Hi folks
Just wanted to say everybody’s doing great.
(In fact, you’re doing so great that I’m still processing all the many script bits that you’re sending to me. I should have some fun statistics soon, but I had both day jobs yesterday so free time was limited.)
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.
And if you aren’t feeling it one day here in November, remember that at the end of every one of these emails 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.
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.
And now, let’s get you that writing prompt…
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Challenge #5 - “This Guy Told Me He Was A Centaur…”
Due: Sunday, November 6th, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)
Back when I was in grad school, I was dating this guy for a while who sort of had his own little personal soap opera trailing behind him. Not exactly a tragic backstory or anything, no one had died, but he married too young (before he realized he was gay), he and his wife had a couple of daughters, then his wife caught him in bed with another man, divorce, no shared custody of the kids just occasional visitation rights, etc.
Then there was the centaur.
I don’t recall exactly how this line of conversation came up but the guy shared with me that once he spent the night with a man who was very hairy and muscular and this one-night-stand fellow told my friend that he was a centaur.
Of course I found this amusing. But my friend wasn’t telling this story as a joke.
“No, he was serious. He was a centaur. And I believed him.”
O-kay then…
In later years, when we reconnected on the internet, one of the first things this guy did was to not exactly apologize, but he did offer by way of explanation that during our time together he wasn’t exactly in the best mental and emotional state.
This wasn’t because of the centaur story (it didn’t come up in our present day conversations) but it could be viewed as providing some context.
Recently, for Halloween season, one of the hosts of The View admitted to her co-hosts that in the past she has had sex with ghosts.
So, weird dating stories…
They could be yours, they could be someone else’s.
No one supernatural or mythological needs to be involved, unless you want them to be.
Just figured I’d use that story to get the ball rolling.
Use whatever you find interesting as a jumping off point and get writing.
Or ignore me and write something completely different.
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If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can try 2021’s challenge #5:
Random Phrase Generator
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
Don’t Forget To Vote: Tuesday, November 8th (or If You Can, By All Means Vote Early)
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 #5
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 #5
(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 6th, 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.
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 Sunday 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 make sense to you.
It just needs to be something.
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And that something can be:
Lights up.
A unicorn walks on stage.
They wink at the audience.
They exit.
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
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) -
Support Threshold Theater on Give to the Max Day, November 17th
(Or feel free to give early, any time between November 1st through 16th)
Here's the link: https://www.givemn.org/story/Kssucf
"Write. Find a way to keep alive and write. There is nothing else to say."
- James Baldwin
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