Computer Buyer 1997 January/dpcb197.iso/business/a1share/41411.ZIP/ARTICLE.OLD

Text File | 1993-05-25 | 15KB | 324 lines

%t Article Writing Guide For Field Researchers And Guide Editors
%s General information for writing Guide articles.
%a Paul Jason Clegg  ([e-mail])
%n 1R0
%d 19930420
%x Art
%x Project Galactic Guide Text Formatting Guide
%e
              Project Galactic Guide Guidelines & Rule-thingies

        Completely Revised & Expanded by Paul Clegg, January 2nd, 1993
                          Steve Baker helped, too!



                      ----- Part Zero : Preface -----

Upon reviewing several articles that managed their way into the
Guide's archives, an action precipitated by a combination of
sheer boredom and having just finished reading "Mostly Harmless,"
I've come to notice that many of the article in the current archives
fall short of perfection on several counts, not the least being
several grammatic and spelling errors, but more importantly a general
discontinuity of ideas.

The original plan for PGG was that it was to be entirely factual, based
on real things.  Due to popular demand, however, we elected to include
both completely fictional and not-so-completely fictional works as well.
By doing so, we have greatly increased the number of articles we receive,
although I think there are more fictional and not-so-completely fictional
articles as there are completely real articles.

And even then, some of the completely real articles aren't as completely
real as they had seemed at first glance.

The problem I first wanted to address was the referencing of fictional
ideas within "real" articles.  If an article is to be designated as
completely real, then, gosh-darn-it, everything in it should be
completely real.  As an example of what shouldn't have gotten into
what has already been done, refer to the article "Bluffers Guides, The",
where it refers to a "Jagulon-Beta".  There is no Jagulon-Beta, and it
should not have gotten its way into a "real" article.  Likewise, there
are several "semi-real" articles that aren't fake enough to even qualify
as "semi-real" (example:  Melbourne, Australia), and some that probably
should be real with a little concentrated editing (example:  Infinity;
just drop the quotes from Adams, change the reference to "PGGBs" (which
should've been spelled out anyway), and you've got something that qualifies
as a "real" article).

So the real trick now is to come up with some hard-core, definitive,
but general pointers as to what should be real, semi-real, and unreal.
There are also some things that need to be cleaned up in the realm of
article titles, summaries, cross-references, and indexes.  Hopefully
I'll be able to address them all.



               ----- Part One : Article Categorization -----
                 (or, "Is It Real, Semi-Real, or UnReal?")

Project Galactic Guide categorizes its information into one of
three groups:  Real, Unreal, and Semi-Real.  The purpose of this
is to allow people to discern between articles that are real
(and possibly actually useful) and articles that are primarily
for entertainment value only.  Let's deal with them in a few steps:

      Real.  A Real article is an article that is written about a
        real thing, person, place, occurence, what have you.  Everything
        about the article is real.  All the words are real words
        (exception:  you can use "hoopy" as much as you want), all the
        people are real people, and all the places are real places.  If
        the article is mere speculation, it's still real, so long as it
        doesn't definitively break any of the rules previously stated.
        But it should be real.

      UnReal.  An UnReal article is an article that is written
        exclusively to be a piece of fiction.  It can use references to
        real things as much as it'd like; it's still UnReal.  UnReal
        articles are just articles that people might get a good chuckle
        out of.

      Semi-Real.  Now it gets tough.  What exactly constitutes a
        Semi-Real article? Articles that get the designation "Semi-Real"
        should contain PRIMARILY Real stuff, and include only sparse
        references to UnReal stuff.  A Semi-Real article should have
        some useful information within it, even though it's clouded with
        entertaining tidbits of fiction.

When you, as a field researcher, begin to write an article, have a good
think about what KIND of article you plan on writing, and do it BEFORE
you write it.  While a good, satirical UnReal article may be funny, and
fun to write, the best, and by far most useful, article is a Real article.

Things written by Douglas Adams are NOT real (well, most of it isn't,
anyway). Don't use references to "the Great Prophet Zarquon" if you're
writing a Real article; that automatically changes the category to
"Semi-Real".  This also brings up another point that needs to be discussed
later on: the use of quotes.



