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

Just call me Rich. Please. I don't want apostrophes, or an official name change

I only write to try to improve my writing now. I reckon I could knock out stuff like A31207259 (well received in PR) easily, but what's the point? I might feel differently if I get to 99, but for now numbers mean absolutely nothing to me beyond commitment. I want to be challenged to try to write beyond my capabilities, and I asked Leo to be my sub for my Uni project partly because I don't want an easy ride. She's suggested dozens of improvements, and I hope I've become a better writer as a result.

The best entry I've ever seen is A30081700. I'd be happy to claim that one and the the Kevin Carter entry as my own and stick on two forever. I'm proud of most of the rest, but those two are on a different level. I think that's because they are both written from the heart rather than the head.

Rich, it is .

The problem with ranking entries is that different ones are best for different things. A30081700 is a joy to read. Other entries have been experiences to read, others have opened my eyes, others been merely entertaining... they've all been written with heart though.

Langsandy obviously felt some connection with those birds and the environment. Maybe there's a connection to be had for every topic and entry, waiting to be found. I certainly don't have any great eloquence in me for topics like birds. What makes the "Winter Birds..." entry remarkable to me is that it was written with emotion, élan and passion about a topic that could otherwise be so mundane and scientific. After that, writing with emotion about an emotional subject or writing with humor about a humorous subject almost seems easy.

Nevertheless, this thread has encouraged me to write about an emotional subject. It's one I've tried before and given up on, so hopefully taking a fresh angle on it will encourage me to get it done.

I don't particularly like any of the entries I've written for the EG. I wrote most of them when I was younger, and not as experienced a writer as I am now. I have a few topics I would love to write proper entries on, if I ever had the time or the skill to really do them justice....

My favourite piece of my writing to have been "published" on h2g2 is A25314211 Too Much Information, which was featured in the UnderGuide. It's probably the most intensely personal it is possible for me to get, and I was so proud that the UG thought it worthy of publication.

I don't like most of my earlier EG entries either, EMR I think I've grown as a writer a bit since then. I wouldn't say that myself, but none other than Gnomon said it a year or two ago, so I'll take his word for it.

One day, I'll write some thing for the AWW. Give me a decade or two.

I hate looking at my older entries. I know they all need to be rewritten. I just can't make myself do it.

Meanwhile, of other entries, I used to have a list somewhere of entries that I read that I really enjoyed. When I was an ACE I always left a couple of random entry links in my welcomes, so it was quite a sizeable list. I've stopped keeping track since I left the ACEs, but the list is still around somewhere. I'll have to look for it.

I know this entry was on it somewhere: A656859

And I loved the original 'Short Guide to Short Words'. I used to have a link to Ben's version, but I've since misplaced it.

I don't think your old entries are anything to be ashamed of at all, broe, but I suppose it's commendable that you're holding yourself to an even higher standard.