Magrathea's workshop - the New Writing Guidelines
Created | Updated Jun 21, 2011
21st June 2011 - We interrupt your browsing with some welcome news:
When you read what's on the Magrathea pages and the conversations here, please remember that they were written while the bid was being worked on, so some things have changed.
We now return you to your original programming
About this page
This page is one of the pages compiled by the Community Consortium in Magrathea's workshop. It links to the To-Be Guidelines for Approved h2g2 entries post-BBC. We've prepared them in MS Office because we may need to compile them into a larger document and share them with people outwith h2g2.
Read the document linked above and comment on it in the threads below
Scope
This page is devoted to documenting Editorial guidelines for the Unified Guide. Unified Guide Theory takes as its starting point the idea that any kind of writing can go in the Guide; the criteria is excellence not genre. You know what you are reading based on what category it is in and how it is tagged. The approach to categories and tagging will be documented in another bay in Magrathea's Workshop.
Where we are now
The current Writing Guidelines for Edited Entries has a few indisputable characteristics. First, it applies only to factual entries intended for what is now known as the Edited Guide. Second, it is long and detailed. It has been argued that the length and large number of these guidelines leads to misinterpretation and misapplication. Third, the term "Guidelines" has been interpreted over time to mean rules, in the strict sense.
There are a few things about the current Guidelines that should be commended. First, it does have several helpful suggestions, especially for factual entries. Second, it provides links to many fine entries.
What's already been said on the subject
This issue has been discussed in several threads. The Stockholm Thread was perhaps the first, but Writers are the ultimate arbiters... contained a more focused discussion. The Philosophy of h2g2 also contained a question about the guidelines. These guidelines are based on Jordan's original proposal.
Through these discussions, and others, a consensus seems to have emerged that we are calling the Unified Guide Theory. This idea is intended to harness the full creative power of h2g2 by allowing all forms of writing, including the opinionated, fictional and experimental, to co-exist in the Approved Guide of h2g2. We believe that this allows us to play to our strengths as a site for interesting and stimulating writing, rather than just appealing to the limited market for a quirky encyclopedia.
The guidelines as they are have been purposefully crafted to apply to both factual entries and entries whose intent is not factual. This is important, as the tendency to separate the factual from the non-factual (or at least non-non-factual) has created not just a system that segregates these types of writing, but a system that devalues writing that is not factual. The Unified Guide approach allows for equal access and resources for opinion pieces, travelogues, works of fiction, poetry and factual works. The equal promotion of these alongside factual pieces will create a unique site where it is only normal to uncover the delightful and bump into something unexpected.
Another important distinction that the proposed guidelines make is between "Rules" and "Suggestions". This will decrease the tendency of misinterpretation of the guidelines. It is also an acknowledgment of the fact that each entry is different, and should be judged on its own merits, rather than against an a priori checklist.
How do we describe this, then?
We need to construct a consensus version of how the Guidelines should look for the new h2g2. This includes the actual content of the guidelines, its readability, the format, the links to excellent entries, and the actual name of Guidelines.
How to use Magrathea's workshop
We take as our starting point what has already been said and done on this topic, and this - more than any other topic - has been discussed at length over the past 12 years. The only other subject that might come close is moderation. (Which we'll deal with in another day in the workshop.
There are still differences of opinion, of course. We hope to reflect a consensus, but occasionally we'll have to go with the majority opinion.
The threads attached to this entry
All the pages in Magrathea's workshop have the same basic structure and at least the same three threads:
- Discussion about the Status Quo
- Discussion about the Design of the Guidelines
- Discussion about the Document itself
We may ask the Editors to move relevant threads to these pages if they are on topic. And of course you can start a thread on the page yourself.
We are working to a time-table which will be dictated by the BBC's timetable for disposing of the site. We'll make an announcement on each page when we think the document is nearly done, and again when it's finished.
We've said it before, and we'll say it again - Don't Panic!
