Writing Challenge #25 - Fun With Homophones

Hi folks

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This prompt is the one you would be writing Friday to be turned in on Saturday by noon Central Time, but just label your email for prompt 25 and you can turn it early and I’ll credit it ahead.

And of course, you can always use the mini-play at the bottom of the email and blog post as an escape hatch for the day’s writing.

Let’s get you that writing prompt…


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Challenge #25 - Fun With Homophones

Due: Saturday, November 26th, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)



You may have noticed I’m trying to keep a lot of these holiday week ones light and playful, because we’ve all got a lot on our plates (no pun intended).  So I don’t want to add any more drama than you care to add to the proceedings

Go as light or as dark as you want, depending on what’s inspiring you.

Today’s prompt comes from some words and phrases that have gotten stuck in my head because English is a weird language where things that sound the same are spelled differently and have completely different meanings.  So, indulge me in these two bits of silliness and then see what it conjures in your mind for something to play with.  Homophones abound (and yes, I had to look that up - words that sound alike but have different meaning or spelling - and yes, homophone is a fun word to bring up in the context of a queer theater company)

And there’s another one - I see the word homophone and I think “homo phone” - what would a homo phone do, or be good for?

But originally I was ruminating on the word “vigilante” - which was coming up a lot around election time.  And I was splitting it up and thinking “vigil auntie” or a group of “vigil aunties” - a group of older women you do not want to mess with.  Or perhaps, going the other way, they are responsible for vigils - a more contemplative way to go picking that word apart.

It reminded me, by way of example, of a satirical sketch series they did back in grad school called “222 York Street” (and that’s as much name dropping as I’m going to do here). Every week there’d be a riff on a different member of the faculty or staff at the school - all good-natured ribbing in a late night cabaret setting, done with a lot of love. One week they featured an actor playing the school librarian, Pam.  But she was a mercenary for hire who went by the code name “Pambo” (as opposed to Rambo).  She was out to rid the word of people who didn’t properly respect the majesty of the library collection. (Now, sadly, I may have to explain a joke, which tends to kill it.  In the pre- and early internet times - yes, I’m extremely old - people went to libraries a lot more often to do their research and discover new things to read.  And in order to check out materials and take them home with you, you needed a library card.) Pambo’s catch phrase before she got out her (toy) gun and blew people away was “Card Expired!”  It is a testament to the inspired silliness of that premise that I have forgotten a great many things from my time at that school, but I still remember Pambo and “Card Expired!”  Or perhaps my brain is just not very good at prioritizing anymore.

So, “vigil aunties”  - not strictly a homophone, more like cracking a word in half.

This other one is more a homophone - the difference between poll and pole.

Again, around election time, I kept hearing the phrase “working the polls” a lot, and that always reminds me of a Get Out The Vote campaign during the 2020 election where a bunch of strippers put out a video encouraging people to “get their booty to the polls” while they were working a stripper pole.  The women dressed for a more PG-13 kind of audience but they still got their point across.  It was very clever and amusing and certainly a different way of encouraging civic participation.  Desperate times calling for desperate measures and all that.

So, “working the polls” vs. “working the poles” - SO many politicians I do not want to see anywhere near a pole but… it’s a funny thought.

Play with words that sound alike but are very different, however you like.

Or, as always, just ignore me, write whatever you want, and turn it in by the deadline.

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If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can try 2021’s challenge #25:

Unstageable

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 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 Thanksgiving

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

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How to submit your work for Challenge #25

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 #25
(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: Saturday, November 26th, 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 5 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 cranberry runs for its life across the stage.

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)

Now Playing:
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)

Coming Soon:
The video recording of our fourth live play reading in the New Play Reading series, Bethany Dickens Assaf’s “Leviathan,” will be swapping places with “The Visible” on our YouTube channel in late November, early December

Coming Up:
Threshold Theater’s New Play Reading Series
A reading of “Zero State” by Allison Moon
Monday, March 13, 2023 - 7pm
The Black Hart of Saint Paul - 1415 University Avenue West in St. Paul


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