Writing Challenge #5 - 56 Seconds Into Your Favorite Song (Write Nov. 5th)

Hi folks

A first look at the numbers for challenges 1 and 2 show that you all are cranking out the pages.  Well done.

96 playwrights submitted for challenge 1, writing 372 pages

If you consider a standard two-act play is around 120 pages, you all wrote three full-length plays plus another ten-minute play.  Not a bad way to kick things off!

Challenge 2 had 93 playwrights turning in 324 pages, which is two full-lengths, plus another 90-minute play that might as well be a full-length.  Nicely done.

 - and that’s just your first two days of output for the month.  Very impressive.  

Well done, everyone!  Keep up the good work.

Even a page or two or day definitely adds up.

You may think just having a page or two is nothing special, but any writing in a day is more progress than no writing.

And it doesn’t have to be perfect, that’s what rewriting later is for.

For now, just push through.

Thanks for prioritizing your own creativity, whether you’re responding to a prompt, or just writing your own thing and using the daily submission deadline to keep yourself moving forward on an existing script idea.

And if you aren’t feeling it one day here in November, remember that at the end of every one of these emails and challenge blog posts there’s an escape hatch option:

“Lights up
(Something happens)
Lights down.”

I change them every day to match the day’s challenge.  

So feel free to use something like that on a tough day if you need to.

(Over the past five years, playwrights have put their own spin on the mini-play option, often in very amusing ways, so feel free to have fun with that as well - I am.)



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Challenge #5 - 56 Seconds Into Your Favorite Song

Write Thursday, November 5th - or earlier if you like
Due: Friday, November 6th, 12pm noon Central Time 
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)


The challenge comes from Threshold Theater Literary Associate Kate Cosgrove.

“Think of your favorite song (could be all-time favorite or current favorite). Pull it up on your app of choice and go to 0:56 seconds. Use that lyric (single word or full phrase) and/or soundscape (if there are no words) to inspire a scene.”

As an experiment, I did a random sampling at the 56 second mark of either my most played or most recently in rotation songs and found the following

“Melancholy beasts at the gates of the zoo.”
(Plaintive sad piano)
(Side note: song from a truly weird and lovely musical romantic experiment by the French filmmaker Christoper Honore, called “Love Songs (Les Chansons d’amour)” which for a while was my entire personality after I first saw it and kept rewatching it - and yes, it’s the sad song I keep on repeat for some reason.)

Trailer (which doesn’t tell you the half of it, the film is bonkers)


“Good times, they’re still good
But the bad times, so much worse than they should feel”
(Old-style rock)

“If you find me sleep walking
I want you to be the one to bring me home.”
(Singer-songwriter, folk)

“It’s only making me feel smaller,
All the hidden love beneath.”
(Country music via Iceland)

“Give advice to my friends about their problems
But when they’re mine I forget how to solve ‘em.”
(Latino singer-songwriter)

“I know your skin.
I know the way these things begin.”
(Songwriter, her chanteuse era)

“Look at the mess you made of…
Just choose to stay for once.”
(Indie rock)

“Do you get lonely sometimes?
Do you want one more goodbye?”
(Pop)

So, hit your own music collection and see what you trip over.  I’m intrigued by mine and intend to mull them over a bit.  Nice to have a musical soundtrack you like playing in the background and sparking your muse.

Use whatever you find interesting as a jumping off point and get writing.

Or ignore me and Kate and write something completely different.


**************************

If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can 

try 2021’s challenge #5: Random Phrase Generator

Or try 2022’s challenge #5: “This Guy Told Me He Was A Centaur…”

Or try 2023’s Challenge #5: Snapshots 1 (from Threshold Theater co-founder and Managing Director David Schlosser)

Or try 2024’s challenge #5: Dismantled Piano

Or try 2025’s challenge #5: Hands (from Threshold Theater co-founder and Managing Director David Schlosser)

Or, you know, just ignore the prompts altogether and write whatever you want - as long as you’re writing and turning it in by the deadline, that’s all that matters for the challenge :)


**************************

And because we call can get in our own way so easily, here’s some words of reassurance on the basics of this month:

Friendly Reminders - Answers To Common Questions:
(Follow the links to read me expounding on these items :)

Don’t Stress About Writing A Full Play

Don’t Stress About Format

Don’t Stress About Sticking To The Writing Prompt

No.  Really.  I Mean It.  Don’t Stress About Sticking To The Writing Prompt

Don’t Stress About Finishing An Idea (You Can Add Later)

Don’t Stress About “Succeeding” or “Failing”

Don’t Stress About What You’re Turning In Each Day

Don’t Stress about November 26th (however you recognize the holiday weekend) - 2026 edition


****************************

How to submit your work for Challenge #5

We’re streamlining the process this year with a Google form, 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdy-wyjz-IITaNsOkXM1zVQu_yrt_o7E4Vp2eQnr-8VNnu49w/viewform?usp=header

but you still have multiple options for how you submit your playwriting output for the day.

After you enter the required fields of 
email, 
name, 
challenge number (for today, that’d be 5 :) 
and page count, 
you can submit your writing in one of four ways:

Save your script as a PDF or Word Doc and upload that document to the Google form.

OR

Post your script online (on your personal website, as a blog post, or as a Google doc) and put a link to that online script in the Google form.

