Well, I wanted to make some comments, not that anybody ever will read this entry. Just some interpretations derived from actual edited works. Hmm, I think I should link some examples . . .

The Edited Guide is a collection of some of the best factual entries on h2g2 chosen by you via Peer Review. But what makes a good Edited Entry, and what can you do to increase your chances of us finding your prose irresistible enough to put on the front page of h2g2?

For more detail, carry on reading through this Entry - but for the moment, here's a quick list:

• 
  Write about reality
  
• 
  Be original
  
• 
  Fill in the gaps
  
• 
  Plan your entry
  
• 
  Write about what you're interested in
  
• 
  Research your entry thoroughly
  
• 
  Be instructive, informative and factual
  
• 
  Write in your own style
  
• 
  Try to make your entry balanced
  
• 
  Don't try too hard to be funny
  
• 
  Write Entries of appropriate length
  
• 
  Avoid writing in the first person
  
• 
  Try to use good spelling and grammar
  
• 
  Do not copy from other sources
  

1. Write About Reality

The Edited Guide is a real-life guide to life, the universe and everything, it is not a work of fiction. If you would like to write fiction feel free to do so, but please don't ask us to edit it, especially if it makes gratuitous reference to Douglas Adams and his books. If you would like help with writing fiction, you'll find it at Another Galaxy Guide.

1a. What About Reality

What is reality? The above excludes writing about thing that to our knowledge can and will not be possible. Even this broad view of reallity is challenged by some excellent works.

No fiction, No facts!

2. Be Original

One hurdle that you need to overcome is to find something that isn't already included in the Edited Guide or is in the process of becoming Edited. You can check whether or not this is the case via our
search engine¹.
Edited Entries will be marked as 'Edited' and entries on their way to becoming Edited are marked as 'Recommended'. If there's already an Edited Entry that covers the subject, approach the topic from a different angle, rather than writing a new entry on exactly the same thing. In addition, try to avoid putting an entry into
Peer Review
that's similar to one that's in there already, as it upsets fellow Researchers.

2a. The Original

And what about the topics covered but wandering into all related directions leaving no official room for any second entry? A different entry on the same topic does not have to contradict or challenge an original! They could coexist leaving the researcher browsing the index for the choise to read both, one or the other.

3. Fill in the Gaps

Often we come across helpful comments on site suggesting that we should have an entry on say, The Rolling Stones, because currently there isn't one. If you do discover any gaps like this in the Guide, help us to fill them. Get researching and write some entries on subjects that aren't in the Guide yet. Another good source of inspiration is the
Flea Market
where you'll find entries that need finishing off. Then there's the Categorisation system. If you work your way through a few branches of the system, you'll soon find an obvious gap to fill.

3a. Find the Leaks

If you have a topic just write about it. Do not start searching if it is not covered until you plan to release it into the peer pool or any other. Any contribution is at least an excercise for the writer.

4. Plan Your Entry

Plan your entry, and think carefully about its structure. If your entry is planned with care, you'll probably find that it will flow well and will fall naturally into sections, as with the following entries...

4a How flat is your entry?

Is it totally flat, a massive block of words? Bring some air in, paragraph it into a logical structure. Building this 'structure' before is concidered planning.

• 
  Insanity and the Law
  
• 
  Putney, London, UK
  
• 
  Jai-Alai
  
• 
  Is The Necktie Dying?
  

5. Write About What You're Interested in

It's also important to write about what you're interested in. If you like films, write about films. If you like cooking, write about food or recipes. If you're interested in a subject, but don't know much about it, get researching: that's why h2g2 Community members are called 'Researchers' after all! You'll see canny observation and personal perspective among the following entries, each written by people like you, so tell us about your pet topics:

Just doing research at an odd topic can make you become a specialist in just that topic.

• Insulin Dependent Diabetes Mellitus
• McMurdo Station, Antarctica
• Sadako and the Peace Crane
• The Storage of Eggs

6. Research Your Entry Thoroughly

The starting point for many entries is often passion or curiosity for a subject. Entries should not be short on facts or detail and you should do your research. It's often clear when Researchers' entries are true labours of love:

6a keep it interesting

On the other hand entries should be to be read by anyone, there is no minimum nor maximum size. Though this special tile in the wall of Lonon underground station Queens could do with less then 10000 words.

• Billy the Kid
• The Simpsons
• Railways on the Isle of Wight, UK
• Galway City, County Galway, Ireland

7. Be Instructive, Informative and Factual

A potential Edited Entry will essentially be instructive, informative and factual in varying proportions. This is important. If these three factors form the base of your entry then you are heading in the right direction. It would be fair to say we are often astounded by the quality and detail of some of the entries. Hats off to the Researchers of these great entries:

The instructive should extent the level of a defintion, where as the factual may be just one single fact.

