The full spin is defined (within the system I leanred in and later instructed) as when the aerodynamic and gyroscopic forces have reached a state of balance. Prior to this, the spin is in the incipient stage. Recognition of an incipient spin is made easier if you consider that if you have undemanded roll accompanied by buffet, you are spinning. The recovery actions are simple. Centralise the controls and close the throttle. If that doesn't work, you are probably in a fully developed spin and should use your type's recovery technique.
The syllabus we used had the student effecting lots of recoveries from 'unusual positions' (UPs). The student would have to recover the aircraft to level flight with the minimum height loss. These could be spiral dives, stalls, spins or any situation which you don't really want to be in unintentionally. In all cases, remebering that if the aircraft was rolling and you had buffet, it was spinning and should prompt you to centralise/thrust idle. It's a life saver.
One UP entry manoeuvre I often used on students on the Tucano was to start a half cuban pitching up to about 45 degrees. When inverted, realising the attitude was wrong, I pushed as I started the roll applying a bit of rudder. It flick into an inverted spin every time. It's quite disorientating, as it's an inverted spin while the aircraft is still going up. But recognition of the undemanded roll with buffet should prompt the correct recovery.
I got the idea for this UP entry from a student who did it for real on me one day! So it is easy to inadvertantly enter an inverted spin which was a question asked earlier.