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An in-universe perspective describes the narrative from the perspective of characters within the ], treating it as if it were real and ignoring ]. 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. | An in-universe perspective describes the narrative from the perspective of characters within the ], treating it as if it were real and ignoring ]. 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 ]) take this approach, but it should not be used for Misplaced Pages articles. An in-universe perspective is inaccurate and misleading, gives ] to unimportant information and invites ] ]. |
Many fan wikis and fan websites (see ]) take this approach, but it should not be used for Misplaced Pages articles. An in-universe perspective is inaccurate and misleading, gives ] to unimportant information and invites ] ]. | ||
See also the sections on ], ], and ]. | See also the sections on ], ], and ]. |
Revision as of 20:36, 2 October 2007
This guideline is a part of the English Misplaced Pages's Manual of Style. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page. | Shortcut
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This page in a nutshell: Misplaced Pages 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. |
Misplaced Pages contains numerous articles on fictional worlds and elements from them. Like with all Misplaced Pages 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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Real world perspective
Articles about fiction, like all Misplaced Pages 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
- 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.
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 Misplaced Pages 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.
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 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
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
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.
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.
Notability and undue weight
Main pages: Misplaced Pages:Notability (fiction) and WP:NPOV § Undue weightThere 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.
Fair use
As the Misplaced Pages servers are located in the U.S. state of Florida, Misplaced Pages 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 Misplaced Pages's fair-use policy holds that "the amount of copyrighted work used should be as little as possible". Many works of fiction covered by Misplaced Pages 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.
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 Misplaced Pages: 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;
- Misplaced Pages's fair-use policy: the amount of copyrighted work used should be as little as possible.
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 Misplaced Pages. 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
- Captain Marvel (DC Comics) (comic book character)
- Characters of Final Fantasy VIII (an article covering the characters of the game, as well as their creation)
- Felix the Cat (classic cartoon character)
- Palpatine, Padmé Amidala, and Jabba the Hutt (Star Wars characters)
- Pauline Fowler (EastEnders character)
- Jason Voorhees
- Complete works (films, television series, novels, video games, etc.)
- The Adventures of Tintin (comic book series)
- Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None (video game)
- Arrested Development (television series)
- Doctor Who (television series)
- Krazy Kat (comic strip)
- The Illuminatus! Trilogy (science fiction novels)
- The Lord of the Rings (fantasy novel)
- Red vs. Blue (machinima science fiction parody serial)
- Tenebrae (film) (horror film)
- Miscellaneous
- Spoo (fictional food)
- Three Laws of Robotics (fictional ethics)
- World of Final Fantasy VIII (fictional world)
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 describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. Please help rewrite it to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
- {{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 relies excessively on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Find sources: "Writing about fiction" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Alternative outlets for fictional universe articles
Some other Misplaced Pages-like projects prefer in-universe perspective. These are a good alternative for editors interested in such topics. The following is a partial list:
- 24 Wikia — Describes the universe of the 24 television show.
- Alphanex - A wiki concerning the Marvel Comics team Alpha Flight
- Battlestar Wiki — A Battlestar Galactica-related encyclopedia.
- Buffyverse Wiki - A wiki dedicated to the fictional universe of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its spin-offs.
- Bulbapedia — Describes the Pokémon universe.
- Comixpedia's Webcomic Encyclopedia — A wiki about webcomics.
- DC Database — An unofficial DC Comics wiki.
- DC Animated Universe Wiki — An unofficial DC animated universe wiki.
- Dragon Ball - A wiki about the Dragon Ball multiverse.
- Dungeons & Dragons and Dungeons & Dragons - wikis devoted to the Dungeons & Dragons game.
- Encyclopedia Gamia — A wiki about computer and video games, board, card and pen and paper games.
- Eragon - Eragon
- Family Guy wiki — Family Guy
- Final Fantasy — A wiki dedicated to the Final Fantasy franchise.
- GameWikis — Community fansite/wiki for several computer games such as: Guild Wars and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Warhammer Online.
- Greyhawk wiki - a wiki devoted to the world of Greyhawk.
- Lostpedia — A wiki dedicated to the Lost universe.
- Marvel Database — An unofficial Marvel Comics wiki.
- Marvel Universe — The official Marvel Comics wiki.
- Memory Alpha — Describes the Star Trek universe.
- Pro Wrestling Wikia - Professional wrestling wiki
- SimpsonsWiki — A Simpsons-related wiki.
- Teletraan-1 - A wiki dedicated to the Transformers toylines, cartoon series, comics and movies.
- Tenchi in Tokyo — A wiki dedicated to the Tenchi anime series.
- Tolkien Gateway — A wiki dedicated to J.R.R. Tolkien and his works.
- The TV IV — A user-edited compedium of television knowledge.
- The Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages — A wiki dedicated to The Elder Scrolls series.
- Wookieepedia — Describes the Star Wars universe.
- WoWWiki — A wiki for the World of Warcraft videogame.
- RuneScape Wiki A wiki devoted to the MMORPG RuneScape.
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.
See also
- Misplaced Pages:Notability (fiction)
- Misplaced Pages:Fancruft
- Misplaced Pages:Guide to writing better articles#Check your fiction
- Misplaced Pages is not an indiscriminate collection of information (#2, Plot summaries)
- Misplaced Pages:Naming conventions: TV | Books | Films
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.
- WikiProject Anime and manga
- WikiProject Books
- WikiProject Comics
- WikiProject Films
- WikiProject Computer and video games
- WikiProject Novels
- WikiProject Television
- WikiProject Soap Operas