OR

Copy/paste your work from another source directly into the Google form

OR

Type directly into the Google form.

(Whichever option you choose, you can leave the other ones blank.)



Write Thursday, November 5th - or earlier if you like
Again, this is: Due: Friday, November 6th, 12pm noon Central Time 
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)


**********************

And, just to reassure you, no, we are not going to be sticklers about you following these directions down to the minutest detail - the important thing is that you write, and then that you share it with us, so we can keep track of who’s writing every day.

We will be VERY understanding about technical difficulties and how they can screw up making the deadline on the first few days.  No need to fret about anything except the writing (and hopefully that’s not something causing you to fret too much either :)

Also, no, there is no penalty for finishing and submitting early - but it also isn’t a race, so give yourself all the time up til 12 noon Central Time on Friday to write if you need it.  When you’re done, you’re done.

Again, remember, it doesn’t need to be great, it doesn’t even need to be responding to this prompt (the prompt is just there so you’re not staring at a blank screen to start with no idea what to write about :)

Doesn't even need to be complete - you could have the beginning or the middle or the end of an idea, maybe two out of three but not all, that's still fine. This is all about getting things started, you can write more later. 

You have 25 more days to build on whatever you come up with today, if you want. 

Just get anything on the page, even if won't make sense to anyone else, as long as it makes sense to you.

It just needs to be something.


*****************************


And that something can be:



Lights up.

CLAIRE sits at a keyboard, headphones on.

The music playing guides her fingers in a little dance over the letters creating…?

Lights down.

The End



That’s always your escape hatch, every day.

That’s your base line.

Build on it.

Have fun.

Don’t stress.

Make an impulsive decision and run with it.

Breathe.

You’ve got the day.

Just write.

(After you vote, of course :)

And take good care of yourselves, and each other.

Matthew A. Everett
Literary Director
Threshold Theater
(he/him/his) 

Writing Challenge #4 - Two Missed Calls at Midnight (Write Nov. 4th)

Hi folks

Still playing catch-up on the flurry of input from all you very prolific playwrights.  It’s fun to have so much content to play around with the different sorting options on the spreadsheet the Google form creates, and see the number of lines for each submission grow and grow and grow.

I’m hoping to have some fun statistics for you starting tomorrow, once I’m through all the initial sorting of the last couple of days.

Keep up the good work, keep writing, keep submitting your playwriting output through that Google form.




A BRIEF VOTING ASIDE…

The day I’m sending this out, Tuesday 11/3 is Election Day for everybody in the U.S.

Again, to those who’ve already voted, thank you.

And if you haven’t voted already, please do vote.  

Deadline amnesty due to time spent voting is still in effect.  Just let me know you were out voting, and you’ve got more wiggle room to get that latest submission in the door :) Details on that here:

https://thresholdwritingchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/10/deadline-amnesty-for-voting-and-other.html

And now, let’s get you that writing prompt for the day…


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Challenge #4 - Two Missed Calls at Midnight

Write Wednesday, November 4th - or earlier if you like
Due: Thursday, November 5th, 12pm noon Central Time 
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)


This challenge comes from Threshold Theater company member, and costume designer, Aella Rose-Hill.  It’s the simple phrase:


2 missed calls at midnight


Now, that could be your title.

That could be something that actually happens.

Are those two calls being seen from one side or the other or both.

Are those two calls coming from the same person or going to the same person, or are two different people involved in one case or the other.

Normally calls in the middle of the night are bad news.

Or someone needs help.

But if someone’s a real night owl, maybe calls at midnight, either making or receiving them, aren’t that big a deal.  But of course if one side or the other of the call isn’t a night owl, then things are out of balance.

Given the bedtime vigilance of smartphones these days, does a call at midnight even go through?

Is this something from another time entirely?

What does that phrase do for you?

Play around with any or all of that.

Or the exact opposite of it. 
(Two missed calls first thing in the morning, two missed calls in the middle of the day?)

Or ignore it entirely and do whatever you like on the page.

Just write something.



********************

If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can 

try 2021’s challenge #4: Science Fiction and Fantasy

Or try 2022’s challenge #4: Smackdown

Or try 2023’s Challenge #4: Wonderland (from Threshold Theater co-founder and Technical Director Nick Mrozek)

Or try 2024’s challenge #4: Asteroid

Or try 2025’s challenge #4: Mirrors, Discovery, Leaves and Lizards (from Threshold Theater company member and stage manager June Haider)

 Or, you know, just ignore the prompts altogether and write whatever you want - as long as you’re writing and turning it in by the deadline, that’s all that matters for the challenge :)


**********************

And because we call can get in our own way so easily, here’s some words of reassurance on the basics of this month:

Friendly Reminders - Answers To Common Questions:
(Follow the links to read me expounding on these items :)

Deadline Amnesty for Voting (and other handy challenge tips) - 2026 edition

Don’t Stress About Writing A Full Play

Don’t Stress About Format

Don’t Stress About Sticking To The Writing Prompt

No.  Really.  I Mean It.  Don’t Stress About Sticking To The Writing Prompt

Don’t Stress About Finishing An Idea (You Can Add Later)

Don’t Stress About “Succeeding” or “Failing”

Don’t Stress About What You’re Turning In Each Day

Don’t Stress about November 26th (however you recognize the holiday weekend) - 2026 edition


**************************

How to submit your work for Challenge #4

We’re streamlining the process this year with a Google form, 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdy-wyjz-IITaNsOkXM1zVQu_yrt_o7E4Vp2eQnr-8VNnu49w/viewform?usp=header

but you still have multiple options for how you submit your playwriting output for the day.

