Writing Challenge #4 - Asteroid

Hi folks

Still playing catchup on the flurry of emails from all you very prolific playwrights.  I did at least get into December 2nd before turning in last night but there’s still a fair amount of that day, and all of December 3rd today to catch up on, after which I should have some fun initial number crunching to share about everyone’s collective output from the first two days of writing.  Keep up the good work, keep writing, keep loading up my inbox.

(I really appreciated that extra hour of sleep due to the Daylight Savings Time switch.  Now, back to work…)

SIDE NOTE, AGAIN, ABOUT VOTING…

The inevitable article popped up in my notifications about “the best places Americans can move to” should he who shall not be named wins the election for president.  To which I reply, No.  I’ve lived here all my life, I’m not moving, this is still my country, too.  I don’t need a contingency plan for him, he needs a contingency plan for me. And for those who ominously bring up the fact that said contingency plan for me is Project 2025, I reply, well then, we’ve got three days left to make sure that doesn’t happen, don’t we?

If you’ve voted already already, thank you.
If you haven’t, and you can vote early, please do.
If you haven’t and Election Day on Tuesday is your only option, make sure your phone is fully charged, you have a bottle of water and a snack to tide you over in case the lines are long.  And if you’re in line when the polls close on Tuesday, stay in line - they have to let you vote if you’re already there in line.

Minnesota playwrights, you have early voting yet today, Sunday 11/3, when I’m sending this challenge out, 9am to 3pm, and tomorrow, Monday 11/4, 7am to 5pm.
You can find early voting location information, and Election Day polling place information at the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website

And there’s still volunteer opportunities available wherever you live, including things like door knocking and helping transport people to the polls, or curing provisional ballots during the counting process.  You can find info on things like that at Vote Save America (I appreciate how on their map of the USA, they’ve highlighted ALL states as key states, not just the typical “battleground/swing states.” Wherever you live, there’s good you can go) - you can also find polling place, ballot and registration information and links on VoteSaveAmerica.com as well.

Down ballot voting is also important, since your city and state officials often have a lot more sway over your day to day life than the federal government. Make sure those people are serving your interests and solving problems in your backyard as well.

Deadline amnesty for taking time out to vote is still in effect for the next several days. Full details on that in this post.

Thank you all in advance in giving me something other than politics to occupy my mental space this coming week. (Remember, last time it took until Saturday to know the final result of the presidential election, and it look longer for California to finish counting all its many votes to determine who controlled Congress. Patience, and healthy coping mechanisms (everything from exercise to art to prayer), will be our friends. Processing all your messages will be a welcome task while we’re waiting.)

Happy writing to you all!

Let’s get you that writing prompt…


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Challenge #4 - Asteroid

Due: Tuesday, November 5th, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)


My singer-songwriter friend Chris Koza has a new album dropping on November 13th called “Last Car In The Parking Lot” and I got early access so I’ve been listening to it on repeat for the last few weeks.  One of the tracks called “Graveyard Shift” has this great couplet at the end of the second verse that I can’t stop thinking about:

“If this old town caught an asteroid,
I’d be saved from what I can’t avoid.”

This put me in mind of a lot of things.

Natural disasters of all kinds do put things in perspective.  The importance of everyday annoyances does tend to pale in comparison to large traumatic events (floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, building collapses, pandemics, etc.)

For instance, ever since COVID-19 forced a lot of us to work from home for a year, the inevitable return of at least a hybrid workplace has me regularly ruminating about how performative the whole “commute to the office” thing is.

And also, ever since my mother died, traffic bothers me a lot less.  “Am I trying to rush to the bedside of my mom who is slowly dying of a brain tumor to spend more quality time with her because that always cheers her up?”  No?  OK, then, I’ll get there when I get there.

As to things I can’t, and yet am, avoiding - I don’t want to leave a house behind me to clean up the way my mother did (totally not her doing, she wasn’t planning on having a brain tumor). My friend Victoria’s mother was very deliberate to engage in what she called “Swedish death cleaning” - making sure she was tidying things up as much as possible after her cancer diagnosis so she didn’t leave a mess behind her.  And yet, I’ve still got a basement guest room full of boxes from both my mother and my father’s homes that I am avoiding opening and sorting though, mostly because opening a box feels like therapy, the kind of therapy that hurts.  Still, it’s been five years.  And a lot of other indicators in my life seem to be telling me I could handle it.  I just need to do it.

The chorus of “Graveyard Shift” goes…

“I’m working the graveyard shift,
Trying to get back to the other side of it,
Keeping the hours spent.
If I’m on empty then maybe I’ll forget
What I’m missing
And how time keeps slipping on
And on…”

What are your characters avoiding?

What large life or natural events could shift their perspective (or make them think, “Well, at least now I don’t have to take out the trash”)?

Play around with any or all of that.

Or the exact opposite of it.

Or ignore it entirely and do whatever you like on the page.

Just write something.

 

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If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can

try 2021’s challenge #4: Science Fiction and Fantasy

Or try 2022’s challenge #4: Smackdown

Or try 2023’s Challenge #4: Wonderland (from Threshold Theater co-founder and Technical Director Nick Mrozek)

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 :)

Deadline Amnesty for Voting (and other handy challenge tips)

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 “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 #4

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 #4
(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: Tuesday, November 5th, 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.

We will be VERY understanding about technical difficulties and how they can screw up making the deadline on the first few days.  No need to fret about anything except the writing (and hopefully that’s not something causing you to fret too much either :)

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 Tuesday 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 26 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.

Stan walks into a cluttered room he knows he needs to clean.

He sighs.

There is a bright flash in the sky.

Stan looks out the window and sees a plane plummeting out of the sky toward his neighborhood.

Stan looks back at the cluttered room.

STAN - Well, I suppose I don’t really need to clean this up now.

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.

(After you vote, of course :)