Writing guidelines: Creators

In addition to the general Writing Guidelines, articles about authors or artists who have contributed to Greyhawk products should adhere to the following format; note that some articles will not require every section (unused sections should always be deleted):

The {[Creator}} infobox should be placed at the top of all author and artist articles, with as many parameters as possible filled in with pertinent details. If they don't apply or are not known, leave them blank. All of these details should be further explained or described in the main body text (not simply listed).

The introductory sentence should include the author's name (in bold) and their nationality, as well as birth and death dates, if applicable, and state the type of RPG work they do (designer, author, cartographer, etc.).

E.g., "John Smith, b.1976, is a British author and game designer, chiefly known for the Cool Greyhawk Book, but also for a wide variety of RPG books in third edition."

Biographies of Living Persons (BLPs) should always be written conservatively and always err on the side of privacy and caution. BLPs should include only public information or information the creator themself has shared publicly on social media or in an interview.
See also—Wikipedia: Biographies of living persons for more guidelines.

The Great Library wiki includes full names and dates of birth that have been widely published by reliable sources, or by sources linked to the subject where it can reasonably be inferred that the subject does not object to the details being made public (like from spouses, parents, children, etc.). If a subject complains about our inclusion of their date of birth, or the person is less notable, err on the side of caution and simply list the year (provided that there is a reliable source for it) or list it the way the subject prefers. In a similar vein, articles should not include postal addresses, e-mail addresses, telephone numbers, or other contact information for living persons, although links to websites maintained by the subject are generally permitted.

Never use self-published sources (including books, zines, websites, blogs, podcasts, or social network posts) as sources of material about a living person, unless written or published by the person themselves.

Pages (or sections) that are unsourced and negative in tone, especially when they appear to have been created primarily to disparage the subject ("attack pages"), will be deleted at once if there is no policy-compliant version to revert to. Creation of such pages, especially when repeated or in bad faith, is grounds for immediate blocking.

Information in each section (below) should be in fully descriptive text as much as possible. Do not use phrases, incomplete sentences, lists of one-word entries, or similar, for section content.

Early life and education

While keeping in mind privacy concerns (and any expressed preferences of the subject), this section should discuss where the subject is from, where they went to school, any degrees they may have earned, or significant places they may have lived in the past.

Always write conservatively in this section. Do not include information that may lead to privacy issues, or that might be objected to by the subject as being too private of details.

Career

Greyhawk works

Products described and listed here should only be officially published content from the IP holder or their licensees.

Unofficial Greyhawk works

These are often supplemental material which may have been cut from official content for space considerations, or separate self-published content by the creator. Fan-created work by the creator outside their official work done for the IP holder should also be listed here.

Non-Greyhawk works

Only significantly notable works not set in the World of Greyhawk™ by the creator should be listed here. Authors more noted for non-Greyhawk works may have longer sections here.

Awards and honors

Notable awards the subject has received related to their work in the RPG industry, related to their career. or significant other awards. If their work has had lasting impact in the industry (expecially if the subject is deceased), include citations and discuss reception of their work here, possibly in a subsection like "Reception", "Legacy" or "Industry impact".

Personal life

Include things like hobbies, activities, marriages, military service, or living abroad in this section. Do not include information about the creator's family, unless the creator has shared that information or it is widely publicly known. Limit content on non-public figures to what is relevant.

If a creator has publicly transitioned and was notable under another name, that name should briefly be included here—e.g., "Jane Smith (formerly writing as John Doe)." Refer to people using the name, pronouns, and gendered words (man, woman, person) which reflect the person's most recent expressed self-identification even if it does not match what is most common in sources. Do not use gendered noun forms (mailman, waitress) that do not match their most recent self-identification, unless they have indicated a preference otherwise.

Unless a living transgender or non-binary person was notable under a former name, the former name should not appear in any page (including questions, lists, redirects, disambiguation pages, category names, templates, etc.), even if reliable sourcing exists. Treat the pre-notability name as a privacy interest,

External links

This section should always include {{External link disclaimer}} at the top of the section.

Any links of interest should be listed here, with the title, if applicable. If the subject also has a page on Wikipedia or another major D&D campaign setting wiki, that should also be listed here.

References

See general Writing Guidelines: References for use and further information on how to write bibliographical entries and notes.

A list of sources and information about further reading on the article's topic should always appear here, in the following format:

== References ==
=== Notes ===
<references group="note" />
=== Citations ===
<references />
=== Bibliography ===
{{index}}

[[Category:<!--Place category names like Artist, Author, or Cartographer here-->]]

[[Category:Creators]] is always added automatically by using the {[Creator}} infobox. Do not add it here.

This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia: Writing guidelines: Creators (view authors).