Okay let’s get the laughter out of the way whilst I lose all my intellectual credibility. I do a LOT of the research for my writing on Wikipedia… Yes I take my information from a less than reliable source which can be edited by anyone and the facts are not checked properly if at all. I am aware of all of this.
I compare my use of Wikipedia with my love of Marvel comics and WWE wrestling. (Bear with me I may ramble) Many of my friends, reasonable people, often intellectuals and deep thinkers in their own right, watch shitty soap operas and reality TV shows. Can’t bear them myself but the principle is the same. WWE is my soap opera, everyone needs something where they can just switch off and kill a few meaningless hours, it’s how I unwind.
The story writing in WWE varies from just above average with enough genuine surprises to keep me interested to abysmal. But I watch it for the action, the slams, the big falls, the blood and the glory. (Before you start I am not an infant, yes the matches are scripted and they know how to fall but just because you know you are about to fall of a 10 foot ladder does not mean it won’t hurt. IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK! Anyone who disagrees with me I challenge to take a bump themselves… No scratch that I challenge you to a match, name the place and time brother, because I am the best there is, there best there was and the best there ever will be. And that’s the bottom line cos Luke Warm says so… Ahem… Sorry)
Where was I? Oh yeah, After getting into one wrestling promotion I started looking at the others, WCW, TNA, ROH, CZW and other such acronyms, all of which with something different to offer whether it be well written story lines, more violent action, high concept main events, they all offered something different to WWE that made them worth watching and eventually WWE nicked the best idea’s… Because they could I suppose. It is all crap of course. But it is MY crap, and I love it.
By the same token Marvel comics have created some of the best, and worst, storylines and characters in comic book fiction. With Spiderman, The Fantastic Four, The Avengers and The X-Men Marvel had created heroes that were flawed and had real problems, whether it was partners, family or money, the villains were almost just a bonus obstacle to overcome whilst they were job/house hunting, whatever. This was so much better than the likes of the holier than thou heroes like Superman with their perfect lives. Oh, go stick some Kryptonite up your arse.
Marvel comics are far from perfect. Particularly in the 90’s the plots became convoluted and you were unable to just “dip out” and come back later. Often there would be “universe-wide” conflicts which would involve you having to get scores of comics starring all the heroes to be able to get the full picture of what is going on. Like with WWE, I went forth to see what else was out there.
If I had never started on comics I would have missed out on amazing graphic novels (comics if you must) like Preacher, The Walking Dead, Y the Last Man, The Watchmen, The Sandman, Powers… I could go on… And on… Ad nauseum.
I guess what I am trying to say is, like with WWE and Marvel, Wikipedia is my jumping off point for information. It is where I start when I need to learn more about any given subject. I am not daft enough to take everything on the site as Gospel, but it points me in the right direction of where I need to look to go deeper, and occasionally I find some real gems.
Right I am now off to fight against the evil demons that have my beloved muse captured in a pit of despair.
FLAME ON!
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2 comments:
Wikipedia is the ultimate website man, I am onboard with your views so we don't need to wrestle. For now.
I would pay good money to see you and Flameface wrestle. How does a shiny farthing sound?
An interesting argument but, my point is this regarding research: if you are going to use this research as a basis for the themes of your narrative, shouldn't the source be reliable and hold up to scrutiny? Of course it should. And, fair enough, you can get some interesting snippets of information from Wikipedia but if you know what your story is going to be about already (no matter whether this is loosely in some areas or more detailed), shouldn't you just go to the serious research straight away? Far more useful than distracting hyperlinks are footnotes, references and case studies - I much prefer for the experts to point out to me areas of similar interest than trying to figure it out myself. By all means, use the internet to find out what texts you need to read etc. but don't waste too much time on it! Research is a very important part of the writing process and, the better the methodology and the quality of information devoured, the more solid the foundations for your ideas.
My two-penneth, of course.
Oh, and because I'm a pedant...WCW etc. - initialisms. ;-)
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