Andrew Fitzgerald: Adventures in Twitter fiction

譯者: Ron Chao 審譯者: Bert Chen

So in my free time outside of Twitter

我在推特以外的閒暇時間

I experiment a little bit

會做一點實驗

with telling stories online, experimenting

關於線上說故事的實驗

with what we can do with new digital tools.

看看新的數位工具能怎麼用

And in my job at Twitter,

我在推特工作的時候

I actually spent a little bit of time

其實也會花一點時間

working with authors and storytellers as well,

與作家和說書人合作

helping to expand out the bounds

幫忙拓展

of what people are experimenting with.

實驗領域的界限

And I want to talk through some examples today

我今天想要談談幾個例子

of things that people have done

別人已經做過的例子

that I think are really fascinating

我覺得真的很棒

using flexible identity and anonymity on the web

靈活利用網路身分與匿名

and blurring the lines between fact and fiction.

模糊現實與虛構的界線

But I want to start and go back to the 1930s.

回溯至1930年代開始講起

Long before a little thing called Twitter,

遠在推特誕生之前

radio brought us broadcasts

無線電為人們帶來了廣播

and connected millions of people

連結數百萬人

to single points of broadcast.

到單一幾個廣播站

And from those single points emanated stories.

從這幾個廣播站發送許多故事給大家聽

Some of them were familiar stories.

有些是耳熟能詳的故事

Some of them were new stories.

有些是從沒聽過的故事

And for a while they were familiar formats,

有一陣子說故事的形式都差不多

but then radio began to evolve its own

但是廣播開始發展出它獨有的

unique formats specific to that medium.

獨特形式 特別適合傳播訊息

Think about episodes that happened live on radio.

想想看現場廣播劇

Combining the live play

結合了現場演出

and the serialization of written fiction,

與一系列的小說

you get this new format.

新的形式油然而生

And the reason why I bring up radio is that I think

我會提到廣播 是因為我認為

radio is a great example of how a new medium

廣播是一個絕佳例子 看新媒體是如何

defines new formats which then define new stories.

為新形式定義 之後新形式再界定新故事

And of course, today, we have an entirely new

當然我們今天運用的

medium to play with,

是全新的媒體

which is this online world.

那就是線上世界

This is the map of verified users on Twitter

這是推特認證用戶

and the connections between them.

及用戶彼此連結關係的圖示

There are thousands upon thousands of them.

可以看到成千上萬的連結

Every single one of these points

這些小點中 每一個單點

is its own broadcaster.

都是一間專屬的廣播電台

We've gone to this world of many to many,

我們已進入多點對多點的世界

where access to the tools is the only barrier to broadcasting.

工具的使用是廣播的唯一門檻

And I think that we should start to see

我認為我們會開始看到

wildly new formats emerge

嶄新的形式就出現了

as people learn how to tell stories in this new medium.

當人們學會在新媒體環境說故事

I actually believe that we are in a wide open frontier

事實上 我相信我們的創作實驗

for creative experimentation, if you will,

還有很大的開拓空間 如果你願意的話

that we've explored and begun to settle

我們已經完成探索 開始安頓在

this wild land of the Internet

無邊無際的網路世界

and are now just getting ready

現在才剛剛準備

to start to build structures on it,

開始在上面開始蓋建築物

and those structures are the new formats

這些建築物就是說故事的新形式

of storytelling that the Internet will allow us to create.

就是由藉由網際網路我們才能辦到的方式

I believe this starts with an evolution

我認為這種形式是由

of existing methods.

現存方法的進化開始

The short story, for example,

舉短篇小說為例

people are saying that the short story

有人說短篇小說

is experiencing a renaissance of sorts

正經歷像文藝復興的變革

thanks to e-readers, digital marketplaces.

這歸功於電子書、閱讀器和數位市場

One writer, Hugh Howey, experimented

有位作家Hugh Howey在亞馬遜網站

with short stories on Amazon

用短篇小說進行實驗

by releasing one very short story called "Wool."

藉由發表了極短篇故事《羊毛》

And he actually says that he didn't intend

事實上 他表示當初確實無意

for "Wool" to become a series,

將《羊毛》寫成系列作品

but that the audience loved the first story so much

但是讀者非常喜歡這第一篇故事

they demanded more, and so he gave them more.

