Poddie Collaborative Story
bababardwan
June 26, 2011, 01:17 PM posted in General DiscussionI just had the idea for a collaborative story done in handwriting. The idea is for each poddie to do a few lines in handwriting and then post it. I'm thinking that it might be an idea to limit it to 140 characters [like twitter]. I see several advantages in this. A bit like the transcription group, it makes your self expectation of your own contribution not too high, not too daunting, so I think encourages more people to join in. The idea is that someone starts off with something conducive to a good story line [but like mr squiggles I guess it could be anything] and then someone else posts something that expands on that story [first in best dressed]. Thus by limiting it to 140 characters it also means it's less likely someone will have done a gargantuan effort only to find someone's posted at the same time. Another important aspect to this, and something I think may add to the fun, is that unlike the other handwriting threads, I don't think this one should have the handwriting then typed out by anyone [let's try it this way for the first run anyhow, hao ba]. The reason for this is twofold. If you were handwriting a letter to someone in Chinese by snailmail they wouldn't have the benefit of someone's transcription...they would just reply to what they thought you'd written. Secondly, it might set up a funny Chinese whispers type phenomenon. Once the story comes to a conclusion it could be typed out. I think it's best if each contribution is not done as a "in reply to" in a subthread, but rather in the box at the bottom so you can used the picture icon to post [it will also enable individual comment at the end of the story for each contribution].
bodawei
June 26, 2011, 02:14 PMOkay, some people like saying that there are only six stories in the whole of human history - boy meets girl, road trip, rags to riches and back again, prodigal son, that kind of thing (I can't actually remember them all, and there are only six!)
So what about a road trip in China?
bababardwan
yeah, go for it mate. Wanna kick start it?
bodawei
I would love to but, dammit, I have to work today! :)
bodawei
Maybe we should start each of the 'only six stories in the whole of human history' and then people can contribute to whichever they like! Some people are into romance ('boy meets girl' some into adventure 'road trip'. Etc.
bababardwan
finally got it to work. Please see below. Also, please dajia join in !
zhenlijiang
Hi Baba, I was hoping for a collabo op too, a story is a great idea, ambitious but could be great fun, and funny. I would like to contribute, but third or fourth or even later rather than second ...
bababardwan
Hehe, yeah, now that the story has landed in Kunming, the ball is squarely in bodawei's court. What's he going to do with it? backhand? forehand?....or hopefully SMASH! He should be able to point us in the right direction on a road trip out of Kunming, don't you think?
[but of course anyone is welcome to jump in at any time, I just want to see if I'm serving up an ace to bodawei or not, or whether he will be able to return the serve].
bababardwan
June 28, 2011, 02:21 AM
bodawei
Ah, my eyes went immediately to 昆明机场 haha - I gotta hand it to you Baba you know how to get a guy hooked! And nice start - your characters seem to be already pretty professional.
I'll start by confirming the story intro.. 新婚夫妇(newly married couple) .... 蜜月(honeymoon). (I think I will take this to a Word doc and return shortly, not least because I am having trouble with sougou, it just suddenly decided not to work. Have it going again by going into Word and coming back.)
bodawei
新婚夫妇(newly married couple)王希望(man’s name?)和他的太太李愿望(his wife’s name? - but if so it should be 王太太)降落jiang4luo4(land)在昆明机场并立即li4ji2(immediately)掀起xian1qi3 (to raise)搜索sou1suo3(to search for)香格里拉为了他们的蜜月mi4yue4(honeymoon).
I’m a bit uncertain of our protagonists – Wang Xiwang and Li Yuanwang? Or have I got off to a bad start? I wondered if the 王 was a 主 but I can’t detect a 、 .. can you put me on the right path to paradise before I make a contribution (have to be later – I have to go out for a while.) Very promising start by the way - can't think of a better place to start a story.. :)
bababardwan
haha, yeah, I thought you'd like the kunming jichang bit. Impressed that you spotted it so quickly, hehe
"your characters seem to be already pretty professional"
..not a whit, but talking of getting someone hooked, you have got me realising just how important it is to put pen to paper...it just feels different even to a writing tablet. I still love the writing tablet and skritter as great tools for learning the characters, but I think you've still got to put pen to paper. It's a whole new experience for me. Heck, I hardly even do it anymore in English except to sign my name. I've really gotta do this more till it comes more naturally.
bababardwan
"but if so it should be 王太太"
..yeah, I nearly went that way, but I like to vary up the characters, and I though married Chinese women often keep there family name. Is it not possible to call a married woman by her birth name?
Yes, you've got it all. I know those names aren't authentic but I wanted them to give a little hint at their character [which is basically about their quest]. xian1qi3...yeah, I wasn't too sure of this, but I was trying to use this to say "set out"..as in "they, immediately set off on their search for Shangri-La.
You didn't like the idea of not interpreting the handwriting till the end of the story? I thought it could lead to some amusing "chinese whispers' [ is the politically incorrect? ...if so, what's another term for the same effect? ]. But anyway, we can play it this way if you prefer.
bodawei
'Is it not possible to call a married woman by her birth name?'
Yes, of course that is the usual thing. But if you use the honorific 太太 you use the husband's family name regardless. So she is likely to be 王太太 as well as 李愿望, depending on what she feels like calling herself today.
Actually I do like your idea of solving it later; at least not de-constructing it here as I did this time; maybe a little bit of clarification from time to time.
bodawei
'basically about their quest'
Made me think of those ancient computer games with various 'Quests' in the title .. I wonder how much of my life I have wasted on computer games?
toianw
June 30, 2011, 05:15 PMI hate to see a good story die out. Sorry folks, it aint pretty, but hopefuly it's legible.
bababardwan
哇，很清楚的汉字，很帅，很汉子的汉字，呵呵。还有我也很喜欢你的故事。。很有意思，而且很聪明的说法。
请注意。。微软Word算你用一百五十六词，所以你得编辑【删除】十六词，好吧。
【当然，我完全开玩笑朋友，哈哈。。。反正，其实只有一百三十六字，而且多少的字我感觉无所谓】
多谢你参加这个故事朋友 ：）
bababardwan
July 02, 2011, 01:36 AM
bababardwan
June 26, 2011, 01:24 PMI'm gonna let someone else kick this off as I've gotta go, but I'll be sure to contribute tomorrow.