• Spoons
• Handy Mandarin Chinese Phrases
• How Soap Works
• Classical Guitars

8. Write in Your Own Style

Write in your own words, in a style that you're comfortable with. Each of the following entries has a completely different style, making the Guide a varied and fascinating place to be.

8a. let it flow

Just write, if the words flow and you can hardly keep up with your typing these are probably your own words. If you have to weight every single word, you are trying to write something that is not yours.

• Tango to San Telmo
• The Agony of Being a Chicago Cubs Fan
• The Hanger Lane Gyratory System
• Alaskan Fish Plants

9. Try to Make your Entry Balanced

h2g2 is a great place to get things off your chest, but for the Edited Guide we're looking for balanced entries rather than subjective rants. We're looking for entries that show both sides of the argument, especially on potentially contentious topics. (However, if you do have an entry of strongly expressed opinion, please submit it to the Speaker's Corner.) Here are some examples of balanced Entries:

9a. Well, it is just an idea

Except for some very rare entries most are not objective at all. So what, perhaps an explicit opinion gives an entry just that brilliance to stand out!

• Cigarettes
• Mormonism - A Question and Answer Session
• Evil from a Western Perspective
• Condoms

10. Don't Try too Hard to be Funny

Lots of our early Researchers thought that because the original Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books were funny, they should make sure all their Guide Entries were packed with side-splitting jokes. If you happen to be funny, that's great. Just don't try to force it.

Do not hesitate to give some basic jokes about your subject. If you do not, the first posters on the forum will do so anyway.

11. Write Entries of Appropriate Length

We are not necessarily looking for long entries, just well-researched, well-balanced, well-written ones. We've found that Researchers are much more likely to read entries and comment on them if it's possible to read them in one sitting. As a general guide, it's usually difficult to adequately cover a topic in less than 250 words, but if your entry is getting a bit lengthy, consider splitting it into smaller sub-topics or indicate whereabouts the entry should be divided up into separate entries. Entries can be both factual and succinct, like these:

11a. keep it interesting

Hmm, I think we should skip this point it is already covered and repetition does not contribute to the entry as a whole. My goal on entries is not to exceed two screens.

• RobiComb - the Coolest Reason to Have Lice
• Dunluce Castle, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
• Murray Walker - Commentator Extraordinaire
• Ackees

12. Avoid Writing in the First Person

Because h2g2 is a collaborative guide, we may add in comments and material from other Researchers, and we'll credit them. Having an entry in the first person wouldn't make sense with a number of authors credited, so please write in the third person.

Just do not use the word I and keep from stating explicit opinions. This will do to make the entry capable of reediting eventually.

13. Spelling and Grammar

Please always try to use correct spelling and grammar, and make sure your GuideML works if you're using it. You can find a bunch of useful tips in our entry on English Usage in the Edited Guide. If you're not sure about a spelling, it's worth checking on our Spell Checker, it's not automated, it's staffed by real people!

And do not use abbreviations, even in some edited entries are abbreviations worth of whole new entries before you are clear what the editor can have had in their mind.

14. Do Not Copy From Other Sources

When you sign up to h2g2 you agree to the BBC Terms and Conditions, which include a whole section on not infringing other people's copyright. In other words, please do not copy chunks of text from other Internet sites or from anywhere else. Not only does plagiarising other people's work break our terms and conditions, it is also illegal in most countries. Plus it goes against the ethos of h2g2 where originality and personal research are respected and admired. While it's fine to quote from or reference other sources, stealing wholesale from someone else's work is not appreciated. So, if it is discovered that you have been copying, the entry will be removed from the site and you could be barred, so please don't do it.

14a. This is not a copy, it is a complete rewrite, just quoted some parts of the original content. Any content in the Guide is free to be quoted anywhere else in the Guide! (It takes days to read and reread all the heavy legal stuff, but that is what it states)

Kind of obvious, unless you are the writer of the original piece.

You can find more information about what this means in the entry on Intellectual Property Law.

Other Useful Information

The following entries might also be of interest:

• Learning to Write on h2g2
• English Usage in the Edited Guide
• Using Approved GuideML in the Edited Guide
• Peer Review
• The Collaborative Writing Workshop
• The h2g2 Writing Workshop
• What Happens after your Entry has been Recommended?
• Speaker's Corner
• Another Galaxy Guide
• The GuideML Clinic

Thanks again for all your hard work - and remember, even if your entry is not edited, it will still be a part of the Guide and will show up in the search engine. One of our guiding principles is that we never throw anything away - you never know when it might come in handy!

This is, in my opinion, the very best part of the Guide. Still a shame the original editor cam trow away any of their works.