還想繼續看下去 於是作者就繼續創作回應讀者期待

He gave them "Wool 2," which was a little bit longer than the first one,

他寫了《羊毛二》 故事比第一集長一點

"Wool 3," which was even longer,

《羊毛三》又更長些

culminating in "Wool 5,"

《羊毛五》是最後一篇故事

which was a 60,000-word novel.

這是六萬字的系列小說

I think Howey was able to do all of this because

我認為Howey能發表整個系列

he had the quick feedback system of e-books.

是因為電子書的快速反饋系統

He was able to write and publish

他能夠創作與出版

in relatively short order.

以相當快的速度

There was no mediator between him and the audience.

他和讀者沒有隔著中間人

It was just him directly connected with his audience

他直接和讀者互動

and building on the feedback and enthusiasm

建立讀者給予他的

that they were giving him.

反饋和熱情之上

So this whole project was an experiment.

因此整個計劃是一項實驗

It started with the one short story,

這篇故事是起源於一篇短篇小說

and I think the experimentation actually became

事實上我認為這項實驗變成

a part of Howey's format.

Howey創作形式的一部分

And that's something that this medium enabled,

藉由網路媒體

was experimentation being a part of the format itself.

讓實驗成為它本身形式的一部分

This is a short story by the author Jennifer Egan

這篇是由珍妮佛．伊根創作的短篇小說

called "Black Box."

叫做《黑盒子》

It was originally written

原本就是

specifically with Twitter in mind.

專為推特而寫的

Egan convinced The New Yorker

伊根說服《紐約客》

to start a New Yorker fiction account

建立一個《紐約客》小說專用帳戶

from which they could tweet

以便他們可以在推特發表

all of these lines that she created.

她創作的文句

Now Twitter, of course, has a 140-character limit.

當然推特有140字的字數限制

Egan mocked that up just writing manually

Egan為了模擬這種限制

in this storyboard sketchbook,

就親自在手寫本上書寫

used the physical space constraints

利用實質上手寫本

of those storyboard squares

有限的空間

to write each individual tweet,

寫出每條推文

and those tweets ended up becoming

那些推文最後變成

over 600 of them that were serialized by The New Yorker.

超過600條連載刊登在《紐約客》上

Every night, at 8 p.m., you could tune in

每天晚上八點鐘 你可以線上觀看

to a short story from The New Yorker's fiction account.

由《紐約客》小說帳戶推出的短篇小說

I think that's pretty exciting:

我認為非常令人興奮：

tune-in literary fiction.

收看文學小說

The experience of Egan's story, of course,

當然 欣賞Egan的小說

like anything on Twitter, there were multiple ways to experience it.

就像推特上的其他東西一樣 有許多方式能夠欣賞

You could scroll back through it,

你可以滾動捲軸慢慢看

but interestingly, if you were watching it live,

但有趣的是 如果你線上觀看

there was this suspense that built

會有緩衝的情況發生

because the actual tweets,

因為實際推特發文

you had no control over when you would read them.

你在閱讀的時候 你無法控制

They were coming at a pretty regular clip,

雖然發文的步調很有規律

but as the story was building,

但是隨著情節發展

normally, as a reader, you control how fast you move through a text,

讀者通常可以調整自己的閱讀速度

but in this case, The New Yorker did,

但就這個例子而言 《紐約客》的作法是

and they were sending you bit by bit by bit,

一點一點的發給你

and you had this suspense of waiting for the next line.

你等待下一行出現時，就會有懸念

Another great example of fiction

推特上的小說和短篇小說

and the short story on Twitter,

還有一個很好的例子

Elliott Holt is an author who wrote a story called "Evidence."

就是《證據》的作者艾略特‧霍特

It began with this tweet: "On November 28

《證據》的第一個推文：「11月28日

at 10:13 p.m.,

晚上10點13分

a woman identified as Miranda Brown,

經人指認 一位名叫米蘭達‧布朗的女性

44, of Brooklyn, fell to her death

44歲 來自布魯克林區

from the roof of a Manhattan hotel."

從曼哈頓飯店頂樓 墜樓身亡

It begins in Elliott's voice,

一開始是艾略特的聲音

but then Elliott's voice recedes,

但隨後艾略特的聲音逐漸淡出

and we hear the voices of Elsa, Margot and Simon,

我們聽到艾爾莎、瑪格、西蒙的聲音

characters that Elliott created on Twitter

都是艾略特在推特上虛構的角色

specifically to tell this story,

專門為說這個故事而設定的

a story from multiple perspectives

這個故事有多重觀點

leading up to this moment at 10:13 p.m.

