Story-a-Day Reactions

Story-a-Day pitch from our writer’s discord, and some reactions:
Dustin: Cargo Joe - a lonely technician maintains an automated cargo terminal with an ensemble of robotic friends. Pirates occupy his terminal and Joe hides with their help. Company policy is not to resist the pirates … but Joe overhears their plan to smuggle a bomb into capital city so they can rob the central bank. Many people will be killed if this happens. Joe can probably stop them, but it will mean risking his life and the lives of his mechanical friends …

Tiff: That's a great dilemma

Phil: Fun story!

Dustin: The funny thing is, if we write it well, people will lament the loss of his robot friends more than the real people the bomb might kill. Humans are odd.

Tiff: I'm probably that person... But his robot friends are backed up on the server... right? They'll be ok. Right?!

Phil: Where's the stakes in that? They maybe he's got old copies somewhere, but they don't remember all that they've been through together!

Tiff: :sob: guys, noooooo!

The reactions to this were more valuable to me than just making the story pitch. I’m very fortunate to work with Phil and Tiff, because they don’t always react to things the same way I do, and it helps get me out of my own headspace and understand what a more general audience might think or feel. Tiff’s reactions are especially valuable to me because she’s a feeler and I’m a thinker, and she’s really comfortable expressing an emotional reaction, and I know I’m hitting the target if I can get a strong reaction from her (though it isn’t always the one I expect!)

This reaction was awesome for me to read because it showed me that the emotional core of the story isn’t actually Joe. It’s the robots. Phil and Tiff imagined robot companions for him without much of a prompt from me, and did so to such an extent that the suggestion that they might die was enough to get a strong reaction from Tiff. (Phil reacted too, but he’s another thinker and he’ll never post as strong a reaction as Tiff) That reaction tells me a lot about what really hooked them into the story, and what the actual story would need to deliver in order to be satisfying.

This reaction tells me that I need to make Joe sympathetic (his being lonely enough to make robot friends is probably most of it) but really, making charming robot buddies will be absolutely key.

Also, the audience will hate - with a burning passion - any pirate who kills one of these little robot guys. Want to make a villain they really want to see get brought to justice? Have them hurt a harmless, lovable character.

So, all that to say - Story-a-Day helps you get reactions from your writer friends, and that can help you understand what a reader or audience will really get hooked by, and that’s really valuable. Get reactions!

***

(Yes, I know he didn’t hide with the Pirates help, but with his robot friends help, but I wrote the original pitch like that, and thought I’d leave the error in to show that this isn’t a precision project, it’s about getting the gist of a story idea out in the wild where it can get a reaction!)