'Editing the Guide' by Ashley
Created | Updated Feb 27, 2003
It is common knowledge that I have never read any of Douglas' work and many Researchers wonder how I can do my job when I lack the obvious
cultural knowledge which is inherent to h2g2. When I first met Douglas I confessed that I hadn't read any of his works - he smiled and we talked about SETI and how my search for ET life was progressing on my powerbook. He wasn't worried, so why should I be? It's not necessary for me to have read the books as I am compiling a work of reference, not fiction. Having said that, a little prior knowledge would have been good.
I did struggle for the first few months on site because the Writing
Guidelines explicitly say that we will remove any Hitchhiker-isms should they appear in the text. The reason for this is that they can isolate certain readers who are not au fait with the series (ie me). The problem with DNA's work is that some of the references have become so embedded in English culture and linguistic reference that they completely passed me by ('Life, the Universe and Everything' 'Don't Panic'...). However, other references did pop up on a regular basis - this was a time when there was a queue for the Edited Guide where Researcher's submitted their own entries for submission. I can't tell you how many entries I had to reject because they were paying homage to THHGTTG. To wit:
Example Entry One
- Title - Earth
- Content - Mostly harmless
This used to appear at least twice a week. Once is funny, twice is
irritating, after two hundred times it can turn your thoughts homicidal.
Example Two
- Title - Boredom
- Content - 'I started to write an entry but I got
bored'
It's not big, it's not clever, and it certainly wasn't funny after the first time.
Example Three
*bang* *bang* *bang* *bang* *bang* *bang* - (That's my head banging
against my desk)
What my time on h2g2 has taught me is that Douglas has left a heritage of fine wit and wisdom which has been applied to create a visionary reference work. I am constantly astounded at the quality of work here and each contribution to the site - albeit a posting, an entry or a graphic - is a testament to his legacy.
Oh, and the books are on my to read list!
