Make into index: Literature.The Dresden Files

The Dresden Files is a fairly long running book series, enough that the tropes for it have been split into two subpages; Tropes A-M and Tropes N-Z. I think it should have a page for each book in the series. I asked over at Ask The Tropers, and it was suggested that take the issue here. I was told the best way would be to turn The Dresden Files into an index, and list the individual books on that.

There are definitely enough tropes for the series to fill out a page for each book, even without counting the tropes common through all the books.

I apologize if I've done something incorrectly.

You mixed up the slot for the thread title and the link. Fixing the link can be done by yourself, but a mod has to change the title. I hollerd for a mod to change the title.

edited 17th Feb '12 5:55:41 AM by Osmium

Go for it.

I would have no objection to this.

That's gonna be a lot of sub-pages. He's on what, fifteen volumes now? I'm playing catch-up, on Death Mask right now.

This is actually a really good idea. This way, someone like me who hasn't read them all can just look at the pages for the books behind him and not worry about spoilers.

I am highly in favour of this and willing to help out. I've read everything but side jobs. I think we should probably trope that and all the other short stories on their own page.

^^ I have not read the page for exactly that reason.

Yeah, The Dresden Files is pretty spoiler heavy, so splitting into individual book pages ala Discworld makes sense. One page for each book, then one more page for all the short stories. I'm in favor of this.

Yes, go for it.

You know, there is a recap page. Just throwing that out there.

Two one sentence book summaries and one five sentence summary none of which are grammatically correct are not a recap page. Actual pages for each of the books would be much better. They are individual works even if they are a series.

edited 17th Feb '12 1:46:13 PM by shimaspawn

(I take offense at "gramatically incorrect". Anyway, I was quoting verbatim from the book.)


I'm all for splitting the pages for each book, but that will mean the main page will be cut really short.

You used the word anddeadly for one and that's far from the only missing space. There's some grammar errors there that weren't in the book. You may take offence all you want, but that doesn't make it any more grammatically correct.

edited 17th Feb '12 4:30:38 PM by shimaspawn

Sorry, I very, very strongly object to this idea. Hugely. With the power of a million suns.

The Dresden Files are set up in such a way that the stories build on each other, and the tropes follow that same pattern. Essentially every book deals with the same core themes and tropes, and splitting up by book would lead to a lot of redundancy. As someone who tries to keep an eye on the pages to keep them running smoothly, I feel splitting them up would make keeping the pages organized nigh-impossible.

Please, please reconsider. I am willing to hear other ideas. I'm the one who split the pages last time big revisions needed to happen. I am willing to make more overhauls again as needed. Just don't do it like this.

edited 17th Feb '12 9:56:22 PM by LucyZephyr

They build on each other, but currently the page is impossible to read or edit if you aren't all the way to the end and I think we're glossing over the ways that while the tropes echo and build on each other they aren't used identically in each work. Splitting the pages actually lets us have more editors working on them.

Well, it really bugs me that all the tropes from across the series are collected into those two pages. It feels like I'm reading a summary of the series in Anachronic Order.

edited 17th Feb '12 9:57:27 PM by Fearmonger

Okay. How about splitting up tropes by Setting vs Plot? Like, tropes dealing with the storyline and arcs can have a page and tropes dealing with how the Dresdenverse works as a whole have a page? Then most of the spoilers should be confined to one page?

ETA: Also, I need to go in and remove a LOT of redunancy between the Characters and Main pages. Would that help?

edited 17th Feb '12 9:57:39 PM by LucyZephyr

That sounds fine to me. But I'm not a very experienced editor.

edited 17th Feb '12 9:59:15 PM by Fearmonger

I'd be willing to do it.

Sorry, the Dresden trope pages are mah baby. I feel like I should apologize for them getting to this state— I've been busy with college and unable to watch 'em. But I have some time and could work on overhauling them.

ETA: Mentally diagramming how to do this. There are some tropes that are truly book-specific. Maybe I can separate them out, folderize the stuff that is truly book-specific, put them in chronological order? How's that for a compromise?

edited 17th Feb '12 10:08:22 PM by LucyZephyr

Setting vs. Plot would still have all the issues of completely spoiling everyone who anyone who hasn't read all the books and it still has the anachronistic order issue. It doesn't fix anything. It just makes the distinction even more arbitrary.

Folders? I thought the idea was to make The Dresden Files an index, and put a page for each book and a page for general tropes in that index.

edited 17th Feb '12 10:15:22 PM by Fearmonger

Even most of the general tropes are used differently in each of the books and telling you what they evolve into often involves major spoilers for the later books. I'm actually against a general page for that reason. There's very few tropes that are used in exactly the same way in every single book. I'd much rather the tropes be duplicated and explained as they're actually used in the books they appear in.

edited 17th Feb '12 10:21:04 PM by shimaspawn

.... /sigh

I'm looking at the code now. Have it all pasted into a Google Doc. And, yeah, I guess we can split by book. I do not like the idea of (eventually) +20 pages, but...

And a friend of mine is explaining the merits of a by-book collection.

So here is my current to-do list: 1. Reduce redundancy between Character and Main pages. This will get rid of a good chunk of the overlap going on on the Main Page.

2. Find the book-specific examples and put them on a page, folderized. If there are enough book-specific examples to warrant it, then yes, absolutely, I'll break it down by-book.

3. With the leftover universe tropes, put them on their own page. Unsure what to call it, but leaning toward "Setting".

Here's my question. For something like "Absurdly Sharp Blade" and the explanation of the Knights of the Cross' powers, would you want that on the Setting page or on the page the element is first introduced (Grave Peril, IIRC)?

edited 17th Feb '12 10:21:11 PM by LucyZephyr

I honestly want things just listed in the books they appear in since very few of the "general" tropes can be given without spoilers. Most of them aren't introduced or explained until at least Death Masks. Before that the setting is still very vague in a lot of ways and that's pretty far in.

I wouldn't put anything in General unless it's introduced in the first book and stays consistent through out the series.

edited 17th Feb '12 10:23:32 PM by shimaspawn

Just leave those in on the main Dresden Files page...