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Revision as of 10:07, 17 January 2008 editNydas (talk | contribs)3,216 edits →Non-notable topics: removed ref to The Brothers Karamazov, see talk← Previous edit Latest revision as of 22:58, 15 December 2023 edit undoJJMC89 bot III (talk | contribs)Bots, Administrators3,759,505 editsm Moving Category:Misplaced Pages essays (arts) to Category:Misplaced Pages essays about media per Misplaced Pages:Categories for discussion/Log/2023 December 4#Category:Misplaced Pages essays (arts) 
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{{Redirect|WP:FICTION|the style guideline|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Writing about fiction}}
{{Disputedtag|talkpage=Wikipedia_talk:Notability_%28fiction%29#totally_disputed.3F}}
__NOINDEX__
{{Misplaced Pages subcat guideline|notability guideline|Fiction|]<br />]}}
{{Notability essay|WP:FICT|WP:FICTION|WP:NFICT}}
{{nutshell|Topics within a fictional universe are ] if they have received substantial coverage in ] secondary sources. Non-notable information should be deleted only when other options have been exhausted.}}
{{pp-move-indef}}
⚫ {{for|the guidelines on presenting fiction from an out-of-universe perspective|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style (writing about fiction)}}
{{Nutshell|Fictional elements are expected to follow the same ] guidelines as any other topic.}}
:''For articles about books and films, rather than characters and locations therein, please refer to the guidelines ] and ].''
'''Misplaced Pages:Notability (fiction)''' covers the ] of elements within a work of fiction.
{{IncGuide}} {{IncGuide}}


There is no special guideline for the '''notability of fictional elements''' (such as characters and episodes) on Misplaced Pages. See other relevant ] in order to determine which fiction-related articles are appropriate for inclusion on Misplaced Pages. In particular, editors should review:
==Defining notability for fiction==
* The ]
This guideline is an extension of two excerpts:
* The policy on ]
* The manual of style for ]


For starters, the main work must be notable to begin with. If the work itself is not notable, it may be pointless to discuss the notability of its characters or episodes.
⚫ From ]:
<blockquote>Misplaced Pages articles on published works (such as fictional stories) should contain real-world context and sourced analysis, offering detail on a work's development, impact or historical significance, not solely a detailed summary of that work's plot. A brief plot summary may be appropriate as an aspect of a larger topic.</blockquote>


==History and rationale==
⚫ From ]:
Several attempts have been made to establish specialized guidelines to cover the notability of fictional elements within Misplaced Pages. Until there is a successful proposal to treat fiction in a specialized way, consult other policies and guidelines for guidance on a wide range of topics, including fiction. Existing policies and guidelines have wide acceptance among editors and describe standards that all users should normally follow.
<blockquote>A topic is presumed to be notable if it has received significant coverage in ] that are ] of the subject.</blockquote>


==Improving articles==
For articles about fictional concepts, ''] ]s'' cover information such as sales figures, critical and popular reception, development, cultural impact, and merchandise; this information describes the real-world aspects of the concept, so it is ''real-world content''.
Information that may help provide the real-world discussion necessary for an encyclopedia article about a fictional topic includes reception, analysis, significance, development, legacy and influence, and relationships with or comparisons to other media. Dedicated sections are good, though sometimes in less developed articles, such information is contained in the lead but not the body.


Bear in mind that content in such information should be referenced to ], independent sources.
Based on this reasoning and the above excerpts, fictional concepts can be presumed '''notable''' if they have ''received substantial coverage in ] secondary sources''.


If such sections do not exist, before nominating the article for possible deletion, please adhere to ] and check whether sources to improve the article exists. A possible solution in the spirit of ] can also take the form of ] the article to a list of similar entities or the article about the related, notable work this fictional element appears in.
==Dealing with fiction==
The following sections use the term "article" to encompass ], sub-articles, and ].


