h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

ok Spook at least you had the maturity not to take me too seriously.

So at what point do you give up, and move on to do another entry? As it seems this entry has been discussed by the editorial team 'behind the scene' and is a definate, no! I read all the posts, must have missed where you get the double standard idea from, I'd assume rules would be applied 'across the board'. I'll watch and learn.

it has already been commented that this entry is of a top quality, but not suitable ebcause it is not a famous poem and i wrote it. the double standard is that if i was William Shakespeare and this was a famous poem, the entry would be accepted, and i don't think it's right that a different standard should be set for who writes an entry and whether the entry is on something amateur or famous.

>"So at what point do you give up, and move on to do another entry?"

i don't. i move on to another entry while continuing on this one until the entry is accepted or i end up withdrawing it.

spook

Is William Shakespeare the only poet you know? They didnae have many pc's back then. And as far as I'm aware he's still dead. See, I can be a pedant too....

I've already said that, if I had my way, I wouldn't allow anyone to write about subjects they are personally linked too for inclusion in the Guide. No double standard there. I wouldn't allow Tony Blair to write an article on any possible war in Iraq. I wouldn't allow Seamus Heaney (for example) to write on one of his poems. I wouldn't let Lucien Freud or david Hockney tell us how their paintings were painted. Or Tracey Emin how she messed up her bed. I doubt their ability to be impartial and non-personal.

So... no double standards from me.

Perhaps an addition is needed to the writing guidelines stating that articles should be impartial and non-personal.

deemikay

I forgot to add... I'd doubt their motives as well.

deemikay

i'm not a poet fanatic. don't know any modern age poets. but it's the principle of the thing, so it's all hypothetical.

i personally think entries written by people personally linked to them make them better, as they have more perseverance to make them better, and more knowledge on the subject. you said you wouldn't allow blair to write an entry on the possible war with Iraq, but because he is personally linked with that, he ahs access to more and more accurate information about the facts, the recent events, the activities in iraq, troop movements etc etc. because of that the article is more accurate and informaive.

well, that's my good ol' view anyway.

spook

Spook, you've been given a very positive and constructive suggestion by Jimster in #24.

He suggested you contribute to a collaborative entry, 'How to Be a Poet' and get other aspiring poets to look at the decisions you make, ways to get published etc. As he said, this would take time but it would be far more useful in what is, after all a "Guide" to all kinds of things. Other aspiring poets might find suggestions from you and your collaborators to be helpful as they set out on a creative path.

Your own poem is one style. There are many, many others. For example I've seen work by much younger children than yourself that has been far more evocative and creative. On the other hand there are those writers who stick to the restrictive form of haiku. A collaborative entry with other writers would be a way of giving equal weight to all the varied styles, perhaps with examples of some of them.

You're allowed to be arrogant enough to believe that your own work is worth an entry all to itself. That arrogance goes with your age and would be more amazing if it wasn't there. This I know - I spend practically 24 hours a day working and living with people your age. But this is "Peer Review" and no one is holding your age against you. You have been reviewed by your peers and should accept the majority view. Isn't that why you opted to put this to be reviewed?

That's not to say that there isn't a place in the Edited Guide for a very rare personal entry. However, the reason would have to be that the Entry would help anyone else reading it. It would "Guide" them to an understanding. See A855209 for a personal entry and A682472 for one that was not written by the people concerned. Either might inspire you to write a poem or help you to understand what to do if you or anyone you know was ever in the same situation.

There's a request for contributions for a collaborative topic on the Front Page every week. A collaborative entry is this weeks Editor's pick for the weekend A930142. So, visit one of the writing groups on h2g2, leave a message in Ask h2g2 or ask one of the Italics (I believe Ashley) to make it a Talking point topic soon. Then write an Entry that will have a much wider audience. I look forward to it!

coelacanth - even if i did do the how to be a poet entry suggestion, this would still be worthy of an entry. not every entry uides you to do something. some entries are simply informative, such as this one. this gives you information on a poem. i would be happy fo this and loads more entries on amateur poems to become part of the edited guide. a 'how to be a poet' entry would be good, but i don't have the experience to write that, nor do i have the experience to tell you whow to get a poe published, how to write a good poem, etc etc. i know about my amateur poem, and provide information about it's creation, which shows that it does not take hours and hours to write a good poem (if you think it's good), and provides information about the website Poetry.com, which people could go to and write a few poems on, which could be the start of a successful career of a poet.

