Notable? Not.
A few weeks ago, I received an unsolicited email from someone offering to make me a Wikipedia page. However, based on his description of why he thought I deserved to have a Wiki, this person seemed to think I was some combination of a chef and humanitarian. In short, he either had the wrong person or was fishing (phishing?), so I did not respond. He followed up a couple times but I never answered.
Not that I wouldn’t love a Wiki. Doesn’t every creative person hope and wish to be significant enough for that? Way back when, I tried adding my name to the lists of Notable People on the pages where I was from and lived, but they were always removed almost immediately. I did find a fan Wiki devoted to my undergraduate thesis, though. (It was a spec script for an X-Files episode titled “The Bane,” and I had to wonder how anyone ever got a copy of it. The fanfic version appeared in a zine; you can find it listed on my Bibliography.) Not sure if that page still exists, either.
Still, it all boils down to: “What makes a person notable enough?” Or, from the creator’s perspective: “What do I have to do to get a Wiki?” I have, for example, won awards, but nothing major. I’ve had plays produced—and did once find that someone had created an entry for me on a theatre site. I’ve had a short film made from one of my short plays. I’ve had one of my screenplays table read at Sundance. And I’ve had a book considered for the Stonewall Award, which I think is pretty cool, but I guess it’s not “notable”?
I have an IMDb page. I’d love to add more stuff to it, too, but the chances of anything else of mine being produced on screen… Not zero, but not high.
I know I can’t let my worth be determined by things like online mentions or pages or whatever. But it’s so hard to be seen in this overcrowded space. I’ve done a lot to be proud of, and I’m still being told it’s not enough—like I shouldn’t be proud of it. And honestly, maybe it’s a kind of blessing not to have that level of attention. But I’d like to try it and see for myself sometime.