A Conversation Overheard
Created | Updated Jul 1, 2004
We visit a quiet corner of h2g2 where we stumble
across two researchers whose backsides have recently occupied an editorial chair at the Towers. If we listen closely we may hear what makes these two researchers able to write 100 articles for the guide.
Jimi X1: For me it was all part of
Douglas Adams
call for unconventional wisdom. Everyone tells me I've got a head filled
with useless information. I figured that was just what Douglas was
looking for. How about you DD?
Demon Drawer2: Something similar. Head full of trivia, stumbled upon H2G2 and found a way to offload it all. But after all this time do you ever wonder what was the first thing that you started to write? How did you first start to contribute to the guide?
Jimi X: I can still remember it like it was yesterday. It was one of my very first postings here on h2g2.
I added a bit about driving customs in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the International Driving Etiquette entry and within a few days it was
included into the EG. Talk about instant gratification - one of the
first things I wrote was included into the Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Galaxy! I was thrilled to be a part of something that I perceived (and
still do) as an important collaborative writing project. How about you?
What first prompted you to contribute to the Edited Guide?
Demon Drawer: For me there was an entry on someone's home town on the
front page when I first logged onto h2g2. I thought; 'I can do that about my home town'. I started that day but it took about 2½ years for me to get what I was comfortable with into the guide. I'd done a nearby village, a couple of local celebrities and several other Northern Irish before Bangor, Co. Down, Northern Ireland finally hit the front page.
However, I contributed to an entry on St Patrick's Day which became the first entry to move into my edited entries section of my page. So while I write occasionally about Northern Ireland you tend to write a lot more about Pennsylvania. Is there any quarter of that state left for you to cover for h2g2?
Jimi X: Funny you should ask... I've actually been thinking of writing an entry about the Penn
sylvania state quarter. The US Mint is producing quarters
(25-cent pieces) featuring each state. The Pennsylvania quarter features
Miss Penn prominently standing in front of an outline of Pennsylvania.
But seriously, there are millions of entries out there waiting to be
written.
That's what I love about the Guide's underlying concept! You can do a
write-up about your favourite restaurant, beer, hobby or author and as
long as it meets a basic standard of writing - it's in the Hitchhiker's
Guide! I can go on and on about the brilliant idea Douglas had five-plus
years ago to start this site. It is really designed to encourage writing
and international collaboration.
But what's next on the horizon for you DD? Any big writing projects
lurking in the back of your mind that you'd like to bring to light?
Demon Drawer: As usual my 'to do' list is as long as ever. At the moment I'm adding some finishing touches to the companion piece How Best To Prepare Yourself to Become President of the USA, only this time compiling all the facts in the same way about the UK Prime Ministers.
I've also been looking for songs with an eclectic list of subjects in
the title. I missed out on getting involved in Billy Joel's 'We Didn't
Start the Fire' (although I do get a link from the entry). However I'm working on completely a Trilogy of Ian Dury song's by taking people on a tour of London via his 'Busdriver's Prayer'.
It is strange to feel that after 4½ years I still get a thrill out of finding something that nobody else has written up, researching it, getting it slated in Peer Review and then getting accepted. However now, with the community artists, getting a Blob
on your entry is no longer quite such a unique thrill. Mind you I do
like to see what they come up with to visually portray my words.
Speaking of this which changes have you most appreciated about the guide in your time here?
Jimi X: For me it's so difficult to pick just one... The site has changed in such positive ways over the years with the introduction of Peer Review, the Update Forum, the various volunteer schemes, and the improvements to the editorial tools. But, if I had to pick one change in the Guide, it'd have to be the quality of entries that we're producing now.
People are really putting in the effort to turn out brilliant entries
that I'm proud to be associated with. Mind you I still enjoy some of the
old Edited Entries that were a bit more 'jokey' - my personal guilty
pleasure is the Earth entry. I'd hate to see
stuff like that get deleted because it doesn't meet the current
standards of the Guide. I'm always reminded of Douglas' description of
the Guide where he calls it 'a very unevenly edited book and contains
many passages that simply seemed to its editors like a good idea at the
time'. I love that h2g2 so perfectly meets that description!
It's a tough question - so much has happened in the past five years.
What do you think?
Demon Drawer: I agree with you that it is the quality of entries. I think the fact that these have been improved is largely down to Peer Review. In the dark ages when all we had was goo you could put it in for recommendation and only a sub and the inhouse team would ever see it. It was then put on the Front Page and not even you had a right to see it again. So things could be changed that had major impact on the entry. Under Peer Review, while your entry may get pulled to shreds by the rest of the community, at least you get some input into whether what they say is relevant and how it should be included.
I know what you mean about some of the jokey entries. However, I think that some researchers, myself included, have managed to maintain a level of humour in the entries that do make the guide. Recently my An Exotic Tour with Ian Dury and his 'Rhythm Stick' is an example of such mixing facts with a sense of homour. I think they are still being written, but the researchers are becoming a lot more clever about how they get homour into the guide.
The entries have been getting longer but I do think some of the early, short, jokey ones should be maintained. And if they ever get updated there should still be a link to the original jokey entry just like there now is for 'Earth'.
On a serious note, do you think you have another 100 entries in you?
Jimi X: Absolutely! I've still got dozens of ideas for Guide entries - from a comprehensive project covering the Confederate Invasion of Pennsylvania during the American Civil War which culminated in the Battle of Gettysburg to one-off entries about such varied things as Earthquakes and a Local Muralist.
The range of topics is only limited by my imagination and my ability to keep plugging away... At the same time, there are some early entries
that I've written that could do with an update so I'm also hoping to get
more involved with that aspect of the Guide.
I don't know. I guess I'm still motivated by Douglas' vision for the
site and want to do my part. Do you find it harder to keep banging out
entries after so many years and so many write-ups?
Demon Drawer: I know just what you mean about some of the earlier
entries. There are a number of mine from the early days which are well
overdue for a revamp. Maybe I'll get on with looking at doing a bit of that, now that I've reached the century plateau.
So it looks like you and me and possibly one or two others are going to be racing to be the first to get to the second century of entries. I notice that you have some entries already accepted from Peer Review and a few more still in Peer Review. Looks like I'd better get back to it - don't want you getting too far ahead.
The Post decides to escape from this interesting conversation as pens, reference books and keyboards start to fly across acoss the once tranquil room. No doubt we'll be back in a few years time to see who gets to that second century first.
