Writing Challenge #21 - Flower People

Hi folks,

(1 of 2)

Yes, I’m going to send you two prompts a day for the next three days, so you have all the prompts early to take you through the holiday weekend.  That way, if you want to write extra ahead of time and bank it, you can do that.

A final reminder for the morning this goes out, Monday 11/20:
If you’re local to the Twin Cities, Threshold Theater is doing the latest in our live series of new play readings. All the details of time and location are in the signature block at the end of this message/blog post. As all good LGBTQ+ theater companies do, we begin our new season with Mediocre Heterosexual Sex (which is the title of a play by Madison Wetzell).  See below for a synopsis :)

This prompt below is the one you would be writing Tuesday to be turned in on Wednesday by noon Central Time, but just label your email for prompt 21 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.

Happy writing to you all, in the meantime.

Let’s get you that first writing prompt…


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Challenge #21 - Flower People

Due: Wednesday, November 22nd, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)



Working in the Guthrie Box Office, you see all kinds of great names on the tickets waiting for people to arrive and pick up to enable them to go and see the show, and also on the caller ID that pops up on the phone system and in the database of current and past patrons.  It’s a gold mine of potential character names.

For instance, my favorite accidental drag queen name is:
Anita Johnson

The other night I saw tickets for someone with the first name of

Thistle

And that got me to thinking that there are a lot of flower and plant names used for people, some more frequently that others.

For example:
Rose
Lily
Ivy
Poppy
Holly
Fern
Violet
Iris
Daisy
Jasmine
Rue
Myrtle
Rosemary
Willow
Sage
Basil
Angelica

And that got me to thinking - lots of flowers and other plants are freighted with symbolic and metaphorical meaning:

Flower Meanings

Birth Flowers By Month

Sometimes it varies depending on where you are.  For instance, our friend Thistle:
In Celtic cultures, thistle is a symbol of devotion, bravery, determination and strength
In a certain region of France it’s used for protection
In Romania, it’s a good luck charm
In pagan cultures, it’s believed to have magical properties

That’s a name with a lot of fun uses and directions you can go in.

Sometimes the meaning can vary depending on the color of the flower.  Different color roses mean different things (red, pink, yellow, white, dark crimson), so do different varieties of lily.

A college friend of my mother’s named her daughter Jonquil - symbolic of forgiveness, a desire for affections to be reciprocated, creativity, success, rebirth and renewal

One meaning of a Daisy is “I’ll never tell”

A Fern can symbolize magic, fascination, and secret bonds of love.

I could honestly go down this rabbit hole for hours so I’ll stop now :)

The internet is a wealth of fun flower and plant research that can repurposed into character names, personalities and plot lines.


On a side note related to unusual names, the credits for podcasts offer up some fun ones at times.

How about Musty Aziz?

Or Jazzy Marine?

Or, as always, ignore the prompt entirely and write whatever you want.

Just write.


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If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can try 2021’s challenge #21:

Technology Gone Awry

Or try 2022’s challenge #21

Mystery Grilled Cheese Sandwich

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 #21

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 #21
(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: Tuesday, November 22nd, 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 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 9 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.

Rose is handed a rose.

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 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. 

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

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