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What if you start reading a book and suddenly realize that the book ''is about you!'' This has got to be some joke, right? But then how could whoever have done this have known that you would read the section which says you are in the cafeteria reading the book under a table, at the exact time you were doing just that? And now it's talking about what you're contemplating at this very moment, and this ''[[Mind Screw|blows your mind]]''.
Don't worry, variations of this happen a lot and it seems like
:'''Type 1 : Your Fate Is Already Decided'''
:The book already seems to be completely written and appears to have predicted your every move. This may double as a [[Tome of Fate]], depending on whether the book itself is magic (which would qualify under this trope), or someone else merely wrote such things in a more or less standard book (which would not qualify). Sometimes events written in the book turn out to be wrong, or able to be changed by the character's reaction to the information the book provides.
:'''Type 2 : Automatic Data Recorder'''
:The book writes itself as you read it, observing rather than predicting your movements. It may contain information merely about what happens around the book itself or things which are pertinent to the plot of the story. Often these books also have some form of omniscience, and have things written in them that the protagonist could never have known about (''"Little does Alice know, that Bob is sneaking up behind her at this very moment!"''). The words might literally appear on the page before your eyes, or as you turn the last page written on there might mysteriously be a next one.
:'''Type 3 : Choose Your Own Adventure'''
:The book must be written in, and the things you write about start happening. There may be certain rules attached to this version, or not everything you write will happen, it might be random chance which elements your write down come to pass.
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== Anime and Manga ==
* The ''[[
* ''[[Mirai Nikki]]'' features journals which contain the future entries of characters, allowing them to see what they'll experience in the future, and react to them. The journals change as they do things. Most of these journals take the form of diaries entered into cellphones, though one woman has hers on a scroll.
* ''[[
* '''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'' has "The Universe of the Four Gods", which is type 2. While Miaka and Yui continue their adventure, people in our world can read, what is happening in this moment in Four God's dimension.
* Zetta becomes a type III book in ''[[Makai Kingdom]]''.
== Comic Books ==
* ''[[The Sandman]]'': Destiny, the eldest of the Endless, only intervenes when the Book of Destiny tells him to.
{{quote|
* The Awesome Comics mini-series ''[[Youngblood: Judgment Day]]'', written by [[Alan Moore]], revolved around a mystical book. Anything written in this book became reality.
* In the [[Dragon
* ''Once In a Blue Moon'' has sort of a [[Timey-Wimey Ball|timey-wimey]] twist: Aeslin goes back to Avalon because of something she sees about to happen in the magic book, but the writer of the book in Avalon doesn't write that part until ''after'' it happens.
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* In ''[[Stranger Than Fiction]]'', the protagonist finds out that unwittingly by all involved, he's the main character of a book currently being written by an author famous for killing off her characters.
* ''[[The Neverending Story (
* An example of a video rather than a book. ''[[
== Literature ==
* In the ''[[
* The Book of Three from the ''[[Chronicles of Prydain]]''.
* In ''[[Discworld]]'' death has an entire library of books that write themselves as people's lives unfold.
* In [[Edward Eager]]'s ''Seven Day Magic'', the children find a magic book that not only lets them wish themselves into other books, but also records everything that happens to them as it happens. And whenever anyone else picks it up, it appears as whatever book they would most like to read.
* ''[[
* ''[[Young Wizards]]'' has The Book of Night With Moon.
* The eponymous book in ''[[The Neverending Story (
== Live-Action TV ==
* ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'': Chuck the Prophet writes books about two characters he thinks he made up named Sam & Dean Winchester, who have lives identical to the real Sam & Dean. At some points what he writes lines up with what's happening to Sam & Dean at that exact time. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBltFtAfiEg Like this scene in the laundromat:]
{{quote|
Dean: I'm sitting in a laundromat, reading about myself sitting in a laundromat reading about myself... My head hurts.
Sam: There's got to be something this guy's not telling us.
