All The Tropes:FAQ for Creators

This page is Frequently Asked Questions for the creators of works.

Before we start with the questions, we'd welcome you to All The Tropes. We hope that you feel like this is a community you can join and talk to. Most of the members of our volunteer staff are also creators, whether it be of published books or fanfiction. So we hope you feel at home here, too.

I don't want to edit this wiki, but I need to tell you guys something about my creation and your website.
Okay, sure. While we would love your participation, you can see the Contact Us page to talk by email or phone. But please continue reading this page first, to see if we've addressed your issue below.

Is it okay to post on pages about works that I've written/created?
Sure. No one knows your work as well as you do. Feel free to pimp out the entry, and make it all nice and shiny. If the page doesn't exist, create it. We're happy to have you on board, making our site better with more information about your creation.

However, the website is about patterns in media and literary criticism -- not about selling your book. Flat out salesmanship isn't suitable for our site. And if we discover that you're the only person who's been talking about your work, we just might put a tag on the work page that specifically asks for other people's opinions (which of course would require other people to actually read, watch, or listen to your work).

What about if I haven't actually finished or released my work?
You can still make a page about it, to help you keep track of your ideas, but it should be put as a subpage of your user page until you release your work.

The page on my work has all of these ideas that aren't correct at all.
Keep in mind the concept of Death of the Author. Sometimes, people may see things in your work that you yourself do not. This is okay. It means that your work has captured someone else's imagination in such a way that they came to different conclusions than you did -- that your words are somehow alive.

Feel free to offer alternate opinions, which you can even note as Word of God. If something is factually and demonstrably wrong though, please fix it or let us know. We don't want to be spreading lies about you or your book.

Your pages aren't written in a neutral point of view.
That's a good point, and absolutely correct, sir or madam.

Can you (or I) make the page on my work less negative?
Most likely. We don't want to get rid of everyone's opinions, but we can present multiple points of view.

We like to think about All The Tropes as being a place for creators and fans to talk about literature and entertainment. This means that you, as the creator, are invited to join the discussion as well. It also means that we like entries that support our favorite creative works. Moreover, it means that we have to deal with all of the quirks of Fandom.

Sometimes, fans can form a hatedom, which is really just a love-hate relationship with your work. No one has watched the widely-reviled Star Wars Christmas Special without being a huge fan of Star Wars. Don't take it personally. There are lots of jerks on the internet.

Feel free to edit the page, or ask us to do so. If you do edit, try not to squelch other people's opinions; instead, add your own to make the page to represent multiple points of view. And remember, Tropes Are Not Bad -- they're simply the tools of the trade for writers.

But yeah, personal attacks, those need to be deleted. Hate the game, not the playa.

How can I get you guys to stop mentioning my work?
Um, well, under normal circumstances, you can't. Imagine if Shakespeare had said, "Nobody talk about my plays!" We have an educational goal, and that's to discuss the patterns in creative works we call tropes, as a form of literary criticism.

First and foremost, you should take it as a compliment that people want to talk about your work. Even if a person is complaining about your work, it means that you captured that person's imagination and your creation was in some way a success. You can even take it as free advertising.

Still, there are some reasons for removing a work from the site that we might be sympathetic to, such as: an Old Shame that cripples your career, threats to your or someone else's safety, or harassment by fans/haters. If you still feel that you have an extraordinary reason for us to get rid of the page on your work, feel free to Contact Us.

Remember that the administrators of the wiki are writers and publishers ourselves, so we'll try to understand what you're going through. We may or may not end up agreeing in the end, but we will try to treat you with respect.

You aren't allowed to just copy my work.
You're correct. We totally aren't (unless you released it under a free license similar to the one this site uses). Check out our Copyrights policy. The short version: If you have a copyright infringement complaint or DMCA takedown request, you can contact us, or send a DMCA request to [mailto:brent@allthetropes.org brent@allthetropes.org].

Dammit, they spoiled the ending!
Unless your Twist Ending has become a part of pop culture ("It Was His Sled"), we don't like spoilers to good plots, either. Those can be covered with spoiler tags, so that people can highlight the text to learn the surprise ending, if they so choose. If you have an account, you can just edit the page (see Help:Editing pages if need be), otherwise, just Contact us to make the adjustment.

If you wish to see previous versions of this policy, or you want to know when this policy was last updated and what was changed, please review the page history by selecting "History" from the menu at the top of this page.