>"You're allowed to be arrogant enough to believe that your own work is worth an entry all to itself."

no, i'm not. i'm arrogant enough to believe all poems deserve an entry to themselves, as long as the entry provides information about the poem etc. i would not want an entry with just a poem in the EG, nor would I want someone talking about their amazing poem which they wrote one night and put on h2g2. Amateur poems that are published or to be published, that perhaps were noticed by experts, or won competitions, they should have entries. you never know - in 10 years time that amateur poet could be a famous poet and the entry could be updated to show that.

oh, and on the collaborative entry thing you gave a link for? - i know about that, and post there most weeks. in fact, i contributed to this week's entry which you linked to. maybe i will suggest it as a future topic, but that does not rule this entry out.

spook

see, I didn't like this poem. It looked too easy.

We don't want that, do we?

quality is an opinion, not a fact to be judged in suitablity.

spook

"Amateur poems that are published or to be published, that perhaps were noticed by experts, or won competitions, they should have entries."

Spook, go read Mina's #22. You haven't won a competition. This is what is known as "vanity publishing". Look it up. I could send them my shopping list and it would win the wonderful prize of being put in a book. If I gave them £60 I could even read it. If I gave them more £60's I could give copies of my bound and printed shopping list to all my friends and family.

But I still wouldn't have won a competition.

In fact all that would have happened is that I'd have probably lost copyright on my shopping list. You probably don't have to right to be posting your poem here. If you do, then copyright it quick just in case someone decides to steal your work. But, I repeat, you haven't won a competition.

Now, I know you contribute to collaborative entries. If you want to develop your skills as a writer, then start one. Don't be daunted by the task. Musicians practise for hours to become accomplished. Athletes train. Writers write.

So, write!

Shame about the lost stanza.

actually i've already started a collaborative entry on things to do on the internet.

anyway, the poem has won some sort of award i can receive by reading it out at a poetry conference. i know it didn't win the competition and $20,000, but hey.

anyway, i don't think it's totally vanity publishing. only semi-finalists of the competition got in the book, and to win all i'd have to do is go to america as mentioned just above. they have many competitions, and i think hey are putting lots of poems togther in a special collection of books.

and my poem is copyrighted to me. on the website Poetry.com, you will see the poem with my copyright at the bottom. by submitting it, i give them the right to pulish it on the website, but i have the copyright to it. because it is going to be published, they sent me a form to check the poem was right and to send it back, iving them permission to publish the poem in the book, as i own the copyright to it.

it is all very official you know.

spook

Well, perhaps it's the start of something big for you. Good luck! Maybe one day you will have a Guide Entry devoted to your whole body of work. After all, here's a poet who has: A416341

and that poet was bad

Well after all, "quality is an opinion, not a fact to be judged in suitability."

Actually, my opinions of these poets are switched. I don't care for this Simon Hearnshaw, but I do like the McGonagell (Did I even come close to the spelling?) poems. They're fun

McGonagall's great! I love him..... if he'd been alive today he'd definately have written an article like this one about one of his poems. But if I were the editor, I wouldn't let that into the Guide either.

"You may be the worst poet in the world, but I will not allow you to tell us the thought process behind 'Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silvery Tay! / With your numerous arches and pillars in so grand array.'"

Yes, bad poetry has a place in the Guide. But I'd imagine there are more bad poems in the world than human beings. Articles on them can't all fit in... and I mean physically.

I'm getting bored now... so all I can say is (in the style of McGonagall i.e. badly):

Spook, you've set the Guide a hypothetical test.
But it's no' goin in the Guide! Now gie it a rest!



deemikay

My little rhyme is just simply bad... I could never reach the grand heights of badness that McGonagall sits on. I'm not fit to lick his boots!

deemikay

actually articles on them can all fit, as the guied is already very big, and due to the internet, the space it can consume is practically infinite.

anyway deemikay, your poem is wrong as i've set the hypothetical test but it has not yet been answered as it is the weeendand all the editors are at home having a nice cuppa !

spook

Be very careful with the word infinite, spook.

i did say practically infinite. there is a limit, but that limit is a few billion entries away, and by then the limit will have changed and there will be no problem.

spook