Welcome to Night Vale cocreator Joseph Fink learned storytelling from Grim Fandango
Welcome to Night Vale cocreator Joseph Fink learned storytelling from Grim Fandango
《欢迎来到夜谷》联合创作者 Joseph Fink 从《冥界狂想曲》中学到了叙事艺术
His latest book, The Nudge, tells the tale of a man who can’t seem to outrun a mysterious evil. 他的最新著作《The Nudge》讲述了一个男人似乎无法逃脱某种神秘邪恶力量的故事。
Joseph Fink is the cocreator and cowriter of Welcome to Night Vale, arguably the most important fiction podcast ever. He’s also the creator of the noir podcast Unlicensed and Alice Isn’t Dead, which takes some of the conspiratorial cosmic horror of Night Vale and turns it into fodder for a more serious series about relationships, trauma, and the open road. There’s also a sequel series out now called Don’t Tell Alice that takes the story down an even darker path in which protagonist Keisha is the one with a secret. Joseph Fink 是《欢迎来到夜谷》（Welcome to Night Vale）的联合创作者和共同编剧，这可以说是史上最重要的虚构类播客。他还是黑色风格播客《Unlicensed》和《Alice Isn’t Dead》的创作者。后者汲取了《夜谷》中部分阴谋论式的宇宙恐怖元素，将其转化为一部探讨人际关系、创伤和公路旅行的严肃系列剧。目前还有一部名为《Don’t Tell Alice》的续作系列，将故事引向了更黑暗的方向，主角 Keisha 在其中隐藏着一个秘密。
Joseph is also an accomplished author. In addition to co-writing the three Welcome to Night Vale novels, he’s also penned the Alice Isn’t Dead novel and The Halloween Moon. His latest work is The Nudge, which features some gorgeous illustrations from Jessica Hayworth, who also provides the art for Night Vale, hits shelves on September 1st. It’s a brief and unsettling novella about a man trying to outrun some mysterious evil. Joseph 也是一位成就斐然的作家。除了合著三部《欢迎来到夜谷》小说外，他还撰写了《Alice Isn’t Dead》小说和《The Halloween Moon》。他的最新作品《The Nudge》将于 9 月 1 日上架，书中包含了由 Jessica Hayworth 创作的精美插图（她同时也为《夜谷》提供艺术设计）。这是一部简短而令人不安的中篇小说，讲述了一个男人试图逃离某种神秘邪恶力量的故事。
What is the first app you install on a new phone or computer? 你在新手机或电脑上安装的第一个应用程序是什么？
Podcast Addict. It’s an Android-only podcast app made by one guy named Xavier, and it is so much better than any other podcast app that it’s the main reason I can never switch to an iPhone. I’m maybe the one guy in the entire country who chooses phones based on how they play podcasts. Podcast Addict。这是一个仅限安卓系统的播客应用，由一个叫 Xavier 的人开发。它比其他任何播客应用都要好得多，这也是我永远无法换成 iPhone 的主要原因。我可能是全国唯一一个根据手机播放播客的效果来选择手机的人。
Which social media platform do you use the most? 你使用最多的社交媒体平台是什么？
I use Bluesky, which I used to like because no one was there and so no one read my posts, which is really the ideal social media for me. Now there are more people there, and sometimes people read and respond to my posts, which is a drag. 我用 Bluesky。我以前喜欢它是因为那里没人，所以没人看我的帖子，这对我来说是理想的社交媒体状态。现在那里人多了，有时人们会阅读并回复我的帖子，这真让人心烦。
What game do you have the fondest memories of? 你记忆最深刻的游戏是什么？
My entire understanding of storytelling is probably shaped by Grim Fandango, a 1999 adventure game about a sad sack grim reaper navigating a film noir afterlife. There are lines and images from that game that will live in my head forever, even if a lot of them were parodies or references to classic films I wasn’t even aware existed when I first played that game. 我对叙事的全部理解可能都是由 1999 年的冒险游戏《冥界狂想曲》（Grim Fandango）塑造的，它讲述了一个倒霉的死神在黑色电影风格的来世中穿行的故事。游戏中的一些台词和画面将永远留在我的脑海里，尽管其中许多是对经典电影的戏仿或致敬，而我在第一次玩那个游戏时甚至不知道那些电影的存在。
What creation are you most proud of? 你最引以为傲的作品是什么？
Our Audible show Unlicensed was one of those few projects that turned out exactly how I wanted it to in my head. A mystery series set in the least cool parts of Los Angeles, the parts where the actual people live. I didn’t want it to be “good for two writers who usually don’t write mysteries.” I just wanted us to write a damn good mystery, and I think we did. We got three seasons out of Audible, but then they mostly shut down their original shows department, and that was it. If I had my choice though, I’d happily spend the rest of my life writing Unlicensed. 我们的 Audible 节目《Unlicensed》是少数几个最终呈现效果与我脑海中构想完全一致的项目之一。这是一部悬疑剧，背景设定在洛杉矶最不“酷”的地方，也就是普通人真正生活的地方。我不想让它成为“对于两个通常不写悬疑小说的作家来说还不错”的作品。我只是想让我们写出一个非常棒的悬疑故事，我想我们做到了。我们在 Audible 上做了三季，但后来他们基本关闭了原创节目部门，也就到此为止了。如果可以选择的话，我很乐意余生都用来写《Unlicensed》。
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? 你收到过最好的建议是什么？
I recently watched a talk with Meshell Ndegeocello, and she described having to shush a fellow student in a guitar workshop who was noodling on his guitar while the teacher was trying to demonstrate something. Meshell said: “As a musician, it doesn’t matter how well you play if you can’t listen.” I don’t know if it’s the best advice I’ve ever received, but I think it’s damn good advice and applies to a lot of things outside of music. 我最近看了一场 Meshell Ndegeocello 的讲座，她描述了在吉他研讨会上，当老师试图演示某些东西时，她不得不让一位一直在弹奏吉他的同学安静下来。Meshell 说：“作为一名音乐家，如果你不会倾听，你弹得再好也没用。”我不知道这是否是我收到过最好的建议，但我认为这是一个非常棒的建议，而且适用于音乐之外的许多事情。
What’s the last piece of physical media you bought? 你最近购买的实体媒介是什么？
I buy too many books, constantly. I like to hang out in bookstores, and I’ve never left one without buying at least a couple of books. I’m mostly not a physical media guy, I have no interest in owning records or DVDs, but I’ll build an addition to my house before I get rid of any books. 我买的书太多了，而且一直在买。我喜欢在书店里闲逛，从来没有空手离开过，至少会买几本书。我通常不是那种热衷于实体媒介的人，对收藏唱片或 DVD 没兴趣，但在我扔掉任何一本书之前，我宁愿给房子加盖一个房间。
What would the tagline for your biopic be? 如果拍摄你的传记片，宣传语会是什么？
“It turns out watching a guy write audio fiction on his computer is boring, this movie was a mistake sorry, we’re sorry.” “事实证明，看一个人在电脑上写音频小说很无聊，这部电影是个错误，抱歉，我们很抱歉。”
What’s the last GIF or meme you used? 你最近使用的 GIF 或表情包是什么？
I don’t really use GIFs or memes. I’m very much a text guy, which is why I stick to text social media mostly, even though that doesn’t really help you sell books or stuff like that. 我不太用 GIF 或表情包。我是一个非常依赖文字的人，这就是为什么我主要坚持使用文字类社交媒体，尽管这对销售书籍之类的东西并没有什么帮助。