Writing Challenge #17 - The Gilded Lily (Write Nov. 17)

Hi folks

Delayed today by a morning shift for the matinee showings at the second job at the Guthrie, and since it’s “Christmas Carol” season already, there wasn’t any downtime for anything else this shift.  We were quite full of a great many people who needed attentions and problems solved.  Against all odds, we didn’t ruin anyone’s Christmas today, but it was touch and go there for a while.

Now that I have dispensed with Christmas for the day, I can return again to November, and its many writing challenges.

So without further delay, let’s get you that writing prompt…


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Challenge #17 - The Gilded Lily

Write Nov. 17th - or earlier if you like
Due: Monday, November 18th, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)


Several weeks back, returning to my car after a morning run, I saw this intriguing two-story building - one of those boxy, stone/stucco numbers in Minneapolis that was built with the purpose not of being one home but rather of being split up into four apartments, two on the first floor, two on the second.  And as many such buildings here do, it had a name. Now, because of the faded and flaking orange and yellow trim, it was hard to make out the name of the building at first, but when I looked closer, I could finally see:

The Gilded Lily

Which, given its general sad state of disrepair, was kind of a delightful irony.

Also a number of weeks ago, someone spray painted on the running path (people are always spray painting on the running path, or the bridges and archways that cross over it - sometimes it’s as simple as putting little devil horns on the universal “walking person” icon the defines the running path, as opposed to the logo of a bicycle to designate the bike path).  This time it was a message, scrunched down so it just fit in the running path and didn’t cross over to the bicycle path (probably because runners and dog walkers are the only ones slow enough to catch a message as they pass over it or by it)

Every-
thing is
tempo
rary

(Except spray paint on blacktop, I guess - as the message is still there)

This put me in mind of a young man named Zach who put on a show in the Minnesota Fringe Festival a number of years ago, creating a whole world out of nothing more than cardboard.  He re-christened himself Leo when he moved away to Chicago.  When he died young, quite unexpectedly, his girlfriend at the time, who was also an artist, kept the artwork he created and then created her own artwork on top of and in conjunction with his works.  And then when she died, also unexpectedly, friends and family tried to reclaim the art - but whose art was whose?

The words on the running path put me in mind of a quote from Charlie Chaplin, but I got the quote wrong at first, because they edited it for a movie theater marquee, which is how I first encountered it.  During the pandemic, the local Riverview Theater (an old-school, big single screen movie house straight out of the 1950s) kept itself afloat by offering popcorn to go that people in the neighborhood could pick up and take away, since the theater itself wasn’t showing movies for a year or so.  And instead of movie titles on the marquee, they put up amusing or inspirational quotes. They took pictures and now show the quotes in between ads on the screen pre-show, like Batman saying “The mask isn’t to protect you, it’s to protect the people close to you” or Darth Vader saying “You are unwise to lower your defenses” or this Chaplin quote:

“Nothing is permanent, not even our troubles.”

But they edited it, perhaps for space, perhaps for content, because the actual quote is apparently

“Nothing is permanent in this wicked world, not even our troubles.”

A reference to “this wicked world,” given Chaplin’s colorful and sometimes problematic life, seems apt.

If you want some of the spicy details of the life Chaplin and his moviemaking compatriots of the time, the podcast “You Must Remember This” has plenty of great material to offer, including:

Star Wars Episode XI: Charlie Chaplin (March 17, 2015)

Blacklist Flashback: Charlie Chaplin During World War II (March 21, 2016)

Monsieur Verdoux: Charlie Chaplin’s Road to Hollywood Exile (March 28, 2016)

Peggy Hopkins and Charlie Chaplin (Fake News: Fact-Checking “Hollywood Babylon”) (August 21, 2018)


And so…
The Gilded Lily
Everything is temporary
Messages you might want to spray paint on a wall or path for passersby to see
Messages on a movie theater marquee
Worlds made of cardboard
Art on Art on Art

If any of those amuse or intrigue you, or make you think of some other 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 try 2023’s Challenge #17: Occam’s Raisin

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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And because we call can get in our own way so easily, here’s some words of reassurance on the basics of this month:

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 FormatDon’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

Don’t Stress About November 28th (however you recognize the holiday weekend)


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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 noted above in the comments section below on this very blog post for today's challenge on our writing challenge blog



Again, this is: Due: Monday, 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 Monday 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 man in a bowler hat and overly large tuxedo waddles across the stage swinging a walking cane.

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.

And take good care of yourselves, and each other.