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

Entry: An alternative guide to surviving breast cancer - A26370722
Author: PurpleponchoJ9 - U9521425

I need to know if it is only me or is there anyone out there that does these odd things to keep going?

I just sat down for a minute to check my messages, stumbled across your entry and couldn't stop reading Thanks for that.

Thank you for this great piece. It's written with verve and humour that shines out. .

I did wonder if this is the sort of thing you could sell to a woman's magazine.

Thanks for that, but not sure if anyone is really interested. I suspect I am a bit too brash and not able to express my experiences in a more measured manner. Also, I do not have the remotest idea how you go about that sort of thing! Do you just sent things in to magazines and hope they look at it?

Thanks Kyra.
I am always writing things down but do not have any skills in getting my thoughts in any reasonable order. I find strange things funny these days. I spent half an hour yesterday studying the faces of the farmers that provide meat to Tesco. They now add a photo of the farmer and a small biography about them on the packaging. It took me ages to decide whether Russell, Tom or Bill was the right one for me, prior to buying a few pork chops. I am not sure how by studing their faces you acn tell if they are kind to the animals in their care. Actually I was relieved when I found out that I only had Seamus to chose from one I bought the low fat chicken breasts.

I must admit that I've never succeeded in getting anything accepted for publication on a comercial basis. But the Writers and Artists Yearbook has information on magazines that accept articles.

I was a little daunted by the size of the scroll bar on the side when I started reading, but then I couldn't stop. Your bubbly personality may not have come through on camera, but it shines like a beacon in your writing.

I laughed out loud, and I cried.
It's a beautiful story.

Broelen, thanks for taking the time to read my entry. I have been mad busy at work and had no time yet to add anything else. I have checked our your site and it looks great. I loved your gallery.

I'd like to echo what Broe said. It's entertaining, moving, original and very individual.

Possibly for publication there are one or two places where you could tighten it up but to be honest I wouldn't want to have missed any of it.

I wonder if the title does it justice - I'd be interested in what others think on that. I think it might deter a few readers, but possibly not the readers you most want.

Thank you for letting us read it - answering your Post 1 query, I've never been in a situation close to this so have no relevant experience, but my ways of coping with difficult times tend to run more along the lines of self-bribery and displacement. Your way leads to a more interesting life, I think.

I, too, raised an eyebrow at the scroll bar but very soon forgot it.

Very good - I ...enjoyed... it (if enjoyed is a suitable word). It certainly gave me food for thought and a few smiles.

The title - is OK to me.

Thank You.
RtB

Hi purpleponcho .

Being new to h2g2, you've might not have come across the <./>underguide</.>. Obviously Hootoo's main purpose is its Edited Guide - the factual, third person type writing - but alternative entries get a look in too.

Every week there's an UnderGuide slot on the site's front page, and we'd like to feature either an extract of your entry, (linking to this entire version), or a slimmed down version of it. And we'd love to do it before the end of October, it being breast cancer awareness month.

If you click on the '<./>underguide</.>' link, it'll give some more idea what we're about.

purpleponcho, not quite the same as getting onto QVC, but nevertheless, congratulations ,
UnderGuide Eds

May I also echo what broelan said. I laughed till I creid, than k you very much.

Andcongratulations (please don't trim it, UG editors!)

Hello Purpleponcho! I have been hard at work trying to work out a version that will please the UG Eds, and I think we've struck it here: A28005329.

I was really disappointed that the full version was just considered too long to feature, but I have made sure there is a very prominent link to A28005103, a polished version of your original.

I have also included a few links in the sidebar, where they compliment but don't interrupt your narrative. They are for The Breast Cancer Site, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and Breast Cancer Care. I've worked hard to make sure this was featured before the end of October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I certainly hope that, when you return, you find that everything meets with your approval.

I was very touched by your story, and am very happy to have had the chance to edit it for you. (I'm also going to share it with my mother, who celebrates her tenth year of survival this year, too.)

The internet has blurred the distinction between journal/diary/letter type writing and writing for published articles I think. The link between writer and reader can be so much more direct and personal on the internet - sort of one to one. Especially where you can post comments. It's much more immediate too - sort of real time. The informal, almost unstructured conversational style used here does work. But not, perhaps, for all audiences?

In this case I think there's a choice to be made between readers already engaged and sympathetic and those not. To get and keep the interest of those not needs focus - that's my own feeling, and also that that's the audience most worthwhile going for on the Front Page spot. With the link to the full version, hopefully the UG's got the best of both.

This degree of change to entries is unusual for the UnderGuide, though.
Waz