一直在為晚上10:13分鋪陳

when this woman falls to her death.

這個時間點就是 這個女人墜樓身亡的時候

These three characters brought an authentic vision

這三個角色帶來真實的視角

from multiple perspectives.

從多重觀點

One reviewer called Elliott's story

一位評論家艾略特t的故事稱做是

"Twitter fiction done right," because she did.

「最佳推特小說」 的確如此

She captured that voice

她那種聲音

and she had multiple characters and it happened in real time.

故事中有多重角色 時間也是同部在進行

Interestingly, though, it wasn't just

然而有趣的是

Twitter as a distribution mechanism.

推特不僅是發行的管道

It was also Twitter as a production mechanism.

也是一種創作的機制

Elliott told me later

艾略特後來告訴我

she wrote the whole thing with her thumbs.

故事完全是用拇指寫出來的

She laid on the couch and just went back and forth

她躺在沙發上 不斷轉換心態

between different characters

在不同角色之間

tweeting out each line, line by line.

一行接一行地發推文

I think that this kind of spontaneous creation

我認為以各個角色聲音

of what was coming out of the characters' voices

所說出的話的這種即興創作

really lent an authenticity to the characters themselves,

不但讓角色有真實感

but also to this format that she had created

這種創作形式也同樣具有真實感

of multiple perspectives in a single story on Twitter.

這種行式就是她在推特上單一故事裡 所創作的多重觀點

As you begin to play with flexible identity online,

你開始靈活運用網路身份時

it gets even more interesting

會變得更有趣

as you start to interact with the real world.

同時你開始與真實世界有所互動

Things like Invisible Obama

例如「隱形歐巴馬」

or the famous "binders full of women"

或是著名的「裝滿女性人才的檔案夾」

that came up during the 2012 election cycle,

這些都是在2012年選舉期間出現的

or even the fan fiction universe of "West Wing" Twitter

或甚至同人小說《白宮風雲》的人物

in which you have all of these accounts

在推特上你都可以找到

for every single one of the characters in "The West Wing,"

《白宮風雲》每個人物角色的帳戶

including the bird that taps at Josh Lyman's window

包括那隻啄喬許·賴曼窗戶的鳥也有

in one single episode. (Laughter)

牠只在一集出現過（笑聲）

All of these are rapid iterations on a theme.

所有這些元素在同一主題上不斷重複

They are creative people experimenting

他們都很有創造力

with the bounds of what is possible in this medium.

實驗網路媒體的潛力有多大

You look at something like "West Wing" Twitter,

看看《白宮風雲》之類的推特

in which you have these fictional characters

在這些推特帳號上 你可以看到虛構的人物

that engage with the real world.

正與現實社會互動

They comment on politics,

他們評論時政

they cry out against the evils of Congress.

他們大聲批判國會的不當作為

Keep in mind, they're all Democrats.

別忘了他們都是民主黨

And they engage with the real world.

他們會與真實世界互動

They respond to it.

他們也會回應

So once you take flexible identity,

所以你一旦靈活運用網路身分

anonymity, engagement with the real world,

匿名以及參與真實世界

and you move beyond simple homage or parody

就超越了只是致敬或諷刺模仿

and you put these tools to work in telling a story,

運用這些工具說故事

that's when things get really interesting.

事情就會變得非常有趣

So during the Chicago mayoral election

在芝加哥市長選舉期間

there was a parody account.

有一組假名人的帳號

It was Mayor Emanuel.

掛著市長以馬內利的名字

It gave you everything you wanted from Rahm Emanuel,

你想知道市長的大小事都在這裡

particularly in the expletive department.

尤其是言辭粗魯的一面

This foul-mouthed account

這個發文用詞都很粗俗的帳號

followed the daily activities of the race,

都會追踪每天的競選活動

providing commentary as it went.

提出評論

It followed all of the natural tropes

運用了自然的比喻

of a good, solid Twitter parody account,

這是一個優質的推特假名人帳號

but then started to get weird.

但是事情之後開始變得詭異

And as it progressed, it moved from this commentary

這個帳戶漸漸從政治評論

to a multi-week, real-time science fiction epic

變成長達數週的即時科幻史詩故事

in which your protagonist, Rahm Emanuel,

故事主角拉姆·伊曼紐爾

engages in multi-dimensional travel on election day,

在選舉當日踏上多空間之旅

which is -- it didn't actually happen.

