Challenge #10 - Cars

Hi folks

Just a bit of trivia as we move further into week two of the writing challenge:

After some initial shuffling, our final roster of writers participating was 47.

As of this morning, the number of writers submitting material for the day is 32.

But if you miss a day or two of writing, don’t beat yourself up about it.  Just write again the next day.





Let’s get you that writing prompt…


Challenge #10 - Cars

Due: Thursday, November 11th, 8am
(whenever 8am arrives in your time zone; we’ll do the math here in the Central Time zone, no worries :)

I used this one recently in my writing group and was pleasantly surprised by how much response it generated.  Often the writing challenge for my biweekly writing group is just a backup option in the corner, if someone’s not already working on something else, or needs a break from it, or is blocked for whatever reason, they can look at the writing prompt and go, “OK, I’ll try that this week, just for the heck of it.”  Most of the time, people are busy on other projects and completely ignore it, or it just doesn’t speak to them, which is fair.  I wasn’t thinking this one was any different, but a couple of different writers latched onto it and really ran with the concept - which was this…

I saw an expired call for scripts from a theater out in Pocatello, Idaho that was looking for scripts set in and around cars, with a suggestion that the audience would sit in the back seat, and the actors in the front seat.  And I just queried the group, what would you do with that assignment?

For example, one writer had the concept that a camper/mobile home style of vehicle, with the actor as driver and the audience clustered in the back of the vehicle, would attempt to pull into a drive-in movie theater, but the driver would have the audience hide and be very quiet, and they would try to convince the ticket seller that it was just the one person seeing the movie, when in fact they were sneaking in a whole group.  And this was compounded by the fact that a second camper and driver were doing the same thing as part of a coordinated effort, and the other half of the audience would be in their camper, and they communicated between the two vehicles by walkie talkie or CB radio.  It was quite the elaborate set up but a delightful bit of mobile theater.

Another writer had a more conventional car scenario, with the audience in the back seat, and the Uber/Lyft driver in the front seat, along with the ghost of his dead mother, who was riding shotgun next to him, visiting from the afterlife because she was worried about his life of work.  And in the process we got a glimpse into their relationship, the driver’s life, and the mom’s afterlife, with the captive audience of their no doubt increasingly worried passengers.

You can have your characters standing outside a car having a conversation, you can have your characters washing a car, perhaps stashing one of them in the trunk - the type of motor vehicles and scenarios are endless.

Give it a try.




How to submit your work for Challenge #10

You have options.  They are:

Save your script as a PDF or Word Doc and send as an attachment to an email sent to ThresholdWritingChallenge@gmail.com

OR

Copy and past your script in the body of an email and send it to ThresholdWritingChallenge@gmail.com

OR

Post your script online (as a Google doc, or in a blog post, on your own personal website, etc.) - email a link to this script to ThresholdWritingChallenge@gmail.com
(If you’re going to Google doc route, just make sure to have the document public, or give permissions to our email address to open it)

When emailing us, make the subject line of your email - Challenge #10
(That just helps us sort through the email more quickly)
(Or, you know, just reply to this email if you want :)

OR

Post the link for the online document option above in the comments section on this very blog post for this challenge on our writing challenge blog.



Again, this is: Due: Thursday, November 11th, 8am
(whenever 8am arrives in your time zone; we’ll do the math here in the Central Time zone, no worries :)

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 8am on Thursday to write if you need it.  When you’re done, you’re done.

A friendly reminder - you don’t have to write to the prompts if they don’t inspire you.  You can ignore them and just write whatever you want, just as long as you’re writing (that’s the main thing, not what you write)

Someone had a good question about the overall goal of the month, are we supposed to write a full-length play, or two one-act plays, etc.?  The short answer is no (unless you want to).  The longer answer is here if you’re curious.

For those concerned about format, we’re pretty liberal about that, too - just as long as it’s legible and in English.  More on that here.

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 20 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 make sense to you.

It just needs to be something.

And that something can be:

Lights up.

Two characters have a heartfelt discussion over the hood of a car by moonlight, not wanting to say goodbye.

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 (and a half).

Just write.