Hi folks,
27 down, 3 to go!
We’ve nearly reached the end of November. Well done, everybody!
We started with 57 writers, 54 of whom were regularly turning in some pages in those first couple of days. Over the last three weeks, that number has slowly diminished but we have never dropped below 41, and are often much higher than that in daily submissions.
For comparison, the first year of the challenge in 2021 we had 47 writers, last year we had 40. As of November 25th in those years, they were down to regular submissions from 31 writers the first year, and just 23 writers last year. The first year they started with 44 writers regularly turning in work, and last year they started with 34.
You’ve all already turned in more pieces of writing as of right now than either of the first two groups of writers did in the whole month of November - 1,206 (and counting…) this year, vs. 1,021 script bits the first year, and 812 last year.
So now I understand a little better why I’ve had such a hard time keeping up with you all this year. There’s just been so many more writers doing so much more writing. And that’s what we want.
So Yay! But also, Phew!
The total page count at the moment is over 3,400, which is more than 28 full-length plays’ worth of pages of dialogue so, nicely done, everybody.
That page count in progress has already more than eclipsed last year’s total pages so, wow. Hasn’t passed year one yet but we have a few days left, we might get there as well.
And it’s not about the quantity so much as it’s just the habit of regularly writing that we wanted everyone to get into over the course of the month. The numbers are just a reflection of the practice, for the most basic of comparisons.
Good job, one and all!
Always remember, if you miss one day, don’t beat yourself up, just write again the next day.
Let’s get you that writing prompt…
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Challenge #28 - Contronyms
Due: Wednesday, November 29th, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)
The internet knows I like weird English language rules, and so it serves me up random suggestions of things to read on the topic on a regular basis. Just last week, I was pointed to an article by Judith Herman on Mental Floss about contronyms, which are words that are their own opposites.
The contronym (also spelled “contranym”) goes by many names, including auto-antonym, antagonym, enantiodrome, self-antonym, antilogy and Janus word (from the Roman god of beginnings and endings, often depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions)
For instance:
SANCTION (via French, from Latin sanctio(n-), from sancire ‘ratify,’) can mean "give official permission or approval for (an action)" or conversely, "impose a penalty on."
OVERSIGHT is the noun form of two verbs with contrary meanings, “oversee” and “overlook.” Oversee, from Old English ofersēon ("look at from above") means "supervise" (medieval Latin for the same thing: super-, "over" plus videre, "to see.") Overlook usually means the opposite: "to fail to see or observe; to pass over without noticing; to disregard, ignore."
Judith proposed the sentence:
“Because of the agency’s oversight, the corporation’s behavior was sanctioned.”
Does that mean, "Because the agency oversaw the company’s behavior, they imposed a penalty for some transgression,"
or does it mean, "Because the agency was inattentive, they overlooked the misbehavior and gave it their approval by default"?
LEFT can mean either remaining or departed. If the gentlemen have withdrawn to the drawing room for after-dinner cigars, who’s left? (The gentlemen have left and the ladies are left.)
DUST, along with the next two words, is a noun turned into a verb meaning either to add or to remove the thing in question. Only the context will tell you which it is. When you dust are you applying dust or removing it? It depends whether you’re dusting the crops or the furniture.
SEED can also go either way. If you seed the lawn you add seeds, but if you seed a tomato you remove them.
STONE is another verb to use with caution. You can stone some peaches, but please don’t stone your neighbor (even if he says he likes to get stoned).
TRIM as a verb predates the noun, but it can also mean either adding or taking away. Arising from an Old English word meaning "to make firm or strong; to settle, arrange," trim came to mean "to prepare, make ready." Depending on who or what was being readied, it could mean either of two contradictory things: "to decorate something with ribbons, laces, or the like to give it a finished appearance" or "to cut off the outgrowths or irregularities of." And the context doesn’t always make it clear. If you’re trimming the tree are you using tinsel or a chain saw?
CLEAVE can be cleaved into two homographs, words with different origins that end up spelled the same. Cleave, meaning "to cling to or adhere," comes from an Old English word that took the forms cleofian, clifian, or clīfan. Cleave, with the contrary meaning "to split or sever (something)"—as you might do with a cleaver—comes from a different Old English word, clēofan. The past participle has taken various forms: cloven, which survives in the phrase “cloven hoof,” “cleft,” as in a “cleft palate” or “cleaved.”
RESIGN works as a contronym in writing. This time we have homographs, but not homophones. Resign, meaning "to quit," is spelled the same as resign, meaning "to sign up again," but it’s pronounced differently.
FAST can mean "moving rapidly," as in running fast, or "fixed, unmoving," as in holding fast. If colors are fast they will not run. The meaning "firm, steadfast" came first; the adverb took on the sense "strongly, vigorously," which evolved into "quickly," a meaning that spread to the adjective.
OFF means "deactivated," as in to turn off, but also "activated," as in the alarm went off.
WEATHER can mean "to withstand or come safely through" (as in the company weathered the recession) or it can mean "to be worn away" (the rock was weathered).
SCREEN can mean to show (a movie) or to hide (an unsightly view).