==Relevant guidelines and policies==
===Notable topics===
===Notability guidelines===
Topics within a fictional work (characters, places, items, concepts, etc.) are covered in the article on that work of fiction, with two exceptions:
⚫ {{main|Misplaced Pages:Notability}}
*If these concepts are individually ''']''' and an ''']''' causes the article on the work itself to ], then the concepts are split into succinct ] that maintain such an encyclopedic treatment.<ref>
The ] is appropriate and sufficient for demonstrating the notability of fictional elements. Specifically, fictional elements are presumed to be notable if there is significant coverage in independent secondary sources about the fictional element; when a fictional element is presumed notable, a separate article to cover that element is usually acceptable.
] is widely known beyond the original work he appeared in, with plenty of information available, including newspaper coverage and literary analysis.</ref><ref>
The article on ] contains significant real-world information about the character; he has his own article.
</ref> However, material should be organized into complete articles and ]; the existence of numerous small sub-articles can lead to disorganization and unbalanced coverage.
*Sub-articles are sometimes born for technical reasons of ] or ]. Even these articles need real-world information to prove their notability, but must rely on the parent article to provide some of this background material (due to said technical reasons).<ref>
], ], and ] were evolved from lists of terms, characters, events, and concepts into articles with both real-world content and an ].
</ref> In these situations, the sub-article should be viewed as an extension of the parent article, and judged as if it were still a section of that article. Such sub-articles should clearly identify themselves as fictional elements of the parent work within the ], and editors should provide as much real-world content as possible.


There are specialized notability guidelines for works of fiction which can be found in the following guidelines:
===Non-notable topics===
* ]
Discussions for articles that do not provide evidence of the notability of their subject should be guided by the following principles:
* ]
*The article is '''kept''' if the subject has received substantial coverage in reliable secondary sources <u>and</u> this coverage is ''explicitly'' referenced in the deletion discussion or is used to add real-world content to the article. Articles about fictional topics that are notable should be given time to develop.
* ]
*The article is '''merged''', in whole or in part, to another article to provide better context.<ref>
The summarized a portion of the plot for the game '']''. Relevant information was merged into the plot synopsis of the ''Galactic Battlegrounds'' article, and the ] link now redirects there.</ref> If material is merged, the article ''may not be deleted'' per the ]. In-universe information should be condensed or removed as necessary, and meaningful real-world content should be integrated. If the article becomes too long and a split would create a sub-article on a subject that is not individually notable, then the content should be trimmed.
*The article is ''']ed''' to a suitable wiki (such as or its ) if the above options are unavailable.<ref>
The '']'' lists on , , and had no chance of showing notability, so they were transwikied to the Xenosaga Wikia and redirected to the main ''Xenosaga'' page.
</ref> The article is then ] to the most relevant article to preserve edit history for the transwiki.
*The article is '''deleted''' only if the above options are either redundant, unavailable, or inappropriate. To avoid inefficiency, editors should only nominate articles that clearly fall into this category.<ref>
] was ] because it failed to include the substantial real-world information required to show notability. The information was already available on Wookiepedia and a merge was considered unnecessary, so deletion was the suitable option. It has since been created as a redirect to ], but the edit history has not been restored since no information was merged.</ref>


===What Misplaced Pages is not===
Avoid creating new articles on fictional topics that lack substantial real-world content (and an ]) from the onset. Editors must ''prove'', preferably in the article itself, that there is an availability of sources providing real-world information by: providing hyperlinks to such sources; outlining a rewrite, expansion, or merge plan; and/or gaining the consensus of established editors. Otherwise, the article will be subject to the options above. Place appropriate clean-up tags to stimulate activity and mark the articles as needing attention.
⚫ {{main|Misplaced Pages:What Misplaced Pages is not}}
Articles on fiction are expected to follow existing content policies and guidelines, particularly ]. Articles on fiction elements are expected to cover more about "real-world" aspects of the element, such as its development and reception, than "in-universe" details.


===Manual of style===
==Relocating non-notable fictional material==
⚫ {{main|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style (writing about fiction)}}
], Misplaced Pages's sibling project, contains instructional and educational texts. These include annotated works of fiction (on the ]) for classroom or private study use. ], similarly, holds original public domain and GFDL source texts. See ]. One possible action to consider is to make use of all of the Wikimedia projects combined: to have an encyclopedia article about the work of fiction on Misplaced Pages giving a brief outline, a chapter-by-chapter annotation on Wikibooks, the full source text on Wikisource (if the work is in the public domain), and ] joining them all together into a whole. However, Wikibooks , so it is not an appropriate place to transwiki large quantities of in-universe material.
Editors interested in writing articles on fictional elements are encouraged to review ] and ] to understand the general approach and content of these articles.


