Prompt:
Describe or narrate a scenario about a corporation found two generations into a future in which order is deliberately coordinated or imposed. Your description should address issues related to communication and elicit feelings of dread.
Story telling Podcast:
Speculative Futures
Story Reflection:
As the creator of this piece, I sought to immerse the reader in a dystopian future dominated by Metacorp, a corporate entity that transcends economic power to control every aspect of human existence. The choice of a cold, dreary midday morning with clouds covering the sky sets the tone for the oppressive atmosphere, mirroring the bleakness of the society under Metacorp’s rule. The year 2150 is deliberately chosen to emphasize the distant future, projecting a world where technology and corporate control have reached unprecedented levels.
I wanted to establish distinct character types, particularly the ruling class executives. This provided a glimpse into the façade of control concealing a deeper truth—citizens harboring silent rebellion. The undercurrent of dread, depicted through the atmosphere and the nervous glances of the executive, adds a psychological dimension to the narrative.
The turning point in the story was essential. When citizen 8234292-T rose from his desk, breaking free from the conformity imposed by Metacorp marked the change in tone from bleak to positive. The metaphorical clearing of clouds symbolizes clarity and a newfound determination to challenge the oppressive regime. The narrative takes a dramatic turn as the protagonist prepares to confront Metacorp, signaling the beginning of the end for the corporation.
In crafting this piece, the choices I made aim to evoke a sense of unease, suspense, and rebellion. The juxtaposition of a meticulously controlled society with the brewing resistance creates a narrative tension that I hope engages the reader and prompts reflection on themes of control, individuality, and the consequences of unchecked power. The final paragraph doesn’t stay true to the prompt but I felt that I wanted to end the story on a positive note. I also hinted at this ending in the previous paragraphs, where the cracks in Metacorp’s dominance were starting to show.
Exercise Reflection
As with past tasks, this was an enjoyable effort to partake in. I took a lot of inspiration from The Chronicles of Now and The Bellwether podcasts. The performative and well read stories brought me into the worlds the authors created. While I didn’t fully understand it at first, the performed interludes on the Bellwether podcast brought out the drama and emotion of the piece. I tried to capture that in my performance. I re-recorded the podcast six times as I couldn’t get the sense of dread and pacing quite right. I chose the podcast medium as my inspirations were podcasts and this story needed to be read aloud.
I feel that storytelling podcasts are effective due to their ability to deeply engage listeners through compelling narratives. The narrative structure creates a personal connection, evoking emotions and building a sense of empathy. The element of dread, achieved through plot development, keeps the audience consistently engaged and eagerly anticipating where the story will go. The human element, conveyed through the narrator’s voice, adds a personal touch, enhancing intimacy and relatability.
Hi Simon,
I really enjoyed listening to your speculative future.
I wanted to see what you created as I know that you enjoy creative writing, making this task right up your ally. Your efforts at rerecording the podcast were well worth it! Would you have done anything differently were to you approach this task again?
I started my reflection and response as I listened to the podcast and before reading your reflection on the story and the process. It may be because I know and have worked with you both academically and professionally, but I found a great deal of similarity in your reflections and comments on the task and process and what I had already recorded in my own observations on the task.
Your choice of a podcast as the medium for this story was very fitting as it allowed the use tone of voice and pacing to help elicit the sense of dread indicated by the prompt, even beyond that created by the narrative development within the story itself. As you mention in your reflection on the task, narrative podcasts are truly effective, largely as a result of their ability to engage listeners on many levels. Audio and video narratives have the ability to create deeper engagement in these ways as they reduce the cognitive load on the audience’s brain, listeners are not required to decode the text from the page or screen, like readers. This reduced effort allows for the deeper engagement and is also a major component in increasing the accessibility of the story.
I shied away from creating a podcast over a personal aversion to hearing the sound of my own voice, the result of which is that I was required to create a similar sense of dread strictly through my writing which is a more challenging and intentionally planned task.
You make the story even more dread inspiring by developing the setting of a future that is seemingly quite plausible in its scope given current political and economic trends, evoking a feeling that this is not just one of many possible futures, but rather one that we need to be cautious of not allowing to occur.
I thought it was very creative the way that you also invoked a sense of hope in a prompt that was intended to elicit dread; there are hints of this hope sprinkled throughout the second half of the story hinting at the possibility of change/rebellion even before the character 8234292-T rose up literally and figuratively at the end. This element of hope adds the sense of the piece being a parable, a warning against potential futures and of giving corporations too much control of our society, much as you mention in your reflection on the story.
Mike.
Thanks a lot, Mike. It was an interesting task and I had fun shaping the story based on the prompt. I really leaned into the deep voice to add to the dread. I must disagree with you though. You have an excellent baritone voice and I’d love to hear you narrate a story such as mine. As for the sense of hope, I originally went for a much darker conclusion, but I couldn’t do it! I guess I’m an optimist at heart. The act of making podcasts intrigues me. The voice is a powerful tool and one we don’t use as much as we could.