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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
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.
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Misplaced Pages 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 Misplaced Pages, 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.

Please note that 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 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)
  • 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
  • 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

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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. Most importantly, in-universe perspective defies community consensus as to what we do not want Misplaced Pages 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.

For example, if a fictional TV detective loses a partner in the line of duty, taking an in-universe perspective will obscure whether this occurred in the backstory, the pilot or the main series. If the partner died in the pilot, but is the subject of little-known prequel novels, then an in-universe perspective may describe the partner in excessive detail. If later episodes have events which suggest the dead partner never existed, this is impossible to describe from an in-universe perspective, and editors will have to try to explain away such continuity errors themselves, leading to original research and inaccuracy.

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, of course,
  • 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 fictional world, 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. 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

Main articles: Misplaced Pages:Plot summaries and Misplaced Pages:How to write a plot summary.

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. The length of a plot summary should be carefully balanced with the length of the other sections.

Summary style approach

Main page: Misplaced Pages:Summary style

Sometimes, when an article gets long (see Misplaced Pages: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 Misplaced Pages procedure; the new article is sometimes called a "spinout" or "spinoff" of the main article, see for example wikipedia:summary style, which explains the technique. 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. 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.

The spinout article should concisely provide details of the topic or topics covered in the work – just because the spinout article is given more space to grow does not mean that excessive plot summaries or fictional character biographies are appropriate. As with other fictional works, the spinout article should be written in an "out-of-universe" style. As with all other Misplaced Pages articles, the spinout article needs to be verifiable, must possess no original research, and must reflect a neutral point of view.

Notability

Main pages: Misplaced Pages:Notability and WP: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 important not only that articles be written from a neutral point of view and give due weight to all aspects of the subject in terms of WP:NPOV, 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., unproportionally long plot summaries and in-universe writing.

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 the respective fictional 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 in some way, such as under the GFDL, or 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 is 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 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 in the context of 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;
  • 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
Complete works (films, television series, novels, video games, etc.)
Miscellaneous
See also

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)

Real-world perspective Barnstar

Properly writing about fiction is not an easy task. This is doubly true for coverage from a consistent real-world perspective. Therefore, any editor who makes an effort to improve one or more fiction-related articles by including or expanding material related to real-world perspective deserves due recognition, e.g., by being awarded a Real-world perspective Barnstar.

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:

See also: List of wikis

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

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.

Categories: