> I don't mind contributing it to Python, but I wonder if it's better to 
> let it develop separately for a few months first - it's still very new, 
> and I can improve it faster in a repository where I can commit to it 
> myself.

That's fine, there's no hurry to merge this.

We should also decide on the approach, e.g.:
  1) we could extract bits from your work and use them to improve the current docs (you can also report problems that you might notice in the current docs);
  2) we could add your work to the current ast docs;
  3) we could add your work as a separate howto in Doc/howto/;

> In the meantime, let me know if there are any specific formats/styles/etc.

The general guidelines are explained here: http://docs.python.org/devguide/documenting.html
You can also look at the current docs to get an idea.

> What would be the best way to preserve these?

If they are not too long they could be kept in the rst files, otherwise they could be included in the Tools/ dir.

> Is this an issue?

Any improvement is welcomed -- it doesn't necessarily have to be comprehensive, but it should be correct.