Hi folks
The two day jobs currently still have me a bit behind on processing all your email submissions, but keep ‘em coming!
(Election season amnesty is over, that 12 noon Central Time deadline each day is back now that the 6th, 7th and 8th are behind us :)
Data on your first week of playwriting coming soon.
For now, let’s get you that writing prompt…
(And I’ll get back to those emails…)
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Challenge #10 - Inevitable
Due: Saturday, November 11th, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)
Here’s another one from Nick Mrozek, founder and technical director:
Theme: Accepting the inevitable
Now, this doesn’t need to be a dire outcome.
It could just as easily be that people are destined to BE together, not just that they are destined NOT to be together.
It could just as easily be that someone is bound to win, not just bound to lose.
It could just as easily be the unexpected but wonderful news that someone is going live a bit longer, not just that death comes for us all.
But losing also makes for great stories
And breakups also make for great stories
I’m not a fan of nihilism or fatalism, but it works for some folks in their writing. If that’s your jam, go for it.
Me, I’m still trying to square the notion of inevitability and how I deal with it.
For instance, it’s inevitable (God willing) that my goddaughter will grow up, graduate from high school, and head off to college somewhere. My time being able to visit her and her family all in one place at the same time is going to get harder to come by, and the logistics of staying in touch with her are going to get trickier. But overall, these are good things. I want her to grow up, find her way in the world. But it really does feel like not that long ago that I met her for the first time, at nine months old, at her baptism, and she was just learning to walk - 14 years ago. If she’s getting older, I’m getting older. Time.
It was also inevitable that once my mother was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor that it wasn’t a matter of IF she was going to die in the next twelve months, it was a matter of WHEN she was going to die in the next twelve months. And a blood clot took her out before the brain tumor could so… much sooner than expected. She was spared a lot of suffering that would have happened later, and we got started grieving about six months ahead of schedule so… inevitable. Not a fun concept.
What do you think of when you hear the word “inevitable”?
Anything intrigue you enough to write about it?
Go forth and write.
Or, as always, just ignore me and go write something else.
Because the 12 noon deadline is also inevitable :)
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If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can try 2021’s challenge #10:
Cars
Or try 2022’s challenge #10:
Food Vs. Humans
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”
Don't Stress About What You're Turning In Each Day
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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 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 #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 very challenge on the writing
challenge blog below
Again, this is: Due: Saturday, November 11th, 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 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.
The inevitable (whatever that means) arrives.
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)
The video trailer for Threshold Theater's first virtual play reading in the New Play Reading series (back in May/June 2021), our reading of “Spellbound” by Matthew A. Everett - Thanks to his mischievous friend Jeffrey, who’s begun dabbling in witchcraft, Micah has accidentally dosed his best friend Auggie with a love potion. Which might be fine, if Auggie wasn’t straight, and married, or if Auggie’s wife Sarah wasn’t pregnant, or a practicing witch. With the help of Duncan, who runs the local metaphysical supply store, the race is on to whip up the antidote before anyone does something they’ll regret. Now on our YouTube channel
Support Threshold Theater on Give to the Max Day, November 16th
(Or feel free to give early, any time between November 1st through 15th)
Here's the link: https://www.givemn.org/story/Kssucf
Coming Monday, November 20, 2023 at 7pm:
If you’re local in the Twin Cities in Minnesota, come and join us for Threshold Theater's
seventh live play reading in the New Play Reading series. Like all good
LGBTQ+ theater companies, we begin our new season of programming with
"Mediocre Heterosexual Sex" - which is a play by Madison Wetzell.
Location: The Black Hart of Saint Paul
- 1415 University Avenue West, St. Paul, MN - Doors at 6:30pm, Reading
begins at 7pm, Audience discussion to follow the reading -
About the
play: Four hours after her girlfriend dumps her, Erin switches her
Tinder setting to dudes because she hates herself. She quickly meets
Aaron, who is straight, conveniently nearby, and only too happy to
indulge her masochistic fantasies. To translate this deeply ambivalent
first hetero experience, Erin seeks the advice of the only straight
people she knows, a couple in a Dominant/submissive relationship. A
vexed exploration of gender, sex, power, and kink.
Coming Spring 2024:
“4Play with Threshold Theater”
Dates and venue still TBA
Featuring:
Amsterdam, by Collette Cullen
Bluetooth, by Liz Dooley
Hurry Up and Wail, by Anna Ralls
Just for Context, by Bethany Dickens Assaf
The Weird Ellen Prom Queen Trendsetters, by Elizabeth Shannon
Coming for Pride Month 2024
Monday, June 3, 2024
Monster Girls at Sunshine Donuts, by Dani Herd
A
vampire, a werewolf, and a Frankenstein's monster walk into a doughnut
shop... Meet Louise, Tally, and Elsie: the crew behind Sunshine
Doughnuts! The ghouls have fallen into a pretty pleasant spooky routine
for themselves; pouring coffee, baking doughnuts, arguing over
Scooby-Doo cartoons, having crushes on their regulars. Along comes an
unexpected late night visitor to throw everything into question.
Sometimes it really sucks how much your past can come back to bite you!
"Write. Find a way to keep alive and write. There is nothing else to say."
- James Baldwin
"Writing is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as the headlights, but you make the whole trip that way."
- E.L. Doctorow
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