事實上並沒有這回事

I double checked the newspapers.

我仔細看過好幾份報紙

And then, very interestingly, it came to an end.

然後很有趣的是，整件事就戛然而止

This is something that doesn't usually happen

這種事情通常不會發生

with a Twitter parody account.

在推特的假名人帳戶上

It ended, a true narrative conclusion.

說完了 故事結束

And so the author, Dan Sinker, who was a journalist,

這名作者丹·辛克是一位記者

who was completely anonymous this whole time,

他在這段期間完全匿名

I think Dan -- it made a lot of sense for him

我認為丹得到很多靈感

to turn this into a book,

將其轉化出來出了一本書

because it was a narrative format in the end,

因為故事結尾是以敘述的形式結束

and I think that turning it into a book

而我認為將其出書

is representative of this idea that he had created something new

做為代表他創造出新形式的概念

that needed to be translated into previous formats.

而這種新形式需要被轉換成舊有的形式

One of my favorite examples

我最喜歡的例子之一

of something that's happening on Twitter right now,

正在推特上演

actually, is the very absurdist Crimer Show.

就是場荒謬的「歹徒秀」

Crimer Show tells the story

「歹徒秀」講述的是

of a supercriminal and a hapless detective

一位超級惡棍和一位倒霉偵探的故事

that face off in this exceptionally strange lingo,

以非常奇怪難懂的語言開場

with all of the tropes of a television show.

還用所有電視劇會出現的譬喻方式

Crimer Show's creator has said that

「歹徒秀」的創作者曾說過

it is a parody of a popular type of show in the U.K.,

那是一種在英國相當受歡迎諷刺時政的戲劇

but, man, is it weird.

但是也夠奇怪了

And there are all these times where Crimer,

歹徒（超級惡棍）經常

the supercriminal, does all of these TV things.

做出那些你常常在電視都看得到的橋段

He's always taking off his sunglasses

他常拿下太陽眼鏡

or turning to the camera,

或是轉向鏡頭

but these things just happen in text.

但這些都是以文字描述

I think borrowing all of these tropes from television

我認為引用這麼多電視元素

and additionally presenting each Crimer Show

再加演每次「歹徒秀」

as an episode, spelled E-P-P-A-S-O-D, "eppasod,"

做成一集（episode拼成eppasod）

presenting them as episodes

將這些影片以影集的形式呈現

really, it creates something new.

就創造出一種新的形態

There is a new "eppasod" of Crimer Show

新的「歹徒秀」

on Twitter pretty much every day,

在推特幾乎每天推出

and they're archived that way.

全劇也是以影集的方式存檔

And I think this is an interesting experiment in format.

我認為這種有趣的形式實驗

Something totally new has been created here

從諷刺模仿電視劇

out of parodying something on television.

衍生了一種全新的形式

I think in nonfiction real-time storytelling,

我認為在非小說類即時說故事方面

there are a lot of really excellent examples as well.

也有很多極佳的例子

RealTimeWWII is an account

「即時二戰」帳戶

that documents what was happening on this day 60 years ago

記述60年前的今天發生的事件

in exceptional detail, as if

描述極為詳細

you were reading the news reports from that day.

宛如閱讀當天的新聞

And the author Teju Cole has done

作者泰居．柯爾

a lot of experimentation with putting a literary twist

做了很多嘗試 將文學的手法

on events of the news.

放入新聞事件

In this particular case, he's talking about drone strikes.

這裡他談到無人航空器攻擊行動

I think that in both of these examples,

我認為從這些例子

you're beginning to see ways in which

可以開始看到

people are telling stories with nonfiction content

人們利用真實題材說故事

that can be built into new types

可以建立

of fictional storytelling.

說小說的新形式

So with real-time storytelling,

以說即時故事

blurring the lines between fact and fiction,

模糊現實和虛構的界限

the real world and the digital world,

現實世界和數位世界

flexible identity, anonymity,

靈活的身分和匿名

these are all tools that we have accessible to us,

都是我們可以運用的工具

and I think that they're just the building blocks.

我認為這都是基礎材料

They are the bits that we use

都是數位的位元

to create the structures, the frames,

我們用以創造結構和框架

that then become our settlements on this

之後會變成我們安身立命的地方

wide open frontier for creative experimentation.

在這創作實驗的廣闊全新領域

Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）