Maybe I’ve got a case of the Mondays, but generating plot prompts about a typical office environment, like in my last post, has inspired more ideas. Here are some oddball story starters straight outta the 9 to 5 grind.
Revealing Teams/Zoom Calls. Virtual meetings have become a household norm with more people working from home. But, of course, mishaps are bound to happen anytime mics and cameras mix with personal space. This week alone, I overheard a private phone call and a guy peeing, thanks to unmuted mics. Thank goodness their cameras were off! Fear of leaving my mic or camera on and not realizing it before I say or do something I don’t want people to see causes anxiety. Yikes. It should be a new phobia—Teamsphobia… Zoomphobia… hmm, I sense a future blog on this.
Anyway, here are some plot prompts on virtual meetings.
- Meeting-goers watch in horror as one of them answers the door during a call, and they hear a physical altercation that ends with their co-worker on the floor, stabbed.
- Team members see a ghostly figure over their boss’ shoulder, but he doesn’t see it when he turns around and thinks they’re messing with him. The next day, he’s found dead.
- Desperate to meet his lovely co-worker in person after a year of virtual meetings and chats, Bob organizes an in-person “team-building” event. Only she doesn’t come. So, he tries another. And another. Finally, tired of being “stood up” and perhaps a little drunk, he calls her and asks why she hasn’t attended any work functions. And he’s shocked by the answer….
- It’s just another boring meeting until….
In the Office Emails. I know what you’re thinking—how can a good story start with a damn office email? Well…
- Half of Jane Smith’s emails aren’t for her but for Jay Smith, who works upstairs. She’s complained to IT—why do work emails have to be name-based anyway? She quickly forwards them to him without reading them, but then she sees something she isn’t supposed to…
- The hackers strike again, holding the corporate servers for ransom. Even after a stern warning not to open strange emails, someone did. But each email has been more clever than the last, mimicking employees’ writing styles and even bringing up in-house topics. How can they defend against that? Stop using email altogether? And how do they know how to disguise themselves so well? It’s almost as if it’s an inside job, and the new head of cyber security is determined to find out.
- After receiving an email from HR requesting an urgent meeting, May knows she’s In trouble. “To discuss a delicate matter…” What does that mean? Is she being laid off? Downsized? Moved? As the appointment approaches, she keeps rereading the email, growing more and more anxious. What could this be about? Unless…
Hostile Work Environment. This could be a fun game to get plot prompts flowing… Think of every possible way to create a hostile work environment. Like these…
- When the company’s husband and wife CEOs suffer a rough, public break-up, their anger and resentment spill over to the office. With the pair constantly at odds, employees wonder who will crack first.
- Office stalking probably creates the worst hostile work environment. Researching my last book Odd-a-Sea, I learned that stalking is a pattern of creepy behaviors, a strategy of menacing and striking fear into a victim. In an office environment, many behaviors fit this category: gift-giving, workspace disturbances, monitoring workplace chats, meetings, and emails, talking about a person with others, spreading rumors or lies about someone, altering their food in a shared kitchen, watching in-office cameras, creating work problems to make the victim reliant on him/her, stealing passwords and hijacking a person’s social media, identity theft, and the list goes on. Any of these provide plot prompts for such a story, and victims don’t have to fit the “pretty girl” trope. Still, think You meets the office. Clickbait on Netflix is also a good stalker-style series. (Disclaimer: You should never copy or plagiarize another work, but these might help generate your own ideas).
- What about a workplace that resembles a cult, especially to a new employee? What cultish practices might raise a new employee’s eyebrow?
- The most hated person in Human Resources, known for her brutal firings, inspires a secret campaign to get her fired… no matter what lengths employees must go to.
- Here’s my favorite Idea so far…. After many strange events and odd work situations push some employees to the limits of their frustrations, they realize they’re actually subjects In a psychological experiment—and they can’t get out of it. The Truman Show meets One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Now, that’s a hostile work environment! What about your office Ideas? Sharing your ideas below shows great teamwork!
If you enjoyed these writing prompts, sign up for more and check out my website before returning to the ol’ grind. I promise—It’s not a hostile environment (except maybe for my mystery love story and other mystery story ideas).