==Lists of fictional elements==
Fictional material unsuited or too detailed for Misplaced Pages can be transwikied to the appropriate Wikia, such as and . Other sites, such as , may also accept material. Transwikied material should be edited to meet the guidelines of specific wikias; do not just copy and paste. The is a staging area for transwikied material and a place for non-notable fictional material that does not have another home; the original Misplaced Pages versions will also be stored there.
Individually non-notable elements of a fictional work (such as characters and episodes) ''may'' be grouped into an appropriate list article. Advice for the appropriateness of these list articles can be found at ] and at ].


==See also== ==Consult Wikiprojects==
Editors should also review guidelines and recommendations made by WikiProjects that deal primarily with works of fiction. These include but not limited to:
* For examples of high quality fiction articles, see the articles that have been rated as ] and ].
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ] * ]
* ]
* ]


A ] was created in 2009 but it was retired in 2010.
==Notes==


==Previous proposals==
* ], the original attempted rewrite from c. 2007-2009
* ], a previous failed proposal from 2007
* ], a previous proposal abandoned in 2008
* ], a previous failed proposal, in 2011 recategorized as an essay


==See also==
]
*]
]
] *]
*]


] ]
]
{{Reflist}}

Latest revision as of 22:58, 15 December 2023

"WP:FICTION" redirects here. For the style guideline, see Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Writing about fiction. Essay on editing Misplaced Pages
This is an essay on notability.
It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Misplaced Pages contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Misplaced Pages's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.		Shortcuts
This page in a nutshell: Fictional elements are expected to follow the same notability guidelines as any other topic.
Notability
General notability guideline
Subject-specific guidelines
See also

There is no special guideline for the notability of fictional elements (such as characters and episodes) on Misplaced Pages. See other relevant policies and guidelines in order to determine which fiction-related articles are appropriate for inclusion on Misplaced Pages. In particular, editors should review:

For starters, the main work must be notable to begin with. If the work itself is not notable, it may be pointless to discuss the notability of its characters or episodes.

History and rationale

Several attempts have been made to establish specialized guidelines to cover the notability of fictional elements within Misplaced Pages. Until there is a successful proposal to treat fiction in a specialized way, consult other policies and guidelines for guidance on a wide range of topics, including fiction. Existing policies and guidelines have wide acceptance among editors and describe standards that all users should normally follow.

Improving articles

Information that may help provide the real-world discussion necessary for an encyclopedia article about a fictional topic includes reception, analysis, significance, development, legacy and influence, and relationships with or comparisons to other media. Dedicated sections are good, though sometimes in less developed articles, such information is contained in the lead but not the body.

Bear in mind that content in such information should be referenced to reliable, independent sources.

If such sections do not exist, before nominating the article for possible deletion, please adhere to WP:BEFORE and check whether sources to improve the article exists. A possible solution in the spirit of WP:PRESERVE can also take the form of redirecting the article to a list of similar entities or the article about the related, notable work this fictional element appears in.

Relevant guidelines and policies

Notability guidelines

Main page: Misplaced Pages:Notability

The Misplaced Pages's general notability guideline is appropriate and sufficient for demonstrating the notability of fictional elements. Specifically, fictional elements are presumed to be notable if there is significant coverage in independent secondary sources about the fictional element; when a fictional element is presumed notable, a separate article to cover that element is usually acceptable.

There are specialized notability guidelines for works of fiction which can be found in the following guidelines:

What Misplaced Pages is not

Main page: Misplaced Pages:What Misplaced Pages is not

Articles on fiction are expected to follow existing content policies and guidelines, particularly Misplaced Pages is not simply plot summaries. Articles on fiction elements are expected to cover more about "real-world" aspects of the element, such as its development and reception, than "in-universe" details.

Manual of style

Main page: Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style (writing about fiction)

Editors interested in writing articles on fictional elements are encouraged to review Writing About Fiction and Misplaced Pages:Writing better articles#Check your fiction to understand the general approach and content of these articles.

Lists of fictional elements

Individually non-notable elements of a fictional work (such as characters and episodes) may be grouped into an appropriate list article. Advice for the appropriateness of these list articles can be found at the general notability guideline and at Stand-alone Lists and Topics.

Consult Wikiprojects

Editors should also review guidelines and recommendations made by WikiProjects that deal primarily with works of fiction. These include but not limited to:

A Misplaced Pages:Fiction/Noticeboard was created in 2009 but it was retired in 2010.

Previous proposals

See also

Categories:
Misplaced Pages:Notability (fiction): Difference between revisions Add topic