handling of the subject in the main article is condensed to a brief summary. This is completely normal WikiQueer procedure; see for example WikiQueer:Summary style, which explains the technique. The new article is sometimes called a "spinout" or "spinoff" of the main article. For fictional works, these spinout articles are typically lists of characters or other elements that usually rely on the coverage of the parent topic, and may lack demonstration of real-world coverage through sources dedicated specifically to those elements (see WikiQueer:Lists). Very rarely should such spinout articles be about a singular topic (e.g., character, plot item); either that topic has demonstrated its own notability, or should be merged into the main article or existing spinout articles. As with other fictional works, the spinout article should be written in an "out-of-universe" style. As with all other WikiQueer articles, the spinout article needs to be verifiable and must reflect a neutral point of view.

If the spinout article contains a longer plot summary, it's still necessary to put it in context, and the amount of detail given must not get so excessive that it no longer serves an encyclopedic purpose; the point is to let our users understand the work, not to substitute for reading it.

Notability

Main pages: WikiQueer:Notability and WQ:NPOV#Undue weight

There are notability prerequisites to be met by all subjects to warrant articles specifically about them. As mentioned earlier, the rule of thumb is that if the topic is sufficiently notable, secondary sources should be available and should ideally be included on article creation.

Accuracy and appropriate weight

It is not only important that articles be written from a neutral point of view and that they give due weight to all aspects of the subject but also that appropriate weight be given to all elements of the article page, including, e.g., infoboxes and succession boxes as well as images and the text. The goal is to attain the greatest possible degree of accuracy in covering the topic at hand, which is also the basic rationale behind discouraging, e.g., disproportionately long plot summaries and in-universe writing.

Fair use

As the WikiQueer servers are located in the U.S. state of Florida, WikiQueer articles must conform to U.S. copyright laws. It has been held in a number of court cases that any work which re-tells original ideas from a fictional source, in sufficient quantity without adding information about that work, or in some way analysing and explaining it, may be construed as a derivative work or a copyright violation. This may apply irrespective of the way information is presented, in or out of the respective fictional universe, or in some entirely different form such as a quizbook or "encyclopedia galactica".

Many works of fiction covered by WikiQueer are protected by copyright, although some works are sufficiently old that their copyright has expired, or may have had the rights released in some way. Information about copyrighted fictional worlds and plots of works of fiction can be provided only under a claim of fair use, as such, we should limit the amount of detail to a reasonable level that informs the reader about the subject, while not going into excessive detail or attempting to substitute for the original work. We also need to provide context and commentary to make sure that the article does not consist only of copyrighted material.

Conclusions

When writing about fiction, keep the following in mind:

• The principal frame of reference is always the real world, in which both the work of fiction and its publication are embedded: write from a real-world perspective;
• Both primary and secondary information is necessary for a real-world perspective: maintain a balanced use of both primary and secondary sources and put the fictional work into a wider context, by including information about things like reviews, reception, and reliably-sourced analysis;
• All included information needs to be verifiable and derive from and be supported by reliable sources, and all sources (including the primary sources) need to be appropriately cited in the article: reference all information and cite your sources;
• All relevant aspects must be given due weight in all elements of the article page, including text, images, elements of layout and even the article title: give weight where weight is due;
• Readability and comprehensibility: put all information into context with the original fiction;
• Check with the image use policy before adding images to any article;
• Avoid creating lists of trivia; instead, incorporate relevant information into the body of the article;
• Since many plot summaries come under fair use, extra care should be taken to make sure the level of detail in the plot summary serves an encyclopedic purpose.

Templates

{{In-universe}}

If you notice an article that predominantly describes a fictional topic from an in-universe perspective, or even provides no indication that a fictional subject is fictional, preferably rewrite the article or section yourself, or use the {{In-universe}} template to bring the issue to the attention of others. Be sure to leave a note on the article's talk page explaining your objections. The template looks like this:

{{Cleanup-tense}}

One of the most frequently occurring errors associated with an in-universe style of writing is incorrect use of past tense when discussing elements of the plot. Works of fiction are generally considered to "come alive" when read. As with all other article issues, preferably fix it yourself, or alternatively you may use the template to supplement and specify the {{In-universe}} template's call for a consistent real-world perspective.

{{Primarysources}}

If you notice an article featuring only primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject, preferably find and add suitable sources yourself, or use the {{Primarysources}} template to bring the issue to the attention of others.

{{Plot}}

A plot summary should be succinct and focused on the main plot. What to cut can sometimes be a difficult decision. If you have the time and energy, please consider tightening overly long and overly detailed plot summaries yourself. Alternatively, use the template:

{{All plot}}

If you come across an article which consists entirely or almost entirely of a plot summary, you may use the {{All plot}} template to raise the issue. Since this is a crucial article issue which may eventually lead to the article being nominated for deletion, consider improving the article yourself.

{{No plot}}

Conversely, the {{No plot}} template can be used in the rather atypical case that a plot summary is missing from an article. If you feel qualified to write a basic plot summary, consider giving it a shot. Succinctly summarizing a plot and deciding which elements to mention and how to describe and weight them can be a challenge, but it's also a rewarding experience; plot summaries can be entirely based on primary sources and in many cases no complicated cross-reading between various sources is required.

Infoboxes and succession boxes

Infoboxes, usually placed in the upper-right portion of an article, give key data about the article's subject in tabular format. For entities within fiction, useful infobox data might include the creators or actors, first appearance, an image, and in-universe information essential to understanding the entity's context in the overall fiction. What qualifies as essential varies based on the nature of the work. Where facts change at different points in a story or series, there may be no appropriate in-universe information at all to add. By contrast, an infobox on a character in a fantasy work with multiple warring factions may warrant data such as allegiance.

As with all infoboxes, trivial details should be avoided. An infobox for a real-life actor would not contain items such as favorite food and hobbies; these details do not aid the reader in understanding the important characteristics of the subject. In the same way, infoboxes about fictional entities should avoid delving into minutiae, such as information only mentioned in supplementary backstory. For this reason, infoboxes meant for real-world entities should not be applied to their fictional counterparts, since, for example, information important to a description of a real-world company may be tangential to a fictional one. It is important to identify the revenue of Microsoft, whereas the fact that fictional MegaAcmeCorp makes 300 billion GalactiBucks in 2463 is probably unimportant.

Another common type of template, succession boxes, should not be used to describe in-universe relationships in articles about fictional entities. Succession boxes assume continuity, which may not exist. Furthermore, they may invite the creation of non-notable articles that fall under the fictional succession. For articles about works of fiction themselves, the story that each work of fiction depicts does not change despite the continuation of stories across serial works or sequels, and as a consequence, the events within one work of fiction are always in the present whenever it is read, watched, or listened to. In-universe temporal designations such as "current" or "previous" are therefore inappropriate. For character articles (which cannot be bound temporally), it may be acceptable to use customized templates to summarize information from the perspective of the real world, such as connections between articles describing the same fictional world. Such templates should not invite the creation of articles about non-notable subjects.

See also

• WikiQueer:Fancruft
• WikiQueer:Guide to writing better articles#Check your fiction
• WikiQueer:Naming conventions
• WikiQueer:Notability (fiction)
• WikiQueer is not an indiscriminate collection of information (No. 2, Plot summaries)