After you enter the required fields of 
email, 
name, 
challenge number (for today, that’d be 4 :) 
and page count, 
you can submit your writing in one of four ways:

Save your script as a PDF or Word Doc and upload that document to the Google form.

OR

Post your script online (on your personal website, as a blog post, or as a Google doc) and put a link to that online script in the Google form.

OR

Copy/paste your work from another source directly into the Google form

OR

Type directly into the Google form.

(Whichever option you choose, you can leave the other ones blank.)



Write Wednesday, November 4th - or earlier if you like
Again, this is: Due: Thursday, November 5th, 12pm noon Central Time 
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)


*********************

And, just to reassure you, no, we are not going to be sticklers about you following these directions down to the minutest detail - the important thing is that you write, and then that you share it with us, so we can keep track of who’s writing every day.

We will be VERY understanding about technical difficulties and how they can screw up making the deadline on the first few days.  No need to fret about anything except the writing (and hopefully that’s not something causing you to fret too much either :)

Also, no, there is no penalty for finishing and submitting early - but it also isn’t a race, so give yourself all the time up til 12 noon Central Time on Thursday to write if you need it.  When you’re done, you’re done.

Again, remember, it doesn’t need to be great, it doesn’t even need to be responding to this prompt (the prompt is just there so you’re not staring at a blank screen to start with no idea what to write about :)

Doesn't even need to be complete - you could have the beginning or the middle or the end of an idea, maybe two out of three but not all, that's still fine. This is all about getting things started, you can write more later. 

You have 26 more days to build on whatever you come up with today, if you want. 

Just get anything on the page, even if won't make sense to anyone else, as long as it makes sense to you.

It just needs to be something.


*************************

And that something can be:



Lights up (just barely).

The phone rings in the dark.

A person fumbles around in bed.

Turns on the light.

Fumbles for the phone.

Too late, it stopped ringing.

The person looks at the time.

Turns off the light.

Slumps down in bed.

The phone rings again.

The person stares at it.

Lights down.

The End




That’s always your escape hatch, every day.

That’s your base line.

Build on it.

Have fun.

Don’t stress.

Make an impulsive decision and run with it.

Breathe.

You’ve got the day.

Just write.

(After you vote, of course :)

And take good care of yourselves, and each other.

Matthew A. Everett
Literary Director
Threshold Theater
(he/him/his) 

Writing Challenge #3 - Art Decays Over Time (Write Nov. 3rd)

Hi folks

QUICK TIP

We used to interact a bit more with the challenge blog in the early years of the challenge.  But it’s still there.

So if you’re waiting on the next challenge in your email inbox, or for some reason it hasn’t showed up, you can always hop over to the challenge blog because all challenges will be posted there before I send out the emails for the day.

https://thresholdwritingchallenge.blogspot.com/

And if you’re not seeing the challenges in your email, and you have Gmail, we sometimes get curated over to the “All Mail” setting so check there.  Don’t think we’ve ever ended up in Spam but that’s another place to check.

 

The first collections of electronic pages are already coming in.

So exciting to see you all so productive.

Hope you're having fun.



SIDE NOTE, AGAIN, ABOUT VOTING…

Minnesota playwrights, you have one last day of early voting yet today, Monday 11/2, when I’m sending this challenge out.
You can find early voting location information, and Election Day polling place information at the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website - https://www.sos.mn.gov/elections-voting/

Deadline amnesty for taking time out to vote is still in effect for the next several days. Full details on that in this post:


Happy writing to you all!

Let’s get you that writing prompt…


******************************

Challenge #3 - Art Decays Over Time

Write Tuesday, November 3rd - or earlier if you like
Due: Wednesday, November 4th, 12pm noon Central Time 
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones) 



This challenge comes from Threshold Theater company member, and set and props designer, Jenna Mady:

“One of my favorite photographers is Andy Goldsworthy. He is a nature sculptor and photographer. Many of his works eventually die as nature does, but live on in the stunning photographs he takes of them. Leaves start to disintegrate, ripples and waves move pieces around, rocks crumble, but the photograph of the piece is forever.”

Here is his archive of works: https://andygoldsworthystudio.com/archive/



First, what kind of structure on stage would mimic time lapse photography? What little snippets might build a character, a scene, a set, a relationship, or the detonation of any of those examples?

Second, Goldsworthy’s visual archive is stunning, or haunting, depending on how you look at it.

Some projects take place over a couple of hours, a couple of days, a few weeks, a few months, or even a few years.

And the combination of video records and still images are fascinating.

Also, just the titles of some of the works, even before you click the links to look at them, can be evocative enough to set the mind going so.

With some of the visual monthly archives come behind the scenes photos or video of how the work was constructed, as well as notes, some clinical, some more poetic.

There’s a lot here, but I have 27 other challenges to write so I can’t spend any more time on this particular rabbit hole right now.  I’m going to loop back later.