                  ----- Part Two : The Article Format -----
                      (or, "What The %-Thingies Mean")

As of January 2, 1993, the current format for the "header" of
an article is as follows:

  %t Title
  %n Identification Number
  %s Summary
  %a Author
  %d Date
  %x Cross References
  %i Indexes
  %e Entry Start
  This is a sample entry.
  %e Entry End

  %t Title:
        The title should be no longer than 76 characters.  In fact, if
        you have a title that is anywhere near 76 characters, you
        probably came up with a really bad title.  The title of an
        article is NOT the same as a movie or book title.  The title of
        an article should be similar to the name of an encyclopedia
        entry.  As a result, a title should not be, "Paul Clegg, The
        Hoopiest Frood In All Of Creation", it should be "Clegg, Paul
        Jason".  Names of people should be written in last, first middle
        fashion. Places should be expanded all the way out to the
        planet.  If you're writing about a city, then your title should
        be "City, State (if applicable), Country, Planet".  We have to
        think ahead here.  Avoid using "The" as the first word of the
        article; if it's necessary, append it to the end of the title,
        such as "Earth's Crust, The" as opposed to "The Earth's Crust".
        An article's title IS like a movie or book in that the first
        letters of ALL the words are capitalized.  For simplicity, do
        NOT make exceptions for the small words.

  %n Identification Number:
        The ID number of an article contains information on three
        different things:  First and foremost, it contains the flag
        detailing the "reality" of the article; this letter is either R
        for Real, U for UnReal, or S for Semi-Real.  This letter MUST be
        supplied by the author of the article.  The decimal number
        before the letter is the number of the editor who edits the
        article.  As an example, editor number 1 is me, Paul Clegg.  The
        number that comes after the letter is the number of the article
        is the number of articles of that reality type that particular
        editor has edited.  For example, I have edited articles numbered
        1R1, 1S1, and 1U1.  Which were the first Real, Semi-Real, and
        Unreal articles I ever edited.  1R7 was the seventh real article
        that I edited, and so on.  Field researchers do NOT need editor
        ID numbers; these numbers are only used so that we can figure
        out which editor missed what typos and then scream at them for
        being so stupid.  (BTW:  We can always use new editors!)

  %s Summary:
        The Summary line of an article should be short and sweet, and
        just a little more informative than the title.  If you feel the
        urge to use a subtitle, this is where it should go.  To continue
        the previous example, the summary for "Clegg, Paul Jason" might
        be "The Hoopiest Frood in all of Creation".  A summary should
        be, at maximum, 76 characters long, and should NOT be more than
        one sentence.  A good guideline would be that if your summary is
        longer than your article, switch them.

  %a Author:
        This is where you, the field researcher, gets the spotlight.
        You get to put your name (use your real name, please), and your
        e-mail address (if you have one).  The format should be straight
        first-middle-last, followed by TWO spaces, and then enclose your
        e-mail address in normal parenthesis.  My name appears on my
        articles as:

        Paul Jason Clegg  ([e-mail])

  %d Date:
        This is the date on which you wrote the article.  The format
        for the date is yyyymmdd, expanding on single digits with
        leading zeros.  A correct date is 19730728 (July 28th, 1973).
        The reason for this is quite simple:  You can easily tell if an
        article was written after another by comparing the two dates in
        this format.  The one with the larger number was written last.
        [Note for discussion:  Perhaps we ought to change this to the
        date that it was accepted into the archives?]

  %x Cross References:
        You can have as many LEGAL cross references as you want in your
        article.  Each should be on a separate line containing its own
        %x marker.  Each line should contain the TITLE of an ACTUAL
        ENTRY, copied character for character out of the Guide.  As a
        field researcher, don't feel pressured into adding cross
        references, as the editors should add as many cross references
        as necessary.  In deciding on which EXISTING articles should be
        cross referenced, read your article, and think to yourself, "Now
        that I've read this, what would I want to know in more or less
        detail?".  If you write an article about about a place on Earth,
        then make sure one of your cross references is to "Earth".

