Spiral Story: Ideation

Welcome to Proof of Work, a new series I've been planning for a while to show different prompts and rough drafts inspired by the writing books I've been reading. Because just reading them doesn't actually make you learn anything.

I'm starting with a short story inspired by Meander, Spiral, Explode. I wanted to try writing some short stories based on the different patterns, and knowing how much I appreciated seeing in-process work when I was starting out, I figured I would share my process. This is an experiment, a rough draft as I write it. Let me know in the comments if you find this useful. 

IDEATION

I use short stories to work on specific writing skills. They are short, but they still have to do all the work, so they’re great for trying out new things in a focused way. The goal for this one is to write a short with a spiral structure. I’m not gonna try anything too fancy otherwise, a new story structure feels like a reach enough. So I start off by doing some brainstorming in my notebook.

I usually do my initial thinking on paper. I just think better that way. For the first story, I knew I wanted to start with a spiral, something where each rotation added context and changed the meaning of the prior go round. 

Here’s what those notes say: 

Spiral story ideas [doodles of two spirals “in” and “out”] 

• reconceptualized each time? Same or different POV? 
• return to the same place, but larger each time. [And more context]
• Good/bad interpretation flip/flop each time
• more info each time. 
• 10-15 words, then 100, then 250, then 500, then 1,000? 

Options for story hooks

• “You’re Fired” 
• TMBG song Rocket to the Moon [I meant Destination Moon]
• Bottle smash “ship christening” 
• slip + hit head
• two people run into each other on the street
• two dogs meet cute “here comes your nemesis”

[Some notes/ideas for the first option]

• Employee < invents time machine that doesn’t work, splits perspectives instead?
• Boss < pressure to make $$$ b/c daughter is sick
• secretary < worried & covering for her boss. Annoyed at R for making more work
• Receptionist < Thinks Employee is cute. Trying to get his number. 

[Then I begin a bare/bones outline to play with, with some overlapping timelines down the side. ]

• hits machine [repeat]
• Fired! Machine doesn’t work
• Employee walks in
• secretary walks in/out
• boss gets reamed out by his boss
• boss contemplates daughter’s condition (why time machine)
• secretary is annoyed at receptionist

At this point I’ve already got a feel for the kind of story I want to tell. I want it to loop back on itself. I want to change the meaning of the loop each time. I want the feel to change from “that’s good” to “that’s bad” and back again several times. And I want each section of the story to get longer each time and I’ve given myself initial word goals for each section. 

Then I look for story “hooks.” I don’t remember where the word “hook” comes from [Edit: possibly from the scriptwriting world? Might be a Save the Cat thing, I'll need to look it up]. Maybe I’ll find it again as I go through my backlog of books to review. For me, a hook is the thing that makes a story interesting to the reader. The kind of thing that gets mentioned in story reviews. It can be a unique setting, an interesting idea, an intriguing character or one with an especially strong voice, a weird structure. They are especially relevant to speculative fiction, but even a literary story needs something to make it interesting. 

I usually try for 2-3 hooks for a short story. A weird story structure is already a hook if I can pull it off. We need a situation that matches the structure. I want a single moment I can come back to several times and recontextualize. I go through several options in my notes. For this attempt I went with the first one because it made me think of other things. I added a time machine in later notes, because looping stories kind of lead directly to them. That’s not a hook because it’s something expected that grows from the concept. I need one more hook, but I’ll start noodling on an outline to see if I can tease out anything interesting there. 

Idea set, I throw some generic characters together, with some initial conflicting motivations. I’m thinking I'll try doing each section from each person’s point of view. That means I can work on character voice as well during this story. 

So, plotting this is gonna be interesting. I have a note that I might want to move it to excel, where I can move things around easier. But I make a start on a repeating pattern before my bladder interrupts and I need to head home for the night. I personally rarely get from ideation to end of story in a single setting. Although if you want to work on that I’d recommend Story-A-Day May. 

Later, on the train, I realize I can differentiate the characters by giving them different opinions about the firing, and also things they are concerned about. The Boss is trying to preserve his own job, to keep his kid safe. The secretary likes the Employee, but she’s also mad that they’re getting fired. The receptionist is trying to protect her boss, but is also maybe a corporate spy? And the Employee wants to get fired. Not sure why yet. 

That’s where the story is at now. Next time I’ll make an outline. And maybe throw some words at a throw-away draft depending on how ambitious I feel. 

So, is this interesting? Is it useful? It’s been helpful for me so far to articulate my thought process. If you’re seeing this you are subscribed, which means you can also leave a comment below. Let me know if this is something you’d like to see more of. 

Image Credit: Highsmith, Carol. 1946. "The "Glory Window" inside the public, spiral-shaped chapel in Thanks-Giving Square (technically triangular), designed by architect Philip Johnson in downtown Dallas, Texas." via Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2014632991/