Writing Challenge #28 - Moving People Along (Write Nov. 28)

Hi folks

(1 of 2)

Busy day at work ahead so I’m sending these out a bit earlier today…

Again, I’m sending you two prompts from the future again today, so you can work ahead for the holiday weekend if you wish.

This prompt is the one you would be writing Thursday 11/28 to be turned in on Friday 11/29 by noon Central Time, but just label your email for prompt 28 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.

27 down, 3 to go!

We’ve nearly reached the end of November.  Well done, everybody!

Always remember, if you miss one day, don’t beat yourself up, just write again the next day.

Let’s get you that first writing prompt of the day…


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Challenge #28 - Moving People Along

Write Nov. 28th - or earlier if you like
Due: Friday, November 29th, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)



I realize that I mentioned skyways in passing in an earlier writing challenge and I didn’t really define my terms.

I’d never really seen a skyway before I moved to Minneapolis but now I take it for granted.

However, you all are quite a few places other than Minneapolis, so… to explain.

You know those plastic tubes they have running between living spaces for hamsters, gerbils and other small rodents.  Habitrails?

Someone once described skyways as human Habitrails, and that seems apt.

It’s basically a network of suspended hallways between buildings in downtown Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota that cross above streets so that, most particularly in the winter, folks don’t have to walk outside to get from one building to the next.  I suppose it might just as easily been a network of tunnels, but Minnesotans get so little daylight in the winter time anyway, that I guess connecting hallways above seemed more attractive than tunnels below.  I’m not familiar with the lore of how it all got started.

I bring this up because I have another skyway story.

When they launched the light rail train system between Minneapolis and Saint Paul (from my home base to my primary day job) I was one of the early adopters for my commute.  Less driving, and I could eat, write and read during the ride.  The workplace train stop had this really lovely tower, with stairs and an elevator inside it, and stained glass windows all around.  The tower was connected to the skyway, so I could walk from the train station right up the stairs and then walk through the hallways to get to my office building. Very handy.

I went off of it, naturally, during the Covid-19 pandemic - partly because for a year or so we were working remotely from home anyway, and partly because being crowded together with a group of strangers, even with a mask on, was more of a risk than I was comfortable with.

But I would still walk by (and over) the station when I would follow the skyways to the bank to deposit checks for the day job.  So I got to watch its evolution over time.

The skyway and tower connecting it to the station below became a gathering place for young people, and people in general, for air conditioning in the summer and heat in the winter.

There was a series of tall window panes along both sides of the skyway.

People would sit in the window sills.

Then someone installed tall metal ribs (not spikes, but rounded metal tabs) in the middle of the window sill.

People would still perch forward on the little part of the window sills in front of the ribs.

Then someone installed tall, slanted metal plates that rose to a height too hight to sit on, and too slanted to lean against.

People gathered up and down the skyway anyway.

Police officers were regularly stationed at the base of the tower and up on the skyway around the tower.

People gathered up and down the skyway anyway.

The brought down the air conditioning in the summer and the heat in the winter, so the skyway was no longer much of a refuge from the elements.

People gathered up and down the skyway anyway.

An older African-American woman staffed an information/security desk for an office building down the hall from the tower, just beyond the skyway.  Sometimes, if young people were acting up, she would make herself known.  They didn’t mess with her.  There would be a lot of “Yes, ma’am” and things would quiet down.

Then someone locked the doors to the tower down at the station level, and at the skyway level, someone put in drywall and plastered over the entryway entirely.  So it became a wall.

No more elevator, no more stairway.

There’s just this completely sealed up tower of brick and stained glass that no one can access anymore.

There’s also no more crowds gathering in the skyway by the light rail station anymore.

Now everyone, included folks who can’t do stairs and need an elevator have to cross one or more streets to find a public entrance to a building that will provide access to the skyway level.

Just an evolution of a space over a period of years to make it less, and less, and less, and less hospitable to people.  So they wouldn’t linger.  So they wouldn’t gather.  So… things… would be less likely to happen that might make people using the skyways to move, rather than sit or stand still, uncomfortable.

Given the loss of businesses all over the city, there’s just a lot of empty space now.

And this one skyway that used to be quite full of people.

Now it’s just a big empty hallway waiting for people (who are working in nearby businesses) to pass through.

A bit spooky, to be honest.

I’ve been thinking about how a space on stage might evolve to push people away.

And the conditions, misunderstandings and prejudices that might cause people to alter a space that way.

Play around with that
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 try 2023’s Challenge #28: Contronyms

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



Write Nov. 28th - or earlier if you like
Again, this is: Due: Friday, November 29th, 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 on Friday 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.


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And that something can be:



Lights up.

A turkey runs for its life across the stage.

Followed by a potato, also running for its life.

Followed by a squash, also running for its life.

Followed by a box of stuffing, also running for its life.

Followed by a cranberry, also running for its life.

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.