Monday, November 28, 2022

Writing Challenge #29 - Messages After You're Gone

Hi folks


28 down, 2 to go!

We’ve nearly reached the end of November, folks.

Hang in there and keep on writing :)

Someone in my writing group (who shall remain nameless) has been… pestering is a negative word so let’s just say enthusiastically and repeatedly suggesting… that “you should let all those writers know about the writing group and see if they might be interested in attending.”

Which isn’t a bad idea.

But I did remind the person that the majority of the writers doing the challenge this year aren’t local, and are situated in states all across the USA, plus one in Canada.  So the time zones don’t always perfectly align.

In our time being fully online last year, we had a number of people in different states sitting in - but sometimes it was challenging because they were either an hour ahead or behind of the Central Time zone meeting hours of 7pm to 9pm.  Still, we did make it work.  Even now, in hybrid mode, with some folks meeting in person, there’s still a number of (even local) people who prefer or need to attend via video conference on the computer.  So we have the capability of including folks wherever there’s internet connectivity.  (Sadly our friend who just started a graduate program in Norway isn’t going to be able to join us - it’s always the middle of the night for her when we meet.  Less extreme time zone differences may be workable.)

Here’s an overview of how the group works (from another blog of mine)

If you think you might be interested, just drop me a note.

Now, let’s get you that writing prompt…


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Challenge #29 - Messages After You’re Gone

Due: Wednesday, November 30th, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)




Back in grad school, in the early 1990s (I’m carbon-dating myself at this point), I was dating a guy named Peter.

Things were going well, and then Peter just disappeared, for a couple of weeks.

And when he returned, he told me he was HIV+.

I got the necessary tests and was in the clear.

But back in the early 1990s, HIV and AIDS were still considered potentially fatal, without a lot of good options for treatment.

So Peter disappeared just to get away from everything and figure out what he was going to do.

Being in a relationship was not one of those things, so we transitioned to being friends.

And Peter outlasted all the most dire outcomes that befell a lot of people in those days.

In fact he lived so long (and still may be for all I know), that we lost touch.

But for the longest time we stayed connected, and part of why was that Peter said he needed to keep track of me for a particular reason.

He said he’d written me a letter that he’d instructed his lawyer to send to me when he died.  (One of the many things he’d done right after finding out he was positive was to get a will drafted up, get his affairs in order, all of which turned out to thankfully be many, many decades premature.)

Peter didn’t tell me why he’d written me a letter.  Or what it was about.  Or why he couldn’t just give it to me now, rather than wait until after he was dead.

(Yes, it’s a bit melodramatic, and an overused trope in storytelling - messages from beyond the grave - but… that’s what happened.)

I was the last person he was involved with before he found out he had HIV.  But I was hardly the only person he was with, before or since.

Hadn’t thought about it in a while, but I’ve always been curious about that letter.

I suppose now, I may never know.

It’s interesting to speculate, though.

If you were arranging to have a message relayed to someone after you died, who would it be and why, and what would it say?

Extrapolate out from that and give this situation, either being on the sending or receiving end of such a message, to a character in a play.

What might grow out of such a premise?  Fool around with that for a bit.  And remember, it needn't be grim, it could just as easily be ridiculous.

Or, as ever, write whatever you like.

Just write.  Something.

Just two days more to the end of our challenge marathon.


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If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can try 2021’s challenge #29:

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times, and The Future

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 “Succeeding” or “Failing”


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How to submit your work for Challenge #29

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 #29
(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: Wednesday, November 30th, 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 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 one more day 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 opens up a message.

It’s from someone they know.

But that person is dead.

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

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