What is the Edited Guide?

The Edited Guide is like an encyclopedia, but not. It has entries about all sorts of quirky little topics you would never find in the Encyclopedia Britannica, many of the entries are a lot of fun to read, and it's written by us - the members of the h2g2 community!

If you want some one-on-one help getting through this process, start over at "Hitchhike a Ride to the Edited Guide"(link) -- if you want to dive in on your own, check out the steps below!

How Do I Write an Entry for the Edited Guide?

1. Decide what to write about. You need to write about something from real life, but besides that:
   
   • Choose something that excites you and you want to share with everyone else on H2G2
   • Choose something you will enjoy researching and finding out more about. There's no point choosing to write about three-toed sloths if what you really enjoy talking about is chamber music.
   • Make sure your topic isn't already in the Edited Guide by searching for it in the box near the top of the page that says "search h2g2".
   
   There are lots of resources here on h2g2 to help you decide what to write about, including (list of resources to link to, including Writing Guidelines)
   
2. Research your entry. Even if you already know a lot about your topic, you will probably still need to do some research to make sure that the entry covers all the important points. And just like school, it's a good idea to use more than one source, and it's against the rules to copy and paste someone else's writing. (link to resources about copyright rules).
   
3. Write your entry. If you're not sure about which buttons to click to create a guide entry here on h2g2, click HERE (link) for step by step instructions. Your entry doesn't need to be long, it just needs to be long enough to cover what people would want to know about your topic. It's a good idea to give your entry some proofreading, so that you can be the one to catch those silly spelling errors and not someone else. (list of resources about writing entries for the EG)
   
4. Format your entry. If you want, you can use GuideML to format your entry (link to guideML resources). If you're not ready for GuideML yet, that's ok -- you can still get your entry in the Edited Guide! Please, however, still put your entry into paragraphs so that we can read it easily -- you can even use CAPITAL LETTERS to make your own headers describing each section of your entry.
   
5. Submit your entry to Peer Review. When you look at your entry, there will be a link or button in the upper right-hand corner that says "submit entry" -- hit this button, and then choose Peer Review. On the other hand, if your entry still needs lots of writing help, you can choose the "Writing Workshop". Or, if your writing is really cool but not really for the Edited Guide you can submit it to the Alternative Writing Workshop. (link to a separate entry that explains the different review forums and their purposes)
   
6. Once your entry is in Peer Review, people will comment on it -- they will say what they like about it, what they have questions about, and what they think still needs work. Your job is to respond to people's comments, and to try and fix the things that need work. If you're not sure how to fix things, ask there in the Peer Review thread -- people will be glad to try and help! If it's been a week, and no one has said anything about your entry, it's ok to "bump" your conversation by asking "What does anyone else think?" (link to resources about how to handle Peer Review)
   
7. When people think your entry is ready, they will probably say so. Sooner or later, a scout (link) will come by and choose your entry -- after one of the italics (the editors who run this place) approves the choice -- and then you'll see a nice "Congratulations!" post letting you know that your entry is on its way to the Edited Guide. Your entry will then be handed over to a volunteer sub-editor, who will make sure that the grammar, style, spelling, and GuideML all fit the guidelines for the Edited Guide. After this, your entry will appear on the FRONT PAGE, and you will get a special email so that you don't miss it! (link to resources about the picking and subbing process)