Peruse all these threads and see which one strikes a chord of inspiration in you…

Here’s links to the work posted monthly over the course of the last several years.  (At this time he hasn’t yet posted for October 2026)

2026

Fleece Laid in Lines

Sticks, Stone, River

Dead Hazel Sticks

Wool Cast Off by Sheep

Grass Laid on a Gravestone

Two Lines

Stones Drawn Through a Tree

Fireweed Stalks

Barbed Wire Icicles


2025

Boulder Field

For Olle

For Andrew McKinna and Job’s Well

Wave and Thirty-Six Kelp Throws

Seaweed, Grass and Ferns

Fifty Years

Stone Edges

Two Dandelion Works

Dock, Nettle, Oak

Fleece

Twelve Sheep Paintings

White Pines


2024

Nine Fireweed Drawings

Red Flag 2020-2024

Sand Edges

Three Sand Works

Preparing for “Fifty Years”

Four More Wool Works

Four Wool Works

Nettle Stalks

Nettle Stalks Wall

Stone Sea Passage

Colebrook Quarry Rain Shadow

Icicle Wall


2023

Ice Laid On Fallen Oaks

Hedge Walk

Two Shadows

Rockweed

Road Line

Hands

Split Oak Wood

Two Lines Made with Wool

Three River Works

Passage, Hawaii

Drawing Mole Hills

Two of Twelve Shadows


2022

Thorn Stone

Stone Dust

Standing Still at Dawn

Ebenezer

Blackberry Hand

Five-Ten

Iron

Red Flags

Firehouse

Yellow and Blue



Totally up to you.  Take any of these visual or philosophical jumping off points, or write something completely different.

Just write.


********************************

If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can 

try 2021’s challenge #3: Start With A Title

Or try 2022’s challenge #3: Clown Family

Or try 2023’s challenge #2: Place Names for People

Or try 2024’s challenge #3: Nazi Dildo Lady

Or try 2025’s challenge #3: Closing Time, a Rivalry, and a Car Accident (from Threshold Theater company member and costume designer Aella Rose Hill)

 Or, you know, just ignore the prompts altogether and write whatever you want - as long as you’re writing and turning it in by the deadline, that’s all that matters for the challenge :)


*****************************

And because we call can get in our own way so easily, here’s some words of reassurance on the basics of this month:

Friendly Reminders - Answers To Common Questions:
(Follow the links to read me expounding on these items :)

Deadline Amnesty for Voting (and other handy challenge tips) - 2026 edition

Don’t Stress About Writing A Full Play

Don’t Stress About Format

Don’t Stress About Sticking To The Writing Prompt

No.  Really.  I Mean It.  Don’t Stress About Sticking To The Writing Prompt

Don’t Stress About Finishing An Idea (You Can Add Later)

Don’t Stress About “Succeeding” or “Failing”

Don’t Stress About What You’re Turning In Each Day

Don’t Stress about November 26th (however you recognize the holiday weekend) - 2026 edition


*****************************

How to submit your work for Challenge #3

We’re streamlining the process with a Google form, 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdy-wyjz-IITaNsOkXM1zVQu_yrt_o7E4Vp2eQnr-8VNnu49w/viewform?usp=header

but you still have multiple options for how you submit your playwriting output for the day.

After you enter the required fields of 
email, 
name, 
challenge number (for today, that’d be 3 :) 
and page count, 
you can submit your writing in one of four ways:

Save your script as a PDF or Word Doc and upload that document to the Google form.

OR

Post your script online (on your personal website, as a blog post, or as a Google doc) and put a link to that online script in the Google form.

OR

Copy/paste your work from another source directly into the Google form

OR

Type directly into the Google form.

(Whichever option you choose, you can leave the other ones blank.)



Write Tuesday, November 3rd - or earlier if you like
Again, this is: Due: Wednesday, November 4th, 12pm noon Central Time 
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)


**************************

And, just to reassure you, no, we are not going to be sticklers about you following these directions down to the minutest detail - the important thing is that you write, and then that you share it with us, so we can keep track of who’s writing every day.

We will be VERY understanding about technical difficulties and how they can screw up making the deadline on the first few days.  No need to fret about anything except the writing (and hopefully that’s not something causing you to fret too much either :)

Also, no, there is no penalty for finishing and submitting early - but it also isn’t a race, so give yourself all the time up til 12 noon Central Time on Wednesday to write if you need it.  When you’re done, you’re done.

Again, remember, it doesn’t need to be great, it doesn’t even need to be responding to this prompt (the prompt is just there so you’re not staring at a blank screen to start with no idea what to write about :)

Doesn't even need to be complete - you could have the beginning or the middle or the end of an idea, maybe two out of three but not all, that's still fine. This is all about getting things started, you can write more later. 

You have 27 more days to build on whatever you come up with today, if you want. 

Just get anything on the page, even if won't make sense to anyone else, as long as it makes sense to you.

It just needs to be something.


************************

And that something can be:



Lights up.

A man stands in the middle of the room at sunset.

The color of the square of light casting his shadow changes over time.

The light fades until there is no shadow, there is no light.

Just a man, standing in a room, in the dark.

The End



That’s always your escape hatch, every day.

