A family plans to take a generational photo at the beach. When Mary Ann does not arrive on time, the family worries and goes to look for her. They find Mary Ann confused and lost on the side of the road over a mile from the meeting spot. Mary Ann seems to believe her family got lost, not realizing she is in the wrong place. The family rides back in silence, with May bitter about having to wait in the cold, paying little attention to Mary Ann's confusion.

1. PIVOT POINTS

2. PIVOT POINTS
AVERY’S STORY
• Break at the end of every action, description, and exchange of dialogue.
• In the breaks between, brainstorm the larger histories of which these smaller details are part, by writing “the
history of [x],” “the history of [y], etc. (Make sure you can easily distinguish the brainstorming from the main
text by using a different font or some such.) Keep a very open mind; don’t second guess.
• When you’re done pivot pointing the whole story, look over the brainstorms: What seem like the most
interesting, surprising, or otherwise important historical themes? (Don’t just go for the obvious.)

3. At 4:40 on a Saturday night in November of 2007, May stood, with bare feet, on cold sand. White foam greeted the tips of
her toes as waves rolled in and out. It was cold on the beach, and wind blew briskly by, tangling her long blonde hair and blowing her
brown patterned skirt wildly in all directions. As the sun sank low in the sky, the 7-year-old girl begged to go home, but her mother
refused her requests because May’s grandmother had yet to arrive. They had planned to meet at 4:30 to take a family picture, featuring
all three living generations of the family, but May’s visiting grandmother, Mary Ann Becklenberg, was not in sight, and the picture
could not be taken without her.
Mary Ann had been visiting her son’s family, May’s family, in the small ocean-side town of Pacific Grove, California for
about three weeks, and when Heidi, Mary Ann’s daughter-in-law, suggested meeting at a nearby beach for a sunset picture to
commemorate her trip, she enthusiastically agreed. Mary Ann frequently visited that beach, and had walked there alone countless times
before, so when she did not arrive on time for the picture, her family began to worry. The sun was setting quickly, and if Mary Ann did
not arrive soon, the picture would be rescheduled.
The sun set at 4:52 pm that night, and Mary Ann was still nowhere in sight. The beach plunged into darkness, so the family
decided to go look for her. May and her family loaded into the car and drove slowly along the coast, looking for signs of their loved
one. After driving about a mile in anxious silence, Heidi’s eyes rested upon the silhouette of woman shivering in the cold on the side of
the road. Realizing it was Mary Ann, carrying her favorite purse and wearing gold earrings and red lipstick, they pulled over, stopped
the car, and motioned for her to climb in.
Mary Ann reluctantly approached the car, a concerned, bewildered look in her eyes. She sat down in the vehicle, and Heidi
began to ask questions.
“Where were you?” she exclaimed, expressing her concern. “Are you alright? What happened? Was I unclear about which
beach we went to?”
Mary Ann, clearly confused but relieved to have found her family, was equally concerned. She seemed to believe that her
family, not herself, had gotten lost; she did not realize that the section of beach where she had waited was a mile away from their usual
meeting spot.
The family rode back to Mary Ann’s cottage in silence. May, still bitter that she was forced to stand so long on the cold
beach, did not pay much attention to her grandmother’s distraction and distress.

4. At 4:40 on a Saturday night in November of 2007, May stood, with bare feet, on cold sand. White foam greeted the tips of
her toes as waves rolled in and out. It was cold on the beach, and wind blew briskly by, tangling her long blonde hair and blowing her
brown patterned skirt wildly in all directions. As the sun sank low in the sky, the 7-year-old girl begged to go home, but her mother
refused her requests because May’s grandmother had yet to arrive. They had planned to meet at 4:30 to take a family picture, featuring
all three living generations of the family, but May’s visiting grandmother, Mary Ann Becklenberg, was not in sight, and the picture
could not be taken without her.
POSSIBLE PIVOT POINTS: The history of the town/beach/CA coast. . . . The history of the B family in particular, going all
the way back. . . . . The history of the family, as a broader concept/human practice. . . . The history of photography. . .
Mary Ann had been visiting her son’s family, May’s family, in the small ocean-side town of Pacific Grove, California for
about three weeks, and when Heidi, Mary Ann’s daughter-in-law, suggested meeting at a nearby beach for a sunset picture to
commemorate her trip, she enthusiastically agreed. Mary Ann frequently visited that beach, and had walked there alone countless times
before, so when she did not arrive on time for the picture, her family began to worry. The sun was setting quickly, and if Mary Ann did
not arrive soon, the picture would be rescheduled.
The sun set at 4:52 pm that night, and Mary Ann was still nowhere in sight. The beach plunged into darkness, so the family
decided to go look for her. May and her family loaded into the car and drove slowly along the coast, looking for signs of their loved
one. After driving about a mile in anxious silence, Heidi’s eyes rested upon the silhouette of woman shivering in the cold on the side of
the road. Realizing it was Mary Ann, carrying her favorite purse and wearing gold earrings and red lipstick, they pulled over, stopped
the car, and motioned for her to climb in.
Mary Ann reluctantly approached the car, a concerned, bewildered look in her eyes. She sat down in the vehicle, and Heidi
began to ask questions.
“Where were you?” she exclaimed, expressing her concern. “Are you alright? What happened? Was I unclear about which
beach we went to?”
Mary Ann, clearly confused but relieved to have found her family, was equally concerned. She seemed to believe that her
family, not herself, had gotten lost; she did not realize that the section of beach where she had waited was a mile away from their usual

