Why do readers of a serialized essay series end up knowing the author better than she knows herself? After serializing the 《嘿！聽說妳在鬼島當作家》 essays for a while, Utsudo noticed readers often remembered embarrassing stories she’d written about and forgotten—like friends she’d never met who knew her remarkably well. Because readers got to know her through the essays, first meetings went smoothly, and some even became real-life friends. It was a reward she never expected when she started the column.

Translated from Utsudo’s original Chinese column.

A fun discovery after serializing my essays

Some time after I started serializing the Ghost Island essays, I noticed something fun while chatting with fans.

More and more readers know me better than I know myself!

What do I mean? Say we’re talking about some embarrassing thing that happened to me, but I’ve forgotten I mentioned it in the essays. Then a reader reminds me, “Isn’t that the story from such-and-such chapter?” Stunned, I ask where they read it, and they explain it so fluently it’s as if they were telling their own story.

I found it amazing—like meeting a friend I’d never met who knew me very well. After this happened a few times, I deeply realized: you really need to be mindful when posting online. Don’t write weird things, or the dark history you’ve forgotten will be firmly remembered by others XD

Be careful not to overshare in essays

I do go back now and then to reread what I’ve written and fix bugs I find. But apart from this time, when I thoroughly revised it for the print edition, what I post online is basically the same.

Luckily, when writing I always reminded myself not to overshare. The Ghost Island series has gained a bit of a following, so it would be pretty embarrassing with so many people having read it QQ

From readers to real-life friends

But then again, thanks to these readers who understand me through my writing, we can connect smoothly from our very first meeting, and even become real-life friends. That feels wonderful.

This is something I never anticipated when I started this column.

Unexpected responses beyond hard work

Along the way, I’ve found that many things I worked desperately hard on brought no results, while sometimes a sudden whim sparked an unexpected response. I suppose that’s a strange experience you can only have in this age of information overload (?

There’s a long road ahead. I hope this column will keep you company in the future.

Maybe someday we’ll become friends in the real world too?

When that happens, I look forward to it!

FAQ

Further reading

• Previous: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #165: Unfair Contests? Better to Improve Yourself Than Worry About That
• Start from the beginning: Hey! I Heard You’re a Writer on Ghost Island #01: Utsudo’s Debut — A Road to the Dream Covered in Frost
• Utsudo’s books

About the author

Utsudo is a Taiwanese light novelist and novelist VTuber with more than ten years in the industry and 40 commercially published print books. Her novel 《遺失的情書》 received a 2022 Ministry of Culture youth creative award. The 《嘿！聽說妳在鬼島當作家》 series records her experiences as a novelist in Taiwan.