That’s your base line.

Build on it.

Have fun.

Don’t stress.

Make an impulsive decision and run with it.

Breathe.

You’ve got the day.

Just write.

(After you vote, of course :)

And take good care of yourselves, and each other.

Matthew A. Everett
Literary Director
Threshold Theater
(he/him/his) 

Writing Challenge #2 - Great Things To Set On Fire (Write Nov. 2nd)

Hi folks

I’m going to continue to try and get these challenges to you all a day early if I can, so if you finish one you can just move on to the next.

This challenge is one that you don’t have to start writing until tomorrow, Monday, November 2nd, and isn’t due until 12 noon Central Time on Tuesday November 3rd.  But if you want to get started early, go for it.


QUICK TIPS

If you’re wondering when to write and turn in which challenge, check the subject line of the email :)
You can also check the top of the challenge description section after the intro section of each email.
You can also check the bottom of the section about how to submit your challenge writing about two-thirds of the way down each email.

If you’ve got a different question, read the full email.
Most of the answers to your questions are either in the email, or there’s a link in the email to a post with the answer to your question :)

If you still have a question, you can reach out in the note section of the Google form when you submit your challenge writing, or send an email to ThresholdWritingChallenge@gmail.com



VOTING

If you haven’t already voted, please do.
Vote early if you have the option.
And if it’s long lines on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3rd or nothing, then we do have deadline amnesty for whenever you vote, be it that day or the days prior.
We don’t want writing to get in the way of voting, or vice versa.
https://thresholdwritingchallenge.blogspot.com/2026/10/deadline-amnesty-for-voting-and-other.html

If you’re looking for information on how and where to vote, your Secretary of State’s website is a good resource - Minnesota, here’s yours: https://www.sos.mn.gov/elections-voting/
If you want to work off some nervous energy, volunteer opportunities can be found here, among other places: https://votesaveamerica.com/



And now, back to playwriting…

As of this morning, there are 103 playwrights signed on for the challenge!

(For comparison, last year’s total was 111 playwrights - 2024 was 101 playwrights, 2023 was 57, 2022 was 40, 2021 was 45)

As it is every year, it was a good-spirited competition between Minnesota and New York as to which state was going to end up with more playwrights signing on.

In the end, New York has a total of 16 playwrights
Minnesota ended up a respectable second with 12 playwrights

Other locales added on as well yesterday.  We ended up with the following:

7 from Massachusetts,
6 from California,
6 from Colorado,
5 from Georgia,
5 from Ohio,
4 from Illinois,
4 from Indiana,
4 from Virginia,
3 from Pennsylvania,

2 each from
Connecticut, 
Florida,
Michigan,
Tennessee,
Texas, and
Washington state.

There’s also a single representative hailing from each of the following: 
Kansas,
Kentucky,
Maine,
Maryland,
Nevada,
New Jersey,
North Carolina,
Oregon,
Wisconsin,
Washington, D.C.,
And new this year, even one from the U.S. Virgin Islands.

In all, we have 103 playwrights from 26 states across America, plus the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as 4 from Canada, 1 from Malaysia, 1 from Scotland, and 1 from Spain.


Welcome, one and all!  Thanks for joining us in this little daily exercise in flexing your writing muscles for a month.

And on we go…


****************************

Challenge #2 - Great Things To Set On Fire

Write Monday, November 2nd - or earlier if you like
Due: Tuesday, November 3rd, 12pm noon Central Time 
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)



The suggestion comes from our newest Threshold Theater company member, Anya Naylor - who has participated in the November Playwriting Challenge themselves in the past, and has both acted in Threshold Theater productions and acted and directed for our New Play Reading series.

Anya’s suggestion was:


Great Things To Set on Fire


Now that phrase alone may be evocative enough to get you going, so if it does, just take that idea as a jumping off point and get going.

Here’s some random things it conjured up for me:

You could write a scene about things that are literally good for burning - like wood in a fireplace or campfire or bonfire, or charcoal in a grill, or any other kind of handy fuel.

This also makes me think of the ridiculous witch burning tribunal scene in “Monty Python and The Holy Grail”

“What do we burn apart from witches?”
“MORE witches”
“Wood.”
“So why do witches burn?”
“Because they’re made of wood!”

When I was working with a financial advisor to get my credit cards paid off, my mother said that she’d probably be getting the mortgage on the house paid off at the same time I completed my own payoff, and we could have a little party to burn the mortgage and credit card bills when we were free of them.

Someone might have a party, or just a personal ritual by themselves, to burn their marriage license when they get a divorce.

People have been known to burn keepsakes left over from failed relationships (photos, gifts, things the person accidentally left behind).

You could probably think of any number of reasons to burn buildings or cars, I don’t have to give you any ideas there, do I?

All kinds of sacrifices have been used as burnt offerings for a variety of reasons.

Some folks would argue we’re setting the whole planet on fire.

Maybe there’s no symbolic reason at all.  Maybe somebody just needs a fire to keep warm or to prepare their food.  For comfort, or just basic survival.

All kinds of things are great for burning.

What would you like to set on fire?
(On the page only, of course.)

Write about that, or choose one of the other challenge options from past years on day 2, or just write whatever you like.

Just write - something.


