Wikipedia:Manual of Style (writing about fiction)

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✔ As part of the Manual of Style, this page is a guideline on Wikipedia. It is generally accepted among editors and is considered a standard that all users should follow. However, it is not set in stone and should be treated with common sense and the occasional exception. When editing this page, ensure that your revision reflects consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.
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This page in a nutshell: Wikipedia articles should describe fiction and fictional elements from the perspective of the real world, not from the perspective of the fiction itself. Jump to conclusions for a more detailed summary of this guideline's contents.

Wikipedia contains numerous articles on fictional worlds and elements from them. Like with all Wikipedia articles, a fictional topic's notability has to be established by and including reliable secondary sources. Once this is done, the approach to writing about these subjects is the most important consideration to make. Articles dealing with fictional subjects, characters, objects, events, or locations should discuss their authorship and their significance outside the narrative.

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[edit] Real world perspective

Articles about fiction, like all Wikipedia 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)
  • the presentation of fictional material
  • 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.

[edit] The problem with in-universe perspective

The in-universe perspective describes the fiction from the perspective of characters within the fictional universe, treating it as if it were real. Many fan wikis and fan websites (see below) take this approach, but it should not be used for Wikipedia articles. An in-universe perspective is inaccurate and misleading, gives undue weight to unimportant information and invites unverifiable original research. See also the sections on fair use, notability and undue 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 an historical account.
  • A fictional character article or section written like a biography.
  • Description of fictional places written like a geographical account.
  • Using infoboxes intended for real world topics.
  • Discussing a fictional topic's appearances in major works and obscure spin-off material in equal detail.
  • Using throwaway comments or jokes as a source of information.
  • Trying to reconcile contradictions or fill gaps in a fictional continuity, rather than reporting them as such.
  • Placing spiritual successors in the same continuity as the works that inspired them.
  • Using image captions for film stills and screenshots asserting that what is depicted is the character, rather than a film scene depicting the character.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Primary information

The term primary information describes information that can only be taken from primary sources, 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, of course, the plot itself

[edit] Secondary information

The term secondary information describes external information usually taken from and preferably backed up with secondary sources. Please note that publications affiliated with a particular work of fiction (e.g. fan magazines), are mostly not considered suitable secondary sources.

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 only by secondary sources:

  • 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

[edit] 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. 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 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.

[edit] Plot summaries

Plot summaries can be written from the real world perspective by referring to specific works or parts of works ("In the first book", "In Act II") or describing things from the author or creator's perspective ("The author introduces", "The story describes"). This gives the summary a more grounded tone and makes it more accessible to those unfamiliar with the source material. This style of writing should be preferred for plot summaries that encompass multiple works, such as a series of novels. Such conventions are not as important for plot summaries of single works, such as novels that are not part of a series; nevertheless, some real-world language at the beginning of such summaries is often good style.

[edit] Notability and undue weight

Main articles: Wikipedia:Notability (fiction) and WP:NPOV#Undue weight

There are specific notability prerequisites to be met by fictional 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.

It is important that articles give due weight to all aspects of the subject, and to avoid placing undue emphasis on minor points. This concerns all elements of the article page, including infoboxes and succession boxes as well as images and the text.

[edit] Fair use

As the Wikipedia servers are located in the U.S. state of Florida, Wikipedia 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 universe, or in some entirely different form such as a quizbook or "encyclopedia galactica".

Information about copyrighted fictional worlds and plots of works of fiction can be provided only under a claim of fair use, and Wikipedia's fair-use policy holds that "the amount of copyrighted work used should be as little as possible". Many works of fiction covered by Wikipedia are protected by copyright. Some works are sufficiently old that their copyright has expired, or the rights may have been released into the public domain.

[edit] 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 are necessary for a real world perspective: maintain a balanced use of both primary and secondary sources;
  • Unpublished personal observation and interpretation of the article's subject and primary sources are not acceptable on Wikipedia: avoid original research;
  • All included information needs to be attributable to 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 in the context of the original fiction;
  • Wikipedia's fair-use policy: the amount of copyrighted work used should be as little as possible.

[edit] List of exemplary articles

The following is a partial list of articles about fiction or elements from fiction that follow the real world perspective. These are good examples to follow for editors seeking to cover fictional subjects on Wikipedia. For other good examples, see the lists of articles that have been rated at Good and Featured status.

Note: Keep in mind that the content in these articles may have changed since the time of their original listing here.
Characters
Complete works (films, television series, novels, video games, etc.)
Miscellaneous

[edit] 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 improve it yourself, or add 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. This template looks like this:

This article or section describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style.
Please help rewrite this article to more clearly explain the fiction and provide non-fictional perspective.
{{Primarysources}}

If you notice an article featuring only primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject, preferably improve it yourself, or add the {{Primarysources}} template to bring the issue to the attention of others. This template looks like this:

This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. Please include more appropriate citations from reliable sources.

[edit] Alternative outlets for fictional universe articles

Some other Wikipedia-like projects prefer in-universe perspective. These are a good alternative for editors interested in such topics. The following is a partial list:

See also: List of wikis

[edit] 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 the year 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.

[edit] See also

[edit] Related WikiProjects

These are some of the more important WikiProjects that deal with fiction material. They may have additional suggestions, article templates and styles that you might wish to make yourself familiar with.

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