[WikiEN-l] Notability and Fiction

[David Goodman]

See WT:RS and related discussions--the primary source is not just
accepted for the statement of the basic facts of the plot, but usually
preferred for it -- the interpretation of the plot is what needs the
secondary sources. Many plot sections, unfortunately, confuse the
two--I can not think of any type of article in Wikipedia where the
writing is so consistently below grade as articles or section on plot
or on fictional characters. Attempts to correct it usually reduce it
to  single line of teaser--which is of course equally wrong.

The nonsense this can lead to is visible in a current AfD,
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Hugo Austin ,   where the nominator's
argument is that all the articles on all characters of the famous
australian soap opera Home and Away should be deleted, because they
are either too long or too short. Most of them are in fact, too long
or too short , and need to be fixed, but there seems a substantial
sentiment in favor of deleting rather than fixing.

David Goodman, Ph.D, M.L.S.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:DGG



On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 2:07 PM, <WJhonson at aol.com> wrote:
> In a message dated 7/1/2009 5:05:46 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
> andrewrturvey at googlemail.com writes:
>
> You're  suggesting that [[WP:FICT]] and presumably other specific
> guidelines should be  allowed to depart from the central guideline which would just
> become a default  guideline to be applied where a subsidiary guideline
> doesn't exist?  >>
> ---------------
>
> A little while ago I was reading through our article on the list of Outer
> Limits episodes and I noticed a tag at the top that I'd not seen before.
> It said something like that the source itself is not generally considered
> sufficient for an article.  Thinking about that more, it's a bit odd.
>
> For a person, you can't interview them and then write up their biography,
> but let's say you watched an Outer Limits episode.  It states who the
> actors were, what the title was, you can write a generally simply and bland
> overview of the plot.  It's a primary source, but surely you are merely
> *describing* the source, you are not interpreting it.
>
> _http://knol.google.com/k/chair-potato/chairpotato-presents-outer-limits/hyu
> jx7mco9jp/4_
> (http://knol.google.com/k/chair-potato/chairpotato-presents-outer-limits/hyujx7mco9jp/4) #
>
>
> Will Johnson
>
>
>
> **************Make your summer sizzle with fast and easy recipes for the
> grill. (http://food.aol.com/grilling?ncid=emlcntusfood00000005)
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