  %i Indexes:
        Indexes are what your title might otherwise be known by.  Short
        forms of the title should NOT be included if the characters
        match up on a one-for-one basis starting at the beginning.
        Thus, if the article title is "New York City, New York, United
        States of America, Earth", then "New York City" and "New York"
        are NOT good indexes, though "Hellhole" would be (just kiddin'
        people).  You are free to use as many indexes as you'd like, in
        the same manner as cross references; one index to a line, each
        one beginning with the &i marker.

  %e Entry Markers:
        These indicate the beginning and ends of the actual text of the
        article.  One marker is put on an otherwise blank line just
        before and immediately after the first and last lines of the
        article.  Consult the Project Galactic Guide Text Formatting
        Guide for details on writing the body of the article.



                 ----- Part Three : Article Content -----
                      (or, "The Good Stuff Inside")

        What should go into an article is, in the case of Real
        articles, substantial information written with a witty style,
        or, in the case of Semi-Real and UnReal articles, somewhat less
        substantial information written with a witty style.  While it is
        encouraged a LOT, witty style is NOT required; if you don't
        think you're very witty, don't be discouraged; write a normal
        article and submit it; besides entertainment, the point of the
        project is to culminate all sorts of information.

        Don't quote Douglas Adams left and right.  I'm currently
        awaiting feedback from Mr. Adams himself on the legality of the
        whole project as it is.  If you must quote him, use a footnote
        to designate which book, page number, and his name; this applies
        to any books or sources you might quote from.  If you're not
        sure about it, ask an editor BEFORE you try sending in your
        article.

        Articles don't have to be long!  We want information, and lots
        of it.  If you don't have the time or urge to write a long and
        involved article about something, don't!  You can always update
        your own article (or someone else's) later on.



        ----- Part Four : Field Researcher / Editor Relationship -----
                     (or, "Your Editor is Your Friend")

        When you've completed your article, you e-mail it or send a
        hardcopy to an editor (one of your choice, even!).  A list of
        editors and their addresses may be found at the end of this
        document.  The standard procedure is (or should be) this:

        1.  Editor receives article.
        2.  Editor reads article and decides if it's really worth
              putting in the archives (usually is).
        3.  Editor edits article for spelling mistakes, grammatical
              errors, and other problems.
        4.  Editor sends an edited copy of the article BACK to the
              author to make sure they didn't alter its true meaning or
              purpose.
        5.  If the author is satisfied, they contact the editor and tell
              them to put the article in the archives.
        6.  If the author is NOT satisfied, the author makes some more
              changes and the whole thing goes back to step 1.

        The editors are NOT held responsible for any informational
        errors in the articles they process; the truth to an article is
        the sole responsibility of the field researcher who wrote it.



                    ----- Part Five : Conclusion -----
                  (or, "Wake Up Guys, It's Almost Over")

That's about it.



                   ----- Part Six : Editor's List -----

Editor Number 1:
----------------
  Paul Jason Clegg
  Send Electronic Mail to:  [e-mail]  ONLY between September
                                                 1st and May 1st.
  Send Hardcopy Mail to:
          Paul Clegg                    Paul Clegg
          1795 Washington Avenue        1003 Buck, RPI
          Vineland, NJ                  Troy, NY
          08360                         12180-3590
          (All year)                    (Sept 1st through May 1st)

  Voice Call:  [phone] (All year)  [phone] (Sept 1st
                                                          through May 1st)

Editor Number 2:
----------------
  Steven William Baker ("Steve", or "Texas Bob," is preferred)
  Send Electronic Mail to:  [e-mail]
  Available Year-Round at the above Email address


Editor Number 3:
----------------
  Michael Bravo
  Send Electronic Mail to:  [e-mail]
  Send Hardcopy Mail to:
          189810 Russia
          Zelenogorsk
          Privokzalnaya ul., 7-61
          Bravo M.E.

  Michael is the Russian editor; please only send articles written in
    Russian to him.
%e
*EOA*


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