Wikipedia:Locations in fiction, fictional locations, and settings

The purpose of this style guide is to create a system in which locations in fiction, fictional locations, and settings act as a cohesive body of work on Wikipedia. The policy will also give editors a starting point and a natural progression to limit any confusion. Over the course of the discussions, this proposed guide rough draft will be updated.

The references of real locations in fiction and the lists of fictional places are going to be different. A real location in fiction list will have items which reference that location. A list of fictional locations will list the location with a mention of the item which referenced it.

Real places
First is the article where the original list is placed with the rest of the body text on the subject. When the list becomes too long, it will be split and placed on its own with a smaller list of the most notable left in the article. As articles are written of the items on the list and linked to the list, a category will be created.

Names of articles

 * Place name:This article is all about the place name. When the "In fiction" section becomes to large, create the in fiction article. Leave only the most notable, determined by discussion, in the "In fiction" section.
 * Place name in fiction:This article will be about the place name in fiction with the full list, including those still in the main article, from the Place name article moved to it. Remember, this is an article, so reasons why this place has been chosen as a location in fiction should be included.
 * References to main article in fiction:This is the complete list of all of the references to the place in fiction

Examples
Milky Way Galaxy would be a starting point for Milky Way Galaxy. If the In fiction section gets to large, start the article Milky Way Galaxy in fiction. Once the list in the in fiction article gets to large, start the References to the Milky Way Galaxy in fiction article.

Sample "in fiction" sections

 * Deneb
 * Utah

Lists
A list will be considered too long when it has around 25 items on it. Before the list is created, a discussion should be held to decide which items are notable enough to stay in the list in the article. The list in the article should be pared down to approximately 10 items.

Splitting lists
There may come a time when a reference list becomes very large so will need to split into sublists. The splits could be by media type or genre, which is yet to be determined.

Books
Please use the Cite template.

Films
Please list the title with the year in parenthesis. The lists will be either by year or by title, this has yet to be determined.

TV series
If the series exists entirely in a location, the entire series should be listed. If only an episode of the series takes place in a location, list the episode of the series.

Genres
There should be minimal splitting along genre lines. The Universe, galaxies, planetary systems, planets, and natural satellites will probably be populated mostly with speculative fiction, so there should be no need to split them by genre. Locations on Earth are found in every genre. If ever a specific location's reference list becomes too long, a split by genre may be used, but sparingly.

Categories for real places
These categories will be for the Place name in fiction articles and References to place name in fiction lists. These categories will not cover fictional places.
 * Category:Galaxies in fiction
 * Category:Planetary systems in fiction
 * Category:Stars in fiction
 * Category:Planets in fiction
 * Category:Natural satellites in fiction
 * Category:Countries in fiction
 * Category:States and provinces in fiction
 * Category:Counties in fiction
 * Category:Cities in fiction
 * Category:Towns and villages in fiction

Settings
Settings are not locations. Locations refer to areas which can be mapped. A setting includes more than maps. It includes characters and other items which are unmappable such as magic use or law enforcement issues. Some settings include Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Law & Order. While they may reference a location, the entire body of work would be called a setting. If disambiguation is needed, the names should be Star Trek (setting), Star Wars (setting), Harry Potter (setting), and Law & Order (setting). The word universe should be reserved for the physical universe which we inhabit or a fictional one which fictional charactersis inhabit. Currently, the word world is used like the word universe when describing a setting, so please use (setting) to disambiguate if needed.

Specificity
Be as specific as possible when placing an item in an article or on a list. Some examples of real places placements are: Stargate: Atlantis in the Pegasus Dwarf Irregular Galaxy article, 2001: A Space Odyssey in the Solar System article, and Law & Order in the New York City article. Examples of fictional places are: Castle Rock, Maine in Fictional towns and villages, Gotham City in Fictional cities, Midkemia in Fictional planets, and Degobah in Fictional planetary systems.

What not to list

 * Hypothetical planets
 * Micronations
 * Proposed countries
 * Proposed or failed secessions
 * Proposed or failed separatism movements
 * and many other real world political movements.