The Swoosh Narrative

An effective framework for writing punchy, hard-hitting, short fiction

Oct 24, 2024

I love teaching creative writing. It is one of the elements of my job as a high school English teacher I truly enjoy. And you’d be amazed at some of the creativity that comes out in students you simply wouldn’t expect. I was one of those students, who surprised my teachers with some quality writing and creative expression.

I learned of this method, called the Swoosh narrative (or the Nike narrative) in my first year of teaching, back in 2018.

Teaching a class of 30 Year 9 students (roughly 14 year olds) how to write creatively was always going to be a challenge. 15 were highly engaged. 10 were listening purely because they wanted to do well, and that was it. 5 were staring out the window, wondering why I was still droning on in front of the class.

I decided to try the method I was teaching them myself. Yes, I should have probably done this earlier, but first year teachers are notoriously time poor.

So I sat down. I wrote. It took me 15 minutes, and it was probably the first piece of writing I had done in a year. Creatively, at least. And that is where I wrote the story, Trench.

If you have read it, thank you. I hope you enjoyed it. If not, please go and read it, to see if this method of writing is for you.

This single, 500 word story, shifted my entire class’s engagement. Boys are quite difficult to engage without hard, concrete examples in front of them. The classroom focus shifted from 15 engaged in wanting to write, to 25 out of the 30. And even the 5 window focusers were shifting themselves in their seats, and bringing their eyes to me when I read this aloud.

Anywho. Enough about my history and my story with this method. I found my students benefited greatly from this framework of writing, and I hope you will find it helpful too. It is important to note, that this is a framework. It can be adjusted. It can be manipulated. Following this won’t automatically help you write a powerful story. Take it with a grain of salt, and I hope you have a go.

RULES

There are a number of rules to follow with this:

Your story should have four sections
Your story should have a maximum of 3 characters
Stick to Aristotle’s three unities. Explore a single time, place and action.
Your protagonist needs to grow or change because of a catalyst.
You don’t need a rounded resolution - but there should be an implied ending. Allow the reader to fill in the gaps.

Part 1: The Inciting Incident

Captivate your audience immediately. Start in media res, right in the heart of the action. Utilise sensory details, creative figurative descriptions, and a clear narrative voice to engage your reader from the get go.

I chose, with Trench to begin in the trenches of World War 1.

Why is this important?

It allows you to get right to the action. So many people spend too long leading up to the action. Too much context, especially in a 500 word story, is a waste of time. And it is, quite frankly, boring.

Start in the action. Engage your reader. I find this a fun way to write, give it a go.

Part 2: Backfill

Signpost how your character got into the situation. There are a number of ways to do this, from creative dialogue between two characters, or a flashback. I prefer flashbacks, as I enjoy utilising an image or description to harness and shift between the time periods. I did this in Trench with the face of Simon, the protagonist’s best friend.

This allows you to provide context, which, as I said, can be boring in a short story, but in a manner that is timely, and in a point in the story where the reader is engaged by the action / inciting incident.

Part 3: Rising Action

Turn up the heat. You’re back in the moment. The characters are poised to strike. Escalate the tension, progress the plot. You know how to do this. This is bread and butter stuff.

In my story, Trench, this is where Simon dies. It leads into the major aspect of the climax.

Part 4: Climactic Resolution

What is the apex of tension in your story? What is the major element of the plot that is going to occur? Get there. And fast. This is where you want to finish. But, it can be tricky. You need to reach this high point of tension, and finish it on a point that it is clear what is going to happen after this.

For example, in Trench, I finished it with the protagonist, Jack, leaping over the trench and charging the enemy, after witnessing his best friend die. It is pretty clear how the story would end, even for those who know nothing about World War 1 history, and specifically, Australian involvement in the war (we were the cannon-fodder for the British, sold patriotic lies to be shipped off to death).

And that is it! It really is that simple.

You can plot it out on the swoosh / Nike tick, or you can get to writing.

If you do end up writing one, please post it on Substack and link it in the comments. I’d love to see what this amazing community comes up with following this framework.