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

You're now officially a <./>ThePost</.> Reporter.
Congratulations for the shiny new badge, and well deserved it is, too, if I may say so.

Bel

*catches up on post backlog*

Hey, thanks. I think we've had this very same conversation somewhere else recently (that _other_ place), but it did ought to be a hootoo conversation...

So, yes, thanks, I'm proud of my new badge, and (oddly?) I'm just as proud of my very own Post archive page A27955830



Paff

PS. How do you do that ThePost link thing? I did know once and I now can't work it out.

You know, I went to bed very sad last night, I thought you had missed the deadline again.
Imagine my delight when I found your entry this morning.

To link to the <./>thepost</.> page, you'll have to put ThePost (one word) between < . / > and < / . > (without the spaces).

I've been a bit stressed about this one, mainly because I've been very busy in RL with some 'issues'. I'm not very happy with it to be honest but having missed one deadline I thought I should just get on with it. I did some last minute tweaks just as I was submitting it and I suspect I've made those bits worse .


Ah yes, like this: <./>ThePost</.>

I sympathise, there have been RRs I wasn't happy with at all. Don't worry, though, usually, we 'authors' are our worst and most unforgiving critics, and other people still enjoy what we wrote.
I liked the white on white on white scenario, I know you intended this, and it worked: I imagined that spaceship of Hot Black Desiato (or what was his name?).
You've gor two weeks for the next one now.

Don't feel like under pressure just because of me, though. It's only that I had understood that you had it quasi finished, and I really thought you had forgotten about it.

Don't worry, I'm not feeling pressure from you. And yes, I did sort of have it finished.

[My apologies for the next few paragraphs. I've waffled on a bit, but I wanted to say this here for my own benefit (to remember and learn from), as well as for your information. So you might well want to skip this next bit...]



I've been writing these 'Notes from a' by narrating in my head as I go along, then writing down the narration when I get back (before I forget it). It's usually while I'm writing that I find an angle and then I force a bit of structure onto that.

However, I wrote this one in 3 parts and stitched them together, and as a result it doesn't really flow very well.

First, I had the bit about the "bronze tree" that I'd edited out of the first ever 'Notes'. I took this out because it was too factual and not descriptive enough. It was, however, quite detailed, and there's a fine line between detailed and descriptive that I struggle with. My main mistake here was this: To re-use the "bronze tree" I toned down it's factualness, but as a result I stripped it of it's detail, and didn't put back any description to compensate.

Then, I had the "white plastic writing" bit from a second wander round a couple of weeks later. I'd written just that one section, then had got distracted and aborted the rest. Quite happy with that on it's own, especially what turned out be a nice little nod to DNA's "black light that lights up black" from Hotblack Desiato's ship.

Finally, a month or two later I walked round the whole of the 'new' Waterfront and also on to the 'old' Harbour, and I had a good little old vs new thing going on.

However, there was way too much to put in, so I chopped the whole thing in half and stopped "abruptly" at the end of the Waterfront. Then I had to find a new angle because I didn't have all the new/old comparisons to make any more. At which point I made the mistake of deliberately writing the "Jubilee Needle" bit in the style of the "bronze tree", which I had already ruined earlier. So I ended up with a start and end that were both devoid of detail and description, and also were slightly too factual for the piece.

To make matters worse, I had the little "give it another 60 years" bit, that I used twice, and wanted to use a third time. So I butchered the first two to make the third one work, and ended up with the "in another 60 years" bits which really are utter pants.




So, yes, we may be our worst critics. However, we need to criticise so that we can improve. The problem is that deadlines leave time for the criticism, but no time for the improvement.

Sure makes me appreciate all those columnists out there, whether they be writing for The Post, or any other regular publication.

Here's to two weeks' time .

Paff

I see what you mean. And it's amazing that you know exactly what is lacking. I did miss something when reading it, but I couldn't really put my finger on it.
But then I've read all your other 'Notes', and very thoroughly at that, so I really should notice a difference. Don't worry, though, it's still an interesting 'Note' and I don't think any casual reader will notice anything.
Apart from that, you're not a machine, and writing is pretty much down to the condition you're in when writing, so it's just normal that articles vary a bit.
Maybe this time, you'll get the chance of writing something a bit earlier, leaving time for yourself to get back to the finished piece two or three days later, to look if it reads well enough for your taste.
I'm never quite happy with what I write, I'm annoyed about the mistakes I make etc. I think my style is clumsy, too dry and too 'German' to be any good, which is why I hadn't written any guide entries since July. Well, I've put one in PR last weekend, and it seems to go down well with the reviewers, so it can't be all that bad, can it?

Don't let yourself get bogged down, I'm a great fan of your writing, and I'm not just saying it without meaning it.