HELP means "assist," unless you can’t help doing something, when it means "prevent."
CLIP can mean "to bind together" or "to separate." You clip sheets of paper to together or separate part of a page by clipping something out. Clip is a pair of homographs, words with different origins spelled the same. Old English clyppan, which means "to clasp with the arms, embrace, hug," led to our current meaning, "to hold together with a clasp." The other clip, "to cut or snip (a part) away," is from Old Norse klippa, which may come from the sound of a shears.
CONTINUE usually means to persist in doing something, but as a legal term it means stop a proceeding temporarily.
FIGHT WITH can be interpreted three ways. “He fought with his mother-in-law” could mean "They argued," "They served together in the war," or "He used the old battle-ax as a weapon." (Thanks to linguistics professor Robert Hertz for this idea.)
FLOG, meaning "to punish by caning or whipping," shows up in school slang of the 17th century, but now it can have the contrary meaning, "to promote persistently," as in “flogging a new book.” Perhaps that meaning arose from the sense "to urge (a horse, etc.) forward by whipping," which grew out of the earliest meaning.
GO means "to proceed," but also "give out or fail," i.e., “This car could really go until it started to go.”
HOLD UP can mean "to support" or "to hinder": “What a friend! When I’m struggling to get on my feet, he’s always there to hold me up.”
OUT can mean "visible" or "invisible." For example, “It’s a good thing the full moon was out when the lights went out.”
OUT OF means "outside" or "inside": “I hardly get out of the house because I work out of my home.”
B**CH can derisively refer to a woman who is considered overly aggressive or domineering, or it can refer to someone passive or submissive.
PEER is a person of equal status (as in a jury of one’s peers), but some peers are more equal than others, like the members of the peerage, the British or Irish nobility.
TOSS OUT could be either "to suggest" or "to discard": “I decided to toss out the idea.”
The article also recommends checking out the Daily Writing Tips website for a list of even more options, including:
Apology: A statement of contrition for an action, or a defense of one
Aught: All, or nothing
Bill: A payment, or an invoice for payment
Bolt: To secure, or to flee
Bound: Heading to a destination, or restrained from movement
Buckle: To connect, or to break or collapse
Consult: To offer advice, or to obtain it
Custom: A common practice, or a special treatment
Dike: A wall to prevent flooding, or a ditch
Discursive: Moving in an orderly fashion among topics, or proceeding aimlessly in a discussion
Dollop: A large amount (British English), or a small amount
Enjoin: To impose, or to prohibit
Fine: Excellent, or acceptable or good enough
Finished: Completed, or ended or destroyed
First degree: Most severe in the case of a murder charge, or least severe in reference to a burn
Fix: To repair, or to castrate
Garnish: To furnish, as with food preparation, or to take away, as with wages
Give out: To provide, or to stop because of a lack of supply
Grade: A degree of slope, or a horizontal line or position
Handicap: An advantage provided to ensure equality, or a disadvantage that prevents equal achievement
Lease: To offer property for rent, or to hold such property
Let: Allowed, or hindered
Liege: A feudal lord, or a vassal
Literally: Actually, or virtually
Mean: Average or stingy, or excellent
Model: An exemplar, or a copy
Overlook: To supervise, or to neglect
Presently: Now, or soon
Put out: Extinguish, or generate
Puzzle: A problem, or to solve one
Quantum: Significantly large, or a minuscule part
Quiddity: Essence, or a trifling point of contention
Quite: Rather (as a qualifying modifier), or completely
Ravel: To entangle, or to disentangle
Refrain: To desist from doing something, or to repeat
Rent: To purchase use of something, or to sell use
Rock: An immobile mass of stone or figuratively similar phenomenon, or a shaking or unsettling movement or action
Sanguine: Confidently cheerful, or bloodthirsty
Scan: To peruse, or to glance
Shop: To patronize a business in order to purchase something, or to sell something
Skin: To cover, or to remove
Skinned: Covered with skin, or with the skin removed
Splice: To join, or to separate
Stakeholder: One who has a stake in an enterprise, or a bystander who holds the stake for those placing a bet
Strike: To hit, or to miss in an attempt to hit
Table: To propose (in British English), or to set aside
Temper: To soften, or to strengthen
Transparent: Invisible, or obvious
Trip: A journey, or a stumble
Unbending: Rigid, or relaxing
Variety: A particular type, or many types
Wear: To endure, or to deteriorate
Wind up: To end, or to start up
These are fun words for titles, of course. But they’re also just fun ideas to get you thinking about two sides of something and what kind of plot or characters might arise from contemplating such things.
Play around with contronyms.
Or don’t. Whatever you like, do that.
Just write.
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If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can try 2021’s challenge #28:
Companion Plays
Or try 2022’s challenge #28
Atmosphere
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 :)
************************************
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 “Succeeding” or “Failing”
Don't Stress About What You're Turning In Each Day
***********************************
How to submit your work for Challenge #28
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 #28
(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 29th, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)
**************************************
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 2
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.
It is transparent how transparent the ghost is in the light of day.
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
Coming Soon:
The
video recording of 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. 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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