5. At 4:40 on a Saturday night in November of 2007, May stood, with bare feet, on cold sand. White foam greeted the tips of
her toes as waves rolled in and out. It was cold on the beach, and wind blew briskly by, tangling her long blonde hair and blowing her
brown patterned skirt wildly in all directions. As the sun sank low in the sky, the 7-year-old girl begged to go home, but her mother
refused her requests because May’s grandmother had yet to arrive. They had planned to meet at 4:30 to take a family picture, featuring
all three living generations of the family, but May’s visiting grandmother, Mary Ann Becklenberg, was not in sight, and the picture
could not be taken without her.
POSSIBLE PIVOT POINTS: The history of the town/beach/CA coast. . . . The history of the B family in particular, going all
the way back. . . . . The history of the family, as a broader concept/human practice. . . . The history of photography. . .
Mary Ann had been visiting her son’s family, May’s family, in the small ocean-side town of Pacific Grove, California for
about three weeks, and when Heidi, Mary Ann’s daughter-in-law, suggested meeting at a nearby beach for a sunset picture to
commemorate her trip, she enthusiastically agreed. Mary Ann frequently visited that beach, and had walked there alone countless times
before, so when she did not arrive on time for the picture, her family began to worry. The sun was setting quickly, and if Mary Ann did
not arrive soon, the picture would be rescheduled.
POSSIBLE PIVOT POINTS: The same (.e., history of that location/ of that particular family / family in general /
photography)
The sun set at 4:52 pm that night, and Mary Ann was still nowhere in sight. The beach plunged into darkness, so the family
decided to go look for her. May and her family loaded into the car and drove slowly along the coast, looking for signs of their loved
one. After driving about a mile in anxious silence, Heidi’s eyes rested upon the silhouette of woman shivering in the cold on the side of
the road. Realizing it was Mary Ann, carrying her favorite purse and wearing gold earrings and red lipstick, they pulled over, stopped
the car, and motioned for her to climb in.
Mary Ann reluctantly approached the car, a concerned, bewildered look in her eyes. She sat down in the vehicle, and Heidi
began to ask questions.

6. At 4:40 on a Saturday night in November of 2007, May stood, with bare feet, on cold sand. White foam greeted the tips of
her toes as waves rolled in and out. It was cold on the beach, and wind blew briskly by, tangling her long blonde hair and blowing her
brown patterned skirt wildly in all directions. As the sun sank low in the sky, the 7-year-old girl begged to go home, but her mother
refused her requests because May’s grandmother had yet to arrive. They had planned to meet at 4:30 to take a family picture, featuring
all three living generations of the family, but May’s visiting grandmother, Mary Ann Becklenberg, was not in sight, and the picture
could not be taken without her.
POSSIBLE PIVOT POINTS: The history of the town/beach/CA coast. . . . The history of the B family in particular, going all
the way back. . . . . The history of the family, as a broader concept/human practice. . . . The history of photography. . .
Mary Ann had been visiting her son’s family, May’s family, in the small ocean-side town of Pacific Grove, California for
about three weeks, and when Heidi, Mary Ann’s daughter-in-law, suggested meeting at a nearby beach for a sunset picture to
commemorate her trip, she enthusiastically agreed. Mary Ann frequently visited that beach, and had walked there alone countless times
before, so when she did not arrive on time for the picture, her family began to worry. The sun was setting quickly, and if Mary Ann did
not arrive soon, the picture would be rescheduled.
POSSIBLE PIVOT POINTS: The same (.e., history of that location/ of that particular family / family in general /
photography)
The sun set at 4:52 pm that night, and Mary Ann was still nowhere in sight. The beach plunged into darkness, so the family
decided to go look for her. May and her family loaded into the car and drove slowly along the coast, looking for signs of their loved
one. After driving about a mile in anxious silence, Heidi’s eyes rested upon the silhouette of woman shivering in the cold on the side of
the road. Realizing it was Mary Ann, carrying her favorite purse and wearing gold earrings and red lipstick, they pulled over, stopped
the car, and motioned for her to climb in.
POSSIBLE PIVOT POINTS: History of travel . . . history of aging . . . history of sickness . . . history of fashion

