Talk:Monster: A Novel of Frankenstein

Collaboration Invitation: Draft:Monster: A Novel of Frankenstein

Hi everyone. After a discussion with @Randy Kryn: on an article on the Talk page of Frankenstein in Popular Culture, I have drafted an initial version of the article about my book here. As the author, I recognize my conflict of interest, so I am inviting you all to review, rewrite, expand, or adjust the neutrality of this text as you see fit. Please feel free to make edits directly to the draft page, or leave suggestions here on the talk page. Thank you for your help in developing this! DaveZeltserman (talk) 14:52, 19 May 2026 (UTC)

Thanks DaveZeltserman, will take a look at it although not today. I've added the link to this section title. Looking forward to reading your page. Maybe post this notice at the F. in popular culture page and at others, which will get more readers. Randy Kryn (talk) 00:59, 20 May 2026 (UTC)

thanks for your help in this, your edits, and the suggestion. I've added invitation to the Frankenstein in Popular Culture talk page. DaveZeltserman (talk) 15:32, 20 May 2026 (UTC)

Future expansions of the article

I've made some edits to the prose of this article, but don't have time to really finish it. DaveZeltserman, the book meets Wikipedia's criteria to have an article and the current state is all acceptable, so I am willing to accept the draft through AfC, but once I do so it will get more annoying for you to make improvements to it (since you will have to make them as edit requests rather than working on the draft directly). For now I am leaving the article as a draft so you can re-expand it if you wish to, but if you would like it to be accepted, just let me know. (Or I'll accept in a few days if I don't hear back.)

In case it's helpful, I thought I'd note here what I see as the next steps to improve the article (all optional vis-a-vis publishing the draft):

• re-expanding the reception section, but with information from the individual reviews organized into thematic paragraphs (I think one about the author's turn away from crime/thriller fiction, and one about the relationship of the book to Shelley's? those seem to be the main aspects of the reception commented on by multiple people)
• seeing if a themes section can be written from the sources (though I'm not sure if the reviews will say enough to write such a section properly, it may all have to go in the 'style' section)
• finishing the plot summary so it actually states what happens at the end of the book (I don't know this but I am hoping others do!)

I'll also link to my advice on getting encyclopedic information from book reviews, which may help here -- the quotes originally present in the article, in addition to being rather long, tended to focus on praise rather than information. You may also find the example of Siren Queen useful as a model. Let me know if you have any questions. ~ le 🌸 valyn (talk) 22:08, 15 June 2026 (UTC)

Good advice, and, after working a bit on the plot, agreed that it is missing the resolution of the story. DaveZeltserman, Wikipedia film and book summaries give away the entire story and do not hold back because of spoilers. That's one reason I don't read Wikipedia pages of a film I'd like to see, or a book I'd like to read. But it is the way of encyclopedic writing. Thanks, nice page so far. Randy Kryn (talk) 23:21, 15 June 2026 (UTC)

Randy, thanks for your with this. DaveZeltserman (talk) 02:49, 16 June 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for this. All very helpful. Once I read the advice page you linked, I will work on this over the next few days--the reception area as suggested, see what I can come up with for a themes section, and expand the plot to cover the entirety of the novel. Once I'm done, I will reply again. DaveZeltserman (talk) 02:49, 16 June 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for diving in to Wikipedia's weird world of encyclopedic writing -- it's not much like any other kind of writing. There's no need to read the whole thing, but you can also consult the manual of style if you're not sure how to approach something (or just ask!). Looking forward to seeing the next version of the article, and there's no rush -- Wikipedia has no deadline. ~ le 🌸 valyn (talk) 16:37, 16 June 2026 (UTC)

I've so far written the plot for the first 3/4s of the book. I plan to get the last 1/4 done soon. If you get a chance, could you let me know whether I'm adding too much detail, not enough, or if what I have is appropriate?

Thanks! DaveZeltserman (talk) 21:59, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

Thank you for tackling this! I do think it's now getting too long: usually a plot summary is only 400-700 words. There is some guidance on plot summaries at Wikipedia:How to write a plot summary and MOS:NOVELPLOT. But making a detailed summary concise is much easier than figuring out how to expand one that is too vague. Prose-wise, it would probably fit in with the encyclopedia better if it was a little more boring, but that's not strictly required.

The only thing I'd flag is the mention that the gang is inspired by the Mohocks: unless the novel literally mentions the Mohocks by name, that bit of background needs to be cut, or be put somewhere other than the plot summary supported by a citation. (You could cite an interview you gave, or a blog post or similar that you've written, if you wanted; independent sources like reviews are required for an article to exist, but once that threshold is met, non-independent sources can be used judiciously to flesh out additional details.) ~ le 🌸 valyn (talk) 22:12, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

Thanks!--I'll read those articles, get rid of the Mohocks unless I can find a reference in a review, and try to keep the plot under 700 words. DaveZeltserman (talk) 22:17, 18 June 2026 (UTC)

I think I got it done! Book cover added, completed plot just over 700 words, two themes added where I could site references (I wish I had done interviews for this book--it would've made things easier), styles and reception sections extended. Let me know what you think, and thanks for your help with this. DaveZeltserman (talk) 13:53, 21 June 2026 (UTC)

It's wonderfully improved! I have published the draft. Just to clarify one policy detail you bumped into, the fair use exception for copyrighted book covers only applies in published articles, not drafts; if you want to make articles about your other books, you should wait until they are accepted-and-published and then add the cover.

As a reminder, now that the article is accepted, the policy for "conflict of interest" editing is that you should make edit requests for any future changes (eg if a new review comes out). If you do, you're welcome to also leave a message on my Talk page and I may be able to take a faster look (since the queue for edit requests gets long). Thanks for your hard work here! ~ le 🌸 valyn (talk) 21:37, 21 June 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for your help with this. It's been an interesting experience. It all came about because I thought Monster should be added to the list of Frankenstein novels and @Randy Krynn: had the idea (and it was good one) of getting a book article done for it first. Anyway, it was fun taking a crash course in Wikipedia syntax and article writing. DaveZeltserman (talk) 22:34, 21 June 2026 (UTC)

Nice work DaveZeltserman, thanks for proving to be a very good Wikipedian. Please note that the fake account Randy Krynn isn't me and was blocked in 2022. Mine is Randy Kryn (talk) 14:59, 22 June 2026 (UTC)

Thanks for pushing me to do this--it was a good learning experience.

I pinged that same fake account when reopening up the COI Request for the Frankenstein in Popular Culture and just fixed it. DaveZeltserman (talk) 15:11, 22 June 2026 (UTC)