****************************

If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can 

try 2021’s challenge #2: Fire Escape

Or try 2022’s challenge #2: What Haunts You?

Or try 2023’s challenge #2: Fox and Rabbit (from Threshold Theater Literary Associate Kate Cosgrove)

Or try 2024’s challenge #2: RIP: HUGE improv theater

Or try 2025’s challenge #2: O Superman (from Threshold Theater Literary Associate Maren Findlay)

Or, you know, just ignore the prompts altogether and write whatever you want - as long as you’re writing and turning it in by the deadline, that’s all that matters for the challenge :)


**************************

And because we call can get in our own way so easily, here’s some words of reassurance on the basics of this month:

Friendly Reminders - Answers To Common Questions:
(Follow the links to read me expounding on these items :)

Deadline Amnesty for Voting (and other handy challenge tips) - 2026 edition

Don’t Stress About Writing A Full Play

Don’t Stress About Format

Don’t Stress About Sticking To The Writing Prompt

No.  Really.  I Mean It.  Don’t Stress About Sticking To The Writing Prompt

Don’t Stress About Finishing An Idea (You Can Add Later)

Don’t Stress About “Succeeding” or “Failing”

Don’t Stress About What You’re Turning In Each Day

Don’t Stress about November 26th (however you recognize the holiday weekend) - 2026 edition


***************************

How to submit your work for Challenge #2

We’re streamlining the process with a Google form, 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdy-wyjz-IITaNsOkXM1zVQu_yrt_o7E4Vp2eQnr-8VNnu49w/viewform?usp=header

but you still have multiple options for how you submit your playwriting output for the day.

After you enter the required fields of 
email, 
name, 
challenge number (for today, that’d be 2 :) 
and page count, 
you can submit your writing in one of four ways:

Save your script as a PDF or Word Doc and upload that document to the Google form.

OR

Post your script online (on your personal website, as a blog post, or as a Google doc) and put a link to that online script in the Google form.

OR

Copy/paste your work from another source directly into the Google form

OR

Type directly into the Google form.

(Whichever option you choose, you can leave the other ones blank.)


Write Monday, November 2nd - or earlier if you like
Again, this is: Due: Tuesday, November 3rd, 12pm noon Central Time 
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)


**************************

And, just to reassure you, no, we are not going to be sticklers about you following these directions down to the minutest detail - the important thing is that you write, and then that you share it with us, so we can keep track of who’s writing every day.

We will be VERY understanding about technical difficulties and how they can screw up making the deadline on the first few days.  No need to fret about anything except the writing (and hopefully that’s not something causing you to fret too much either :)

Also, no, there is no penalty for finishing and submitting early - but it also isn’t a race, so give yourself all the time up til 12 noon Central Time on Tuesday to write if you need it.  When you’re done, you’re done.

Again, remember, it doesn’t need to be great, it doesn’t even need to be responding to this prompt (the prompt is just there so you’re not staring at a blank screen to start with no idea what to write about :)

Doesn't even need to be complete - you could have the beginning or the middle or the end of an idea, maybe two out of three but not all, that's still fine. This is all about getting things started, you can write more later. 

You have 28 more days to build on whatever you come up with today, if you want. 

Just get anything on the page, even if won't make sense to anyone else, as long as it makes sense to you.

It just needs to be something.


**************************

And that something can be:



Lights up.

GLADYS sets fire to a teddy bear.

GLADYS (to no one in particular): Bye bye, childhood.

She watches it burn.

Lights down.

The End



That’s always your escape hatch, every day.

That’s your base line.

Build on it.

Have fun.

Don’t stress.

Make an impulsive decision and run with it.

Breathe.

You’ve got the day.

Just write.

(After you vote, of course :)

And take good care of yourselves, and each other.

Matthew A. Everett
Literary Director
Threshold Theater
(he/him/his) 

Writing Challenge #1 - Random Bits of Dialogue (Write Nov. 1st)

Hi folks

Thanks again for signing up for the November Playwriting Challenge with Threshold Theater!

People still have until midnight tonight to sign on but as of right now (8am Central Time in Minneapolis) we have 90 playwrights from 26 states across America, plus the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as 4 from Canada, 1 from Scotland, and 1 from Malaysia.

Welcome to one and all, both far and near!

At the moment, we’ve got the usual cluster from Minnesota (10 playwrights) 
(Threshold Theater is based in Minneapolis so that’s not a huge surprise :)

There’s 13 from New York state thus far, 
7 from Massachusetts,
6 from California, 
6 from Colorado,
4 from Illinois,
3 from Georgia, 
3 from Indiana, 
3 from Virginia,

2 each from
Connecticut, 
Florida,
Michigan,
North Carolina, 
Ohio,
Pennsylvania,
Tennessee,
Texas, and
Washington state.

There’s also a single representative hailing from each of the following: 
Kansas,
Kentucky,
Maine,
Maryland, 
Nevada, 
New Jersey, 
Oregon, 
Wisconsin,
Washington, D.C.,
And new this year, even one from the U.S. Virgin Islands.

All this alongside the aforementioned four in Canada, and our returning individual friends in Glasgow, Scotland, and Malaysia.




A quick reminder to start - for those who have early voting or mail-in voting options available to them in the U.S., please avail yourselves of them if you haven’t already 

Then Tuesday is Election Day.
Make your voice heard.