7. Mary Ann reluctantly approached the car, a concerned, bewildered look in her eyes. She sat down in the vehicle, and Heidi
began to ask questions.
“Where were you?” she exclaimed, expressing her concern. “Are you alright? What happened? Was I unclear about which
beach we went to?”
Mary Ann, clearly confused but relieved to have found her family, was equally concerned. She seemed to believe that her
family, not herself, had gotten lost; she did not realize that the section of beach where she had waited was a mile away from their usual
meeting spot.
The family rode back to Mary Ann’s cottage in silence. May, still bitter that she was forced to stand so long on the cold
beach, did not pay much attention to her grandmother’s distraction and distress.

8. Mary Ann reluctantly approached the car, a concerned, bewildered look in her eyes. She sat down in the vehicle, and Heidi
began to ask questions.
“Where were you?” she exclaimed, expressing her concern. “Are you alright? What happened? Was I unclear about which
beach we went to?”
POSSIBLE PIVOT POINTS: History of aging . . . history or illness, cognitive . . . history of the concepts of
memory/forgetting . . . .
Mary Ann, clearly confused but relieved to have found her family, was equally concerned. She seemed to believe that her
family, not herself, had gotten lost; she did not realize that the section of beach where she had waited was a mile away from their usual
meeting spot.
The family rode back to Mary Ann’s cottage in silence. May, still bitter that she was forced to stand so long on the cold
beach, did not pay much attention to her grandmother’s distraction and distress.

9. Mary Ann reluctantly approached the car, a concerned, bewildered look in her eyes. She sat down in the vehicle, and Heidi
began to ask questions.
“Where were you?” she exclaimed, expressing her concern. “Are you alright? What happened? Was I unclear about which
beach we went to?”
POSSIBLE PIVOT POINTS: History of aging . . . history or illness, cognitive . . . history of the concepts of
memory/forgetting . . . .
Mary Ann, clearly confused but relieved to have found her family, was equally concerned. She seemed to believe that her
family, not herself, had gotten lost; she did not realize that the section of beach where she had waited was a mile away from their usual
meeting spot.
The family rode back to Mary Ann’s cottage in silence. May, still bitter that she was forced to stand so long on the cold
beach, did not pay much attention to her grandmother’s distraction and distress.
POSSIBLE PIVOT POINTS: Pretty much all of the previous pivot points minus history of photography and plus the history
of youth

10. PIVOT POINTS
SHELTER STORIES
• Break at the end of every action, description, and exchange of dialogue.
• In the breaks between, brainstorm the larger histories of which these smaller details are part, by writing “the
history of [x],” “the history of [y], etc. (Make sure you can easily distinguish the brainstorming from the main
text by using a different font or some such.) Keep a very open mind; don’t second guess.
• When you’re done pivot pointing the whole story, look over the brainstorms: What seem like the most
interesting, surprising, or otherwise important historical themes? (Don’t just go for the obvious.)

11. PIVOT POINTS
HUMANS OF NEW YORK
• Break at the end of every action, description, and exchange of dialogue.
• In the breaks between, brainstorm the larger histories of which these smaller details are part, by writing “the
history of [x],” “the history of [y], etc. (Make sure you can easily distinguish the brainstorming from the main
text by using a different font or some such.) Keep a very open mind; don’t second guess.
• When you’re done pivot pointing the whole story, look over the brainstorms: What seem like the most
interesting, surprising, or otherwise important historical themes? (Don’t just go for the obvious.)

12. PIVOT POINTS
YOUR STAGE 1 STORY
• In your WRIT folder, create a new doc. Name it “WRIT 1733 - your name – pivot point brainstorm.”
• Copy/paste your Stage 1 draft into this new doc.
• If your paragraphs aren’t broken up this way already, put a break at the end of every action, description, and
exchange of dialogue.
• In the breaks between, brainstorm the larger histories of which these smaller details are part, by writing “the
history of [x],” “the history of [y], etc. (Make sure you can easily distinguish the brainstorming from the main
text by using a different font or some such.) Keep a very open mind; don’t second guess.
• When you’re done pivot-pointing the whole Stage 1 story, look over the brainstorms: What seem like the most
interesting, surprising, or otherwise important historical themes? (Don’t just go for the obvious.)