Writing Challenge #17 - Occam's Raisin

Hi folks

It'd sort of be theatrical malpractice of me not to mention that today (Thursday 11/16/23) is Give to the Max Day here in Minnesota, where every worthy cause you can think of asks for your support (it's actually part of the much larger Give to the Max month of November - so they don't destroy their servers on one day as they've done in the past.)

Threshold Theater is asking for support, too, of course.

If you're finding this month-long series of writing prompts useful to your process, and you can afford to toss us a little more than the original $15 you put in the kitty to take part in this challenge, Threshold certainly wouldn't say no :)

(If you can’t, no worries.  I know money’s tight, for writers more than most.)

And full disclosure: this is enlightened self-interest on my part.  Helping the theater raise money (which I'm doing through our grant writing work as well) means that we get just a bit closer to being able to stage a full production of my play "Spellbound” in 2024 or 2025.

So give if you can.  Queer theater makers thank you.

Here's the link: https://www.givemn.org/story/Kssucf


On another front, I was so focused yesterday (11/15) on the fact that we’d reached the halfway point in the November playwriting challenge that I almost forgot that - whoops! - the 15th of the month is also the day I need to pay bills *and* also the day I need to put in my availability for hours for the upcoming month at the second day job.

There are things other than playwriting, sadly.  Not more interesting things, but often necessary ones :)

So, while I’m checking off the mundane daily details…

Let’s get you that writing prompt…


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Challenge #17 - Occam's Raisin

Due: Saturday, November 18th, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)

Because I’m a masochist, I listen to a lot of podcasts about news and current events.

And because a lot of those repurpose live news broadcasts that aren’t edited after the fact, people periodically get their words mixed up.  Sometimes it annoys me, sometimes it’s quite funny.

An annoying one is when people say “antidote” when they mean “anecdote” or vice versa.

In real life, if an EMT or a doctor decided to tell you a funny story instead of giving you the medicine you need, that could be a problem - thought it might also make for an amusing scenario for a sketch, now that I think about it - the medic who has the best stories but forgets your IV drip.

The other day, I heard a legislator accidentally say the phrase:

Occam’s Raisin

And I nearly fell off my chair laughing.

They corrected themselves right away, so they knew they screwed up, and no one teased them about it, but I found it enormously amusing.

He meant to say Occam’s Razor

(The simplified version of that idea is that if you have two explanations for something, and one is simple while the other is complicated, the simplest explanation is probably the true one, or the “best” one.)

I’ve been thinking ever since, “What would Occam’s Raisin be?”


People also frequently slip and say:

Statue of limitations

Rather than “Statute of limitations”

One is a law describing the period of time in which you’re allowed to bring legal action about something - so don’t miss your window of opportunity to catch the criminal and make them pay.

I wonder what a Statue of limitations would look like, and how it works - is it a sentient sentinel of some sort?

Two other things that occur to me along the same lines are phrases that people use in political discussions:

The Overton Window (about shifting the boundaries of acceptable discourse)

Could one jump out of the Overton Window?

Godwin’s Law

Mike Godwin’s law of the internet in which, the longer an argument on the internet continues, the more likely at some point that one person will refer to the other person as a Nazi.

Lot of that going around.


So if any of those amuse or intrigue you, or make you think of some other malaprop or concept that you want to play around with, go forth and write something.


Or, as usual, ignore all this and just do whatever you want.

Just write something.

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If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can try 2021’s challenge #17:

Holidays

Or try 2022’s challenge #17:

Writing For Someone Else

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”

Don't Stress About What You're Turning In Each Day

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How to submit your work for Challenge #17

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 #17
(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 18th, 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 13 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 statue of limitations calls someone a Nazi.

The accused Nazi jumps out of the Overton Window.

But somehow the concept of Occam’s Raisin cushions their fall and they are saved.

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:
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