And if voting impacts your ability to write and make the deadline for one of these first few days of writing, amnesty is availability for the deadline - just let me know via a note on the day's Google form submission you were out voting (we’re not gonna penalize anyone for something that important)





We actually decided to give everyone a head-start on the first challenge just to get things rolling, so read on, and you can begin writing as soon as you like...

You have today and tomorrow to play around - this is Sunday, November 1st’s challenge, showing up a little early, but still not due until noon Central Time on Monday, November 2nd.

So, let’s  dive in, shall we?


***********************************

Challenge #1 - Random Bits of Dialogue

Write Sunday, November 1st - or earlier if you like
Oh, and just to complicate things - daylight savings time is also in the mix on Sunday :)

Due: Monday, November 2nd, 12pm noon Central Time 
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)


There’s been a bit of a tradition that the first challenge of the month is a prompt with an assortment of random potential bits of dialogue to use as a jumping off point.  So this is the 2026 version.

The lines of dialogue come from two Instagram writer accounts.

The first batch of options come from an account that is sadly no longer active, SophieMPoraykoWrites - however it was also the favorite of another account that is still active - The Writer’s Garden (https://www.instagram.com/thewritersgarden/), so you can look there to find other potential fodder if you like, now or later.  Here’s Sophie’s lines:

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“Who said I was a mortal?”

“Don’t say that.  You can’t do this, not now.  Please.”

“We’ll settle this like real men: a dance off.”

“Don’t ever say that name again.”


The other account that offered up some fun potential dialogue options is still currently active, the Instagram for Emily Pedroza (https://www.instagram.com/penstopalms/).  Emily’s assorted dialogue prompts include:

“Keep an eye on the door, but whatever you do, don’t open it.”

“Pass the binoculars. Hurry!”

“I can’t stand small talk, but it was all he could offer.”

“That animal can’t possibly be a bird.”



Choose any one, or more, of those lines of dialogue to include in your scene for the day.  (If you’re an overachiever, or like to punish yourself, you could try to use all of them, but I wouldn’t advise it - we want to inspire, not tie you up in knots.)

Just pick some material that sets off an idea in your head and run with it.

Or ignore this challenge entirely and just write whatever you want.  It’s totally up to you.

This is just an offering to potentially get you started on something. (And there are others just below this.)

Doesn’t matter what you write, just as long as you write.  

Just get something going and have fun with it.


**************************************

If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can try 

2021’s challenge #1: I Love You, I Hate You, I Love You

Or try 2022’s challenge #1: Assorted Dialogue

Or try 2023’s challenge #1: More Assorted Dialogue

Or try 2024’s challenge #1: Still More Assorted Dialogue

Or try 2025’s challenge #1: Not Love/Too Late

Or, you know, just ignore the prompts altogether and write whatever you want - as long as you’re writing and turning it in by the deadline, that’s all that matters for the challenge :)

**************************

And because we call can get in our own way so easily, here’s some words of reassurance on the basics of this month:

Friendly Reminders - Answers To Common Questions:
(Follow the links to read me expounding on these items :)

Deadline Amnesty for Voting (and other handy challenge tips) - 2026 edition

Don’t Stress About Writing A Full Play

Don’t Stress About Format

Don’t Stress About Sticking To The Writing Prompt

No.  Really.  I Mean It.  Don’t Stress About Sticking To The Writing Prompt

Don’t Stress About Finishing An Idea (You Can Add Later)

Don’t Stress About “Succeeding” or “Failing”

Don’t Stress About What You’re Turning In Each Day

Don’t Stress about November 26th (however you recognize the holiday weekend) - 2026 edition

**************************

How to submit your work for Challenge #1

We’re streamlining the process this year with a Google form, 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdy-wyjz-IITaNsOkXM1zVQu_yrt_o7E4Vp2eQnr-8VNnu49w/viewform?usp=header

but you still have multiple options for how you submit your playwriting output for the day.

After you enter the required fields of 
email, 
name, 
challenge number (for today, that’d be 1 :) 
and page count, 
you can submit your writing in one of four ways:

Save your script as a PDF or Word Doc and upload that document to the Google form.

OR

Post your script online (on your personal website, as a blog post, or as a Google doc) and put a link to that online script in the Google form.

OR

Copy/paste your work from another source directly into the Google form

OR

Type directly into the Google form.

(Whichever option you choose, you can leave the other ones blank.)



Write Sunday, November 1st - or earlier if you like
Again, this is: Due: Monday, November 2nd, 12pm noon Central Time 
And again, just to complicate things - daylight savings time is also in the mix that day :)
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)

***********************

And, just to reassure you, no, we are not going to be sticklers about you following these directions down to the minutest detail - the important thing is that you write, and then that you share it with us, so we can keep track of who’s writing every day.

We will be VERY understanding about technical difficulties and how they can screw up making the deadline on the first few days.  No need to fret about anything except the writing (and hopefully that’s not something causing you to fret too much either :)

Also, no, there is no penalty for finishing and submitting early - but it also isn’t a race, so give yourself all the time up til 12pm noon Central Time on Monday to write if you need it.  When you’re done, you’re done.

