by Katherine Lee
Nowadays, the BBS functions not only as an information-provider, but also a place for brainstorming and creation. As we all know, the BBS is crowded with various discussion boards categorized according to different topics-one of which is “story-making.” Last year, the novel First Intimate Contact (第一次親密接觸), which originated from a storyboard on the BBS, hit bookstores in Taiwan and was a roaring success. In the beginning, the “novel” was only a short story submitted to a storyboard, but eventually the author was encouraged by BBS frequenters to continue writing sequels of it. During the period of story making, there were discussions about the development of the plot every day on the board. Therefore, it is safe to say that all of the users who contributed to the discussion deserve the credit of turning a “virtual author” into a real-life one. It is said that on the Internet no one knows who you really are. In the real world, a hopeful author has to deal with the pressure of being crowded out by other authors. On the BBS, though, due to the anonymity, an “author” gets less hurt if criticized; otherwise, simply drop the ID, register a new one, and restart a new life on the net. However, if one receives compliments on his/her story, he/she is encouraged to go on creating other works. As Sweehan, a BBS author, says, “My first love story, ’ Thirteen,’ received a lot of feedback, which motivated me to continue posting stories on this board.” By being cross-posted on other websites, stories that arouse great interest can be read by more people and become a common topic of discussion. Net authors could quite possibly find themselves famous overnight! The fascination of these storyboards lies in the fact that they provide a place to fulfill dreams, to meet friends with common interests, and most of all, to exchange ideas through interaction. You can weave your own stories and receive immediate feedback. .Once the beginning part of an author’s story is submitted, reviews of it by others may become one of the main factors in deciding how the story develops and ends. Under the influence of these reviews, the first development of the story can be led in an entirely different direction from the one which the author originally intended. However, according to my observation, many stories on storyboards are merely about one’s feelings or trivial subjects, which seldom receive any feedback. In fact, it is so difficult to draw the line between stories and personal feelings that many storyboards look like a feeling board (心情版) or diary board (日記版)! In order to maintain the quality of these storyboards, many story-writing contests-such as a story-relay-are hosted and judged by refereees. Such contests not only motivate but also encourage users to post better works. Open to different voices, these storyboards offer us a totally new reading and writing experience. They stimulate authors to think from diverse viewpoints and provide readers with a direct, immediate way to communicate with the author. Since the BBS is so popular with students in Taiwan, storyboards can easily be found through a search engine. Most of the BBS stations include storyboards, which you can stumble upon frequently. Through your fingers you can turn your dreams of being an author in another level of reality. So if you are interested in writing a story and looking for inspiration, don’t hesitate to make good use of these fascinating boards! For example, visit the following websites:140.116.82.7 or 140.112.1.6 a
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May 2024
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