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

Today my 150th Edited Article has appeared on the Front Page!

Hopefully I'll get a new badge now too.

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I was the third to get to 100 (after Jimi X and Demond Drawer) and I'm also the 3rd to get to 150 (after Galaxy Babe and Gnomon).

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Congratulations!

Congratulations BB!

I suspect you will have to prod the Eds to get your new badge

A709120 <---

I've got the 150 badge now - only my second ever number of articles badge.

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hi bluebottle

you are so prolific and your articles are so easy to read yet so informative and entertaining!
i have only just started reading them but love them very much!

i was wondering if anywhere here you have written up a little description of what your work day, week, month and/or year is like in respect to this writng...
if not, would you mind maybe...
maybe a journal entry?
or here in this thread?
explaining maybe how you do this amazing amount of writing
and yes i am sure part of it is one day at a time or some such thing
but...
i think after 150 things about other stuff
you and we both deserve a thing about you and how you work?
maybe not deserve on my part, but i sure would enjoy it!

I've not actually written about how I write things as I've never really thought that anyone would be interested in reading about it.

All I do, basically, is keep writing about things I'm interested in regardless of whether or not anyone else might be interested in that subject or not. Sometimes it's better to write about something really obscure. I've written a lot of articles about the Beatles, and on the internet there are millions of things written about the Beatles, so no-one pays much attention to what I've written about them. It's another drop in the ocean. But if you write something about a subject with a narrower appeal, the people interested in that subject should hopefully pay more attention to what you've written.

I keep a list of things I plan to write about, but what often happens is that I suddenly find myself writing about something I hadn't planned to. It's often compulsive.

I try to research what I'm writing about as much as I can; borrow books from libraries, watch the film several times and all the commentaries, visit the site, whatever is relevant to what you are writing about. At first I try to avoid reading other things like Wikipedia as I want to be able to give my own interpretation and viewpoints rather than end up copying what someone else has written, and then after I've written it I might have a sneaky peak to make sure that what I've written is better, more detailed and includes something that's not on the other, rival website. I feel that if I'm writing something that's more or less identical to what other people have written there isn't much point.

I just keep writing about things in the hope that with enough practice I'll get better at it. I try to pay attention to suggestions in Peer Review and learn from them where appropriate. I am also very conscious of not knowing much about grammar and correct sentence structure. I wasn't taught that at school at all - I wish I was, but I wasn't, and I hope that with enough practice I'll pick up on how I should and shouldn't write sentences. That's one of the main reasons I never became a sub editor - I've never felt confident enough in being able to correct what other people have written. I'd probably either keep things exactly as the author wrote them originally or want to re-write the whole article. Besides which, writing something myself is much more fun!

That's more or less it. Of course, the way I write is just the way I write, and what works for me isn't necessarily the best way of writing or a way that would suit anyone else.

Not that I can write anything at the moment as, since my wife lost her job, she spends every evening online looking for jobs or filling in application forms and I can't get anywhere near the computer.

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hi
sorry it took me so long to reply; i have been elsewhere

thats all very interesting and i especially like that thing about writing about what youre currently obsessing on (my wording)

i will use that to help myself write so thank you!!

i gather, from what you described, that writing for h2g2 is a recreation for you?
i mean, it is fun, creative and recreates your energy and quality of life?

i can see that
i can see that working for me too


thank you...
sorry in a rush gotta go but thank you for your answers

Yes, I'd describe it as recreation. Something to do in my ever-decreasing amount of spare time. But yes, you have to write for yourself, otherwise if you write for other people you'd soon get disappointed. Often when I write something no-one comments, so you have to write it for your own reward rather than to try to impress other people.

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