Again, remember, it doesn’t need to be great, it doesn’t even need to be responding to this prompt (the prompt is just there so you’re not staring at a blank screen to start with no idea what to write about :)

Doesn't even need to be complete - you could have the beginning or the middle or the end of an idea, maybe two out of three but not all, that's still fine. This is all about getting things started, you can write more later. 

You have 29 more days to build on whatever you come up with today, if you want. 

Just get anything on the page, even if won't make sense to anyone else, as long as it makes sense to you.

It just needs to be something.


************************

And that something can be:



Lights up.

CAROL and REGGIE are hiding behind a bush.

CAROL: Pass the binoculars. Hurry!

REGGIE fumbles but eventually gets the binoculars from around his neck and hands them over to CAROL.

She looks out into the distance.

Then slowly passes the binoculars to REGGIE, and points.

REGGIE looks.  Then slowly lowers the binoculars and looks at CAROL

REGGIE: That animal can’t possibly be a bird.

Lights down.

The End



That’s always your escape hatch, every day.

That’s your base line.

Build on it.

Have fun.

Don’t stress.

Make an impulsive decision and run with it.

Breathe.

You’ve got the day (almost two days this time).

Just write.

(After you vote, of course :)

And take good care of yourselves, and each other.

Matthew A. Everett
Literary Director
Threshold Theater
(he/him/his) 

Deadline Amnesty for Voting (and other handy challenge tips)

Even more important than writing - VOTING in the election this year.

As I type this, my voting’s done - Minnesota (which Threshold Theater and I call home) is great with early voting options, so I reviewed my ballot online ahead of time and hit the early polling location for Minneapolis on the first day of early voting September 18th.

A great many of you live in states where early voting is already available.  Please take advantage of it.

However, if you haven’t voted by the time November 1st rolls around, the November Playwriting Challenge is not going to be standing in your way.

Any day from November 1st through November 3rd, if time spent voting prevents you from having the time you need to write, just let me know that and the noon Central Time deadline doesn’t apply to you for the day’s writing which is impacted by your going to the polls.

This will also apply the day after the election (November 4th), since I know the lines are liable to be longest on Election Day on November 3rd and that could snowball through that day’s writing, due by noon Central Time on November 4th.

So, please make your voices heard and VOTE.

Even though it’s the midterm election this year with all of the House and a chunk of the Senate up for grabs, some states also have governors up for election, and many cities have mayors and city councils on the ballot.  School boards and city and state government have an even greater impact on our day to day lives often than the federal government does.  Choose the people exercising power over you.  That’s your power.  Choose people who are going to address issues that matter to you.  I have.

Your Secretary of State’s website will have voting information for you.  For instance, here’s Minnesota’s where you can find out how to register to vote, where you can early vote or where your polling place is on Election Day, and what’s on your ballot:
https://www.sos.mn.gov/elections-voting/

Good national resources include:

I Will Vote - https://iwillvote.com/

Vote Save America - https://votesaveamerica.com/
VSA can help you figure out how to vote - https://votesaveamerica.com/be-a-voter/
Where you can volunteer to help campaigns - https://www.mobilize.us/vsa/?utm_source=web_vsa_menu
How you can donate to make the biggest impact - https://votesaveamerica.com/donate/
How to build community - https://votesaveamerica.com/action-hub/

In addition to getting out there and voting, because we call can get in our own way so easily, here’s some words of reassurance on the basics of this month, handy tips gleaned from the three previous years of the challenge:

Friendly Reminders - Answers To Common Questions:
(Follow the links to read me expounding on these items :)

Don’t Stress About Writing A Full Play

Don’t Stress About Format

Don’t Stress About Sticking To The Writing Prompt

No.  Really.  I Mean It.  Don’t Stress About Sticking To The Writing Prompt

Don’t Stress About Finishing An Idea (You Can Add Later)

Don’t Stress About “Succeeding” or “Failing”

Don’t Stress About What You’re Turning In Each Day

Don’t Stress about November 26th (however you recognize the holiday weekend)


Matthew A. Everett
Literary Director
Threshold Theater
(he/him/his) 

"Write. Find a way to keep alive and write. There is nothing else to say."
- James Baldwin

"Writing is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as the headlights, but you make the whole trip that way."
- E.L. Doctorow

"When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak."
- Audre Lorde

Don’t Stress about November 26th (however you recognize the holiday weekend)

This question always comes up eventually, so… about Thanksgiving (2026 edition):

Yes, there will still be a writing prompt.

However, the plan that week is to send you writing prompts in advance for the holiday weekend, so you can write ahead and bank them if you want.

The last few years, what I’ve done is sent out 
Tuesday and Wednesday’s prompts on Monday, 
Thursday and Friday’s prompts on Tuesday, 
and Saturday and Sunday’s prompts on Wednesday.

November 30th falls on the Monday after Thanksgiving this year, so that prompt will go out to everyone on Sunday of the holiday of weekend, and you’ll have all day Monday to write and turn it in by 12 noon Central Time on Tuesday, December 1st - and the challenge will be completed.

And, as always, there will be an escape hatch prompt that you can copy, paste and embellish as your submission for the day, such as…

“Lights up

A turkey runs for its life across the stage.

Lights down”

So don’t stress the holiday.  There are ways around it.