Hi folks
As a random bit of trivia on your collective writing output…
As of when I logged out of the email inbox last night:
You all have turned in over 480 bits of script
Totally more than 1,600 pages
Which is the equivalent of more than 13 full-length plays.
Well done, everybody!
Keep it going!
Oh, and a random update:
A couple of folks over the last couple of days messaged that they needed me to resend some of the prompts to them.
Which I did, but I also reminded them, as I shall remind you all now, that if you ever misplace a prompt email, the prompts all exist in biog form on the Threshold November Playwriting Challenge blog:
https://thresholdwritingchallenge.blogspot.com/
So you can always find them there.
And yes, I can still send it to you as well - but given that my day job is going through some transitions these days, my time on the internet for things other than work is limited for much of the day. If you don’t want to wait on me, there’s ways to find the prompts so you don’t have to.
Let’s get you that writing prompt…
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Challenge #19 - Frogs
Due: Sunday, November 20th, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)
In early November pre-election there was only one thread on Twitter which caught my attention that didn’t count as doom scrolling for a change as we waited for the final votes to be cast and counted - and so I share that oddity here for potential inspiration.
The Twitter thread is from Chuck Wendig…
“I was at the grocery store yesterday. Having checked out, I was still bagging my stuff, and the old lady now checking out was noodling around one of those aisle-baskets full of these yarn tchotchkes, and she said the following: "I should buy one. I like to put hats on frogs."
Naturally, at this point, my ears perked up.
She wasn't talking to me -- she was speaking to the cashier, a young woman, maybe early 20s, who said: "I'm sorry?"
It was the kind of "I'm sorry?" that politely pretends to sound like, "Oh, I didn't hear you," but you also know it really means, "Oh, yeah, no, I heard you, but I need some clarifications *immediately.*"
And the old lady reiterated:
"I like to put hats on frogs."
Period, end of sentence.
Blink, blink.
She was definitely leaving a trail of narrative breadcrumbs, and the cashier seemed like maybe she wasn't going to follow them when she said, "Oh, okay." But then you could see the fishhook sink deep and she said, "Wait, what?"
The old lady then explained: "I get a lot of frogs and toads who visit my kitchen window. And I like to give them little hats." Then she pulls up her phone, and begins to scroll through photos of, sure enough
toads
and
frogs
in
little
hats
I saw a big bumpy toad in a cartoonish conical witch hat. I saw some kind of sleek green frog in a cowboy hat. They were, as described, sitting on her window sill.
The casher was fucking delighted.
I'm sure there's something Problematic about this lady putting hats on frogs ("YOU GAVE THEM HAT FUNGUS" or "NOW THEY'RE SAD BECAUSE THEY CANNOT PAY YOU FOR THE TINY HATS, WHICH IS THE WAY OF FROGS AND TOADS, THEY MUST PAY THEIR DEBTS OR THEY GO INTO THE FOG AND DIE"), I dunno.
But I just found this very weird and very nice. I don't know why it the frogs and toads visit her in this way. Perhaps she is an Amphibian Witch. I dunno. But she said she put hats on frogs, and sure enough, this lady put some goddamn hats on some goddamn frogs.
Anyway, Twitter is a terrible hell-realm, but I thought this was nice, so here I am to share it.”
I also found it very weird and very nice.
Also, I offer this quote from a member of my writing group at our last meeting, with no context - it’s not from a play. It’s from our discussion in reality after reading the scenes for the night, “The basement is pretty much full of frogs.”
And that reference to Aimee Mann songs and the movie Magnolia a few posts ago reminded me of something else from that film. The plague of frogs raining from the sky in the movie Magnolia is still one of the weirder things I’ve seen happen in major studio release.
What very weird and very nice things can you think of that you’d like to put on stage - frogs or no frogs?
Happy writing!
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If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can try 2021’s challenge #19:
Random Phrase Generator part 3
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 :)
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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 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 Thanksgiving
Don’t Stress About “Succeeding” or “Failing”
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How to submit your work for Challenge #19
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 paste 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 #19
(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 very challenge on the writing
challenge blog below
Again, this is: Due: Sunday, November 20th, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)
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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.
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 Saturday 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 11 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.
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And that something can be:
Lights up.
A person walks onstage.
They look up.
A frog falls on their face.
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.
Matthew A. Everett
Literary Director
Threshold Theater
(he/him/his)
Coming Up:
Threshold Theater’s New Play Reading Series
A reading of “Leviathan” by Bethany Dickens Assaf
Saturday, November 19, 2022 - 7pm - TONIGHT!
The Black Hart of Saint Paul - 1415 University Avenue West in St. Paul
Our video recording of our third live play reading in the New Play Reading series, Sam Walsh's "The Visible," is up on our YouTube channel (available to stream through the end of November)
"Write. Find a way to keep alive and write. There is nothing else to say."
- James Baldwin
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