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

Just posting to start a thread really. I like what you have put together here, but I wonder if we need to define what we like more? But if we do - then where the hell do we start, and where do we stop?

My suggestion is that we go with what you have done, but be prepared to revisit the Underguidelines in 6 months or so with additions or ammendments as they occur. (Fully discussed, of course).

In other words, lets start here, and make the rest up as we go along.

B

Short and snappy it's not like anyone can forget them or argue with them.

You could even squeeze it further and leave out no. 2, since its already covered in the House Rules. Maybe even just take the House Rules as read, after all you don't get this far without having agreed to them anyway. That would just leave rule 3.


"but I wonder if we need to define what we like more?", Ben, aren't you the anarchist around here?

My innner anarchist and my inner process designer are fighting it out!

Ben

Yeah - the one fear is that we get a lot of one-liners/the stuff that circulates in peoples e-mail boxes/work which really hasn't had any thought put into it/really bad in-the-style-of-Douglas-Adams stuff.

There's masses of this floating around on site at the moment but very little ends up in PR, fortunately. Hopefully this will also be true for APR.

But if we could describe what a quality piece of work is, that would be great. Maybe do it if it appears we need it, as suggested by others.

Sprout (doesn't mind anarchy, as long as it's good anarchy)

Sorry, I copied this out of Plan D and pasted it on its own page to kick start discussion again, meant to adjust it according to the comments on that discussion thread, but never got around to it.

Mentioning House Rules and plagiarism should go without saying, but they're meant as reminders. I think it's worth taking space on the guidelines to remind people of those things.

Maybe we need to divide it into two sections, the strict guidelines and the stylistic guidelines. The three points already established are the strict guidelines. The stylistic guidelines might be "under construction" until we finish discussing it. Meanwhile, we could say, "We're not sure how to define it, but here are some examples of things we like..." and a few links.

I think the 'Under Construction' idea is a good one.

I like entries that make me:

Think or
Laugh or
Cry or
Move me or
Interest me or
Inform me or
Entertain me.

Above all an entry must hold my attention and it must not irritate me.

Ben

I think the fewer guidelines the better. I like the draft here with the three basic rules, (the reminder about House Rules is useful) and guidance on UG standards given by using examples.

We could add some quotes from miners, such as Ben's above, on what they'd like for the UG. Maybe what they don't want too. As in; Miner49er - "Please not another 'Earth - mostly harmless' Not again! Please not again!" Just an idea.

If we're going to say all changes in subedding will be done hand in hand with the author then we don't need to go into spelling, guide ML issues in Guidelines.

Waz

I'm trying to put finishing touches on the UnderGuidelines, but got stuck on these examples. In lieu of a long description of stylistic guidelines (which we may add later), I want to give examples of the kinds of entries we'd like to see. So I searched back for this set of examples that Ben thought were really good, but I realized that no one else has voted on these. Can we get one or two other people to check these entries and see if you agree that they look like proper UnderGuide material? Give me a thumbs up if you think these should be used as examples for the UnderGuidelines.


1st person travelogues
A629084 - A Travel Story - gaston
A671988 - A True Christmas Story - gaston

Reflections on other people's lives
F76471?thread=155811 - The Judge - gaston

Reflections on your own life
A876594 - Brainwashed: Joining and leaving a minority religion - Z

Private experiences of public events
A685677 - Mourning Diana - Bels

Musings or Philosophy
A865488 - Why do we have beliefs - Wotchit

(Personally I would also suggest another classic from the first AGG/GAG:
A504217 - Twenty-seventh Letter - Lonnytunes

Why not check out the voting threads in the MSN group, Subcom? There is some consensus there.



B

That's true but there are other considerations being taken into account with those. Like the correct proportion of Elvises, and, in my case not choosing more than one entry from one author.

I would agree with all of these entries being UG entries, although they're not on my list at MSN.
Waz

"Why not check out the voting threads in the MSN group, Subcom? There is some consensus there."

I've been lurking on all the threads in the MSN group, even if I haven't commented them. If I used those as examples from the MSN group voting discussions, then it would spoil the surprise when we actually run them on the front page in the first days or weeks.

Good point!

B

Do you think it's a good idea to give three examples from one author? I think it sends too strong a message about one particular style. I found quite a number of entries outside AWW that I think are classic UG entries. They include Sea's A480764 'A Day in the Life of the Stereotypical (American) Popular Teenage Female' the piece that first made me think the EG wasn't enough. So obviously it's a classic to me.

If we're looking for more examples not at MSN, Pinniped has written any numer of classic UG entries.

Once the UG is underway the examples ought to be from 'official' UG entries. So which ever we use could be replaced later and nominated for the UG themselves, after a suitable gap.

Waz

Good point, Waz. Could we pick the one superior example by Gaston and get rid of the others?

My intention was to give a few examples right in the UnderGuidelines until we have an Archives going. After that, the examples could be removed and only a link to the Archives would be necessary. (Anyone who has read writers' guidelines for fiction submissions to magazines will know that this is standard operating procedure, directing writers to read several issues to familiarize themselves with the style or tone of stories published in the past in that magazine.)

Sorry Deidzob, since subscribing to AWW I'm losing track of some conversations. All three of Gaston's entries are excellent. My personal favourite is the Christmas one but The judge has the advantage of not having been mentioned at MSN.
Waz