Short Story Published in a Spreadsheet

Author David Nygren released an experimental spreadsheet short story, “Under the Table”–stuffing the plot, dialogue, and characters’ thoughts into the cold, hard lines of an Excel page.

The one-scene story follows a disastrous dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant, and the boozy interaction between couples creates a curious tension with the spreadsheet columns. Download the story here, and add your thoughts. Nygren encourages readers to join his experiment.

Here’s more from the post: “The first worksheet of the Excel file has the ‘raw data,’ the story itself (8 columns x 30 rows). The easiest way to read it is to click on the first cell and then use the arrow keys to move to the next cell you want to read … I encourage everyone to read the story in its electronic format. I’ve turned on ‘Track Changes,’ thereby cordially inviting you to collaborate with me on this short story spreadsheet.”

Create a social media strategy, launch your campaign, and track the results in our Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting February 16. The online event and workshop will feature speakers including The Onion‘s Baratunde Thurston (left), Facebook’s Morin Oluwole, and bitly’s Tim Devane. Register now.