''(Sam turns to toss his darks into the machine. Dean continues reading.)''
Dean: "Sam tossed his gigantic darks into the machine. He was starting to have doubts about Chuck, about whether he was telling the whole truth."
Sam:Stop it.
Dean: "'Stop it,' Sam said." Guess what you do next. ''(Sam turns away, scowling.)'' "Sam turned his back on Dean, his face brooding and pensive." I mean, I don't know how he's doing it, but this guy is doing it. I can't see your face, but those are definitely your "brooding and pensive" shoulders. ''(Sam sighs, exasperated. Dean looks down at the manuscript.)'' You just thought I was a dick.
Sam: ''(turns around looking impressed.)'' The guy's good. }}
* ''[[
* ''[[The X
* The ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'' episode "The Quill Is Mightier..." features a magic scroll that causes whatever is written on it to become reality. The scroll tends to be something of a [[Literal Genie]].
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* The book in ''[[Avalon Code]]'' is roughly this. It's meant to record everything in the world, but you must record everything ''manually'' by slamming the book on top of them, whether they're a person, a monster or an inanimate object. You can play mix-and-match with some of their attributes to weaken or strengthen them (making monsters easier or harder to fight) and do other tweaks.
* ''[[Makai Kingdom]]''. The Sacred Tome [[Tomes of Prophecy and Fate|predicts the future with absolute certainty]], and whatever is written in it BECOMES the truth. 'Badass Freakin' Overlord' Zetta is pissed off because the tome claims that he will destroy his own Netherworld through foolishness and arrogance, so he burns it. This causes the entire world to collapse, and he has to quickly transform HIMSELF into the Sacred Tome to prevent a total collapse, though his own Netherworld still bites it, thus [[Self-Fulfilling Prophecy|proving the prediction true]]... Most of the gameplay basically centers around using the powers of the Zetta-Tome, by having various characters write 'wishes' into it, thus making them come true.
* ''[[
* Gran Grimoire from ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'' has changed entire town into fantasy kingdom.
* Luso Clemens from ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics
* A non-book example happens in ''[[Persona 2]]'': rumors become true if enough people hear about them (this is due to a demon dicking with humanity.) No writing needed, just word of mouth. Mostly this results in [[Urban Legends]] becoming true, but at one point the player characters themselves take advantage of it.
== Web Original ==
* The [[SCP Foundation]] has some of these
** [http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-140 140]. Is a book that chronicles the story of the Daevites, a highly militaristic civilization that engaged in such charming practices as slavery, [[Human Sacrifice]]s, and several other nasty things. Whenever any fluid suitable for writing is within 15 meters of it (and human blood seems to be its favorite substance to use), the book uses it to expand and keep chronicling the story of the Daevites, recovering from their defeats and going on again on its conquering quest, all while gaining supernatural abilities in the process. When the Foundation first recovered the book, the Daevites had been stopped around 200 BCE by the forces of Chinese general Qin Kai; now, they were wiped out by Ghengis Khan, ''around 1400 years later''. It has been estimated that if the Daevites survive a certain point of history, it would retroactively destroy civilization as we know it. {{Spoiler|While containing it seems easy, the Foundation doesn't have every copy of the book... and all of them share the same qualities.}}
** The [http://www.scp-wiki.net/kate-mctiriss-s-proposal -001 proposal by Kate McTiriss] claims that the -001 slot is part a [[Reality Warper|reality warping]] device, part this trope.
== Western Animation ==
* One of these appears in a later episode of ''[[
* ''[[Sabrina the Teenage Witch (TV series)|Sabrina the Teenage Witch]]'': Sabrina finds a typewriter in the attic. The short story she writes is Type 3.
* On ''[[Regular Show]]'' forging the park records has this effect. Mordecai and Rigby do it to trick Benson into giving them a raise, but Rigby overdoes it, resulting in the park being attacked by a snow monster.
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[[Category:Reality Writing Book]]
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