AGG/GAG - 1
Created | Updated Feb 20, 2002
Open your mind and say, 'AWW'.
There is a small ripple of activity in a former backwater of the Guide known as the The Writing Workshop. This activity is in the form of a little group of researchers who believe that certain entries have not received their due. Entries which exhibit a lack of inhibition, a sense of adventure, a tendency toward the non sequitur and sometimes, even when not absolutely factual, come too close to the Truth.
Styles unsuitable for the Edited Guide, but suitable for our purposes, include fiction, poetry, journalism with a poetic license (aka 'gonzo journalism'), opinion pieces, topics too vast or controversial (such as 'God' or maybe 'Intelligence' or 'An Objective History of Israel and Palestine'?), first person perspective, interviews.
Many feel the rules of the Edited Guide restict creative writing. The flashpoint was a discussion arising from the debate over Looneytune's PR-rejected entry The Twenty-seventh Letter. Great pieces like this were being sent to the 'sin bin'. Many thought this was not fair, or just, and a waste of great talent.
As a response to this original debate, the h2g2 Editors, thoughtfully and kindly, set up the Alternative Writing Workshop. But the old argument for creative freedom heated up again recently.
There has been some activity at AWW, but now the time has come to remove the bushel hiding the marvellous light of these entries. The time has come to glorify the virtues of light-heartedness, curiosity and play. The time has come for the Alternative Writing Workshop to cast off the pallor of rejection and uncertainty and parade through the Guide tanned with the light of confidence and pride!
This week in addition to Looneytunes' seminal The Twenty-seventh Letter, we recommend How To Climb Mountains by Alpine Climber from Colorado.
We are AGG/GAG, a posse of persona operating unofficially on the fringes of the AWW. We're looking at the Writing Guidelines for the Edited Guide, and want to toss them out. We still want quality writing and we don't endorse breaking the laws of plagiarism, defamation or obscenity, but we believe Swift, Twain or DNA himself would find the Edited Guide too restrictive for some of their greatest material.
We will be scouting the Guide for the good stuff. And we welcome your submissions and recommendations. The only criteria are Wit and Wisdom. Yep, AWW - Alternative Wit and Wisdom.
We hope to bring you three more AGG/GAG approved entries in each issue of the POST. Meanwhile, open your mind and say AWW.
AGG/GAG
Another Guide to the Galaxy / Galactic Anomaly Group
