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

Hullo Shazz. Nothing like an epic saga to swell the pages of .

It's *almost* nearly, sort-of getting close to being finished.

I then just have to edit it into something approaching readability.

I've started that process now and I am working on some of the backlog of forum posts we've accumlated and creating coded GuideML pages for you to turn into articles.

I had an idea - in the meanwhile and because the events in ST3 run in parallel to those that take place in ST2 would is be a good idea to re-run ST2 in as a prelude to the emergence of ST3?

I was just wondering what you thought. I'm cool either way - as I already have a coded explanatory summary page for the events in ST2 that lead up to ST3 which can be put up before the next published run.

So I was just after your thoughts on whether the h2g2 post readership would like to have ST2 for a second time?

Clive

Hi Clive Glad to hear that ST3 is approaching fruition!

Generally, I wouldn't be adverse to running ST2 again, but it's so *long*... it would be months before it's done and you can start up with ST3. Perhaps it would be better to use your summary and include copious links to ST2, when running ST3 as soon as it's complete?

I'm looking very much forward to seeing the finished product.

EMR

I bow to your editorial judgement EMR.

These are first draft versions. but your welcome to read them - whet your appitite for the complete set.

Prologue.
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ST3
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Looking good, Clive!

Happy you approve.

I've just started work on chapter 15 - and I can tell you that the story has completed about 1 ACT out of the total.

This is going to be a long-running serial.

If I get towards 52 chapters I'll give you a heads up provided I don't go blind from typing out GuideML all day and all night and can't find the keyboard.

Wow, I'm filled with fear, anticipation, excitement... all that wrapped into one.

Don't forget to figure into your calculations that is biweekly now, and that it's going on holiday for August, as I spend five weeks in the wilds of British Columbia and Shazz goes to visit family.

EMR

bi-weekly. hmmm. I'll be honest hadn't spotted that secluded in my hermits burrow writing as I have been.

Let me give you a sample of the length of a chapter. We cover quite a lot of ground in this Storytime. (I thought) I'd made them as lengthy as I dared without having a casual reader loose interest and try to maintain an episodic structure and provide a hook for the next episode at the end.

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(This is an example of a long episode - there are some shorter than this obviously.)

Have I judged it about right do you think?

We can always aim to have it start in September when you are both available

EMR has gone away again so I'll reply this time

I think it would be best to run the synopsis of the previous Storytime(s) in the edition on 7th September and then continue straight on with Storytime III. It will give it a much better run through than trying to start it just before the Post's annual summer holiday.

shazz

I know the office is empty but I fugre it's still worth asking:

Would we ever consider on some weeks running a double-episode feature? There are a couple of set-piece episodes where the story might benefit from this and I'm thinking it can be used to hype the following single episode.

Whadda'ya think?

Enjoy your hols.

I don't see why not. Sounds reasonable to me, especially as material tends to be a little sparse these days.

EMR

(by sheer fluke I thought I'd visit the post office and you replied "just now" )

Remember how you were "complaining" that ST2 was long? Well, I've just finished typing up chapter 26 - and I know that we are only now approaching something like the half-way point of the story. (We are just about to introduce a new but pivotally important character...)

Sparse this is anything but.

I'm so excited though...

EMR

Chapter 31....and counting....


<----bomb shelter.

I mean, we're not doing this on purpose... we've just been writing quite an involved story with many strands for quite a while now and we've built up quite a lot of actual plot. I'm covering as much ground per chapter as I dare with multiple scenes and different characters and dramatic plot twists. To make matters worse the blasted thing isn't even finished yet.

I started coding up the backlog so a) you've got something to print in September and b) it gives my brain time off from thinking about spectacular finalés.

No rest for the wicked....

Can I just get 's view on something?

In order to get around the sometimes tricky business of events in the previous storytime running parallel to those in ST3, it's necessary to make that direct link for the benefit of the reader.

Rather than do this in a footnote however, I'm trying to make a running linking system of connected Guide Entries that should cummulatively explain what the links between the two stories are.

I've spent today developing it and I was wondering if the you can take a look at it and tell me if you think it is clear enough.

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That looks quite clear to me (and as a newcomer to Storytime, as I wasn't around when ST2 was, I feel I can judge this).

Allow me to applaud your efforts once again - I'd never have the patience for a project like this.

Sorry you don't have Shazz's opinions right now, but hopefully when September rolls around the three of us can all make sure we're on the same page.

EMR

No problem - I just wanted *a* second opinion, EMR, Editor, - your thoughts are just as important to me as Shazz's.

I was trying to sum up some complicated point in a footnote and thought "blow this for a game of soldiers, I'll never get all this information in," - and so I decided I'd try something different.

but then I wanted to know if my insticts were correct and weren't compoundig the problem of making things too confusing.

Be advised I've recently had to break out an exra roman numeral for the chapters.

L



I've a suspicion we're serously going to have to consider running more than one chapter a fortnight *every fortnight* because at this rate with only being bi-weekly, St3 will run for more than a year.

...and somewhere between patience and obsession.

I don't see why we can't manage two a fortnight - we've run isolated instances of two episodes of a serial before, so there's no reason it can't be a regular thing with this serial. Content is sparse enough as it is, these days; we could actually do with extra material each week.

Don't be concerned about it running long, though - just look at how long serials like Knolly have been running! (Though yes, in short, I'm in full support of two chapters per issue.)

EMR

Grand stuff.

I finished editing Chapter 52 the other day, which certainly raised my eyebrows and I'm thinking: how on earth did we write this much??

I reckon by the time I've finished coding the backlog and when we finish the final writing arc of the story (we are at the climax now...sort of) I'll have somehwere in the reaches of 60 maybe 70 individual chapters at a guess.

If that were so, St3 would be more than three times longer than St2 was with just 23 chapters.