Has anybody else out there stumbled on the enchanting use that fans of the Potter series have made of Wikipedia? There's an entire web of pages about the magical world Rowling created. Richly linked and described in loving detail. Take this snippet from the page about Death Eaters.
Every last one of these blue and purple terms are live links to additional pages. The ones pictured here reflect a mere fraction of the collaborative pages devoted to documenting the characters, magical beings, toys, tokens, and titles in the series.
I'm in total awe. Sort of the way I felt when I read The Lord of the Ring in high school and relished the detailed maps, elfin language lexicon, and rune lore that Tolkein provided at the back of my edition.
By the way, Tolkein's series is similarly documented in Wikipedia. Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time is not quite so generously hyperlinked, but similar attempts have been made to capture his fantasy world. In fact, I'm guessing any fantasy with devoted fans will ultimately receive wiki treatment.
Seeing fantasy worlds mapped out this way makes me wonder if creating a personal wiki for the mystery I'm writing might not be a bad idea. Come to think of it, I've got most of the pieces in files already...blurb, synopsis, character studies, scene list, timeline, research notes.... It wouldn't be hard to convert to wiki format and set up the links. It would be fantastic to hook all these documents together in a single wiki. Hey, I've even got snippets of free-writing 'by' various characters, and digital pictures of some!
I know, I know, I do tend to go overboard. But there's free software available to do this kind of thing, and naturally, once my book's famous (!) I can make portions of my own personal wiki available to Wikipedia....
- Lois
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5 comments:
Wow, amazing what people can do when they have the time.
Oh, Lois, I know all about the going overboard thing!
Lois, I enjoy Wiki, but I don't think I would have the patience to put together an entire page with all the attendant links. Still, I would feel very smart after I got it done . . .
Terrie
Lois, I have a "world creation" fantasy story/graphic novel that I'm currently finishing which might be ripe for a Wiki, since we're also doing online portfolios and extras on the various personas and subplots.
I think it'll be some serious work to make, but I might need it as reference for myself someday, and it could be a fantastic way to promote the concept online and get people hooked into the characters and setting, something we'll be trying to do with samples and goodies on the main website as well.
I've seen wikis for other such things, but never considered creating one for Afterworld. Even if I think you've made me a big project, I must admit, you're brilliant!
Dawn - It's truly a sickness. Glad to know I'm not alone....
Marijke, Terrie - look - we've already put years into these novels, might as well spend a few more days! The software makes it easy.
Clare2e - At first I thought, why don't we all add our books to Wikipedia! What an incredible marketing idea. But even though people can make their own entries, according to the FAQ, they must prove the entry's significance. So I assume that shoots down the addition of a Wikipedia page about anything but a hugely popular book or series. Which I'm sure - knowing you! - yours will be (do you have a publisher?) But you could link to your own Wiki from your web pages. Come to think of it, SinC could actually make its own version of Wikipedia for our books.... oooooh!!!! Fantasy, though, is the ultimate for such a thing. You go girl!
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