Writing Challenge #8 - Museum of Broken Relationships (Write Nov. 8th)

Hi folks

Here’s another quick stab at yesterday’s conundrum    

It can sometimes get confusing because I'm sending these challenges out in advance and people start working ahead, so what writing is due for what day can get shuffled around :)

No days off :)
30 days,
30 pieces of writing
(Each piece of writing doesn’t need to be long, just needs to be something)

Here's the list so far, but just as a general rule,
if you look at the subject line of the email, it has the number of the challenge and that corresponds to the date this way -
Challenge 1, to write through November 1, and turn in on November 2;
Challenge 2, to write through November 2, and turn in on November 3
and so on...

(You don’t have to hold yourself back and wait for a certain day to write, you can write ahead of time, but it needs to be turned in by the deadline - or before hand - not after :)

Challenge 1 - sent Thurs 10/31, for writing through Fri 11/1, to be turned in by noon Central time on Sat 11/2 - Still More Assorted Dialogue

Challenge 2 - sent Fri 11/1, for writing through Sat 11/2, to be turned in by noon Central time on Sun 11/3 - RIP: HUGE improv theater

Challenge 3 - sent Sat 11/2, for writing through Sun 11/3, to be turned in by noon Central time on Mon 11/4 - Nazi Dildo Lady

Challenge 4 - sent Sun 11/3, for writing through Mon 11/4, to be turned in by noon Central time on Tues 11/5 - Asteroid

Challenge 5 - sent Mon 11/4, for writing through Tues 11/5, to be turned in by noon Central time on Wed 11/6 - Dismantled Piano

Challenge 6 - sent Tues 11/5, for writing through Wed 11/6, to be turned in by noon Central time on Thurs 11/7 - Skyway Buddha

Challenge 7 - sent Wed 11/6, for writing through Thurs 11/7, to be turned in by noon Central time on Fri 11/8 - Treat Yourself

Challenge 8 - sent today Thurs 11/7, for writing through Fri 11/8, to be turned in by noon Central time on Sat 11/9 - Museum of Broken Relationships (this very blog post)


So you should have, as of this morning 8 emails from me that are labeled as challenges. 

If you're missing any of those, let me know and I can resend.

But you can also always find all the challenges (from this year and years past) posted on the blog
https://thresholdwritingchallenge.blogspot.com/


And of course there are some folks who are writing and just not turning something in.  That’s fine. 
Write, whether I get to see it and tally it up or not :) 
Your writing is the most important thing, not any number crunching I do on this end.

And if you miss a day’s writing, no worries.  
Don’t beat yourself up.  
Just write again the next day.

And now, the day’s challenge…


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Challenge #8 - Museum of Broken Relationships

Write Nov. 8th - or earlier if you like
Due: Saturday, November 9th, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)



On a podcast I listen to, one of the hosts mentioned that they’d been to visit something called the Museum of Broken Relationships, so of course I had to look it up…

The museum started as a touring exhibit created by an ex-couple which eventually found a permanent home in a city in Croatia in 2010.  In 2016, they opened a new second branch in Los Angeles.

Here’s a write-up on the concept behind the museum from the LA location’s website:

“The Museum of Broken Relationships explores broken love and other human relationships – what they mean to us, what they tell us about what we share and how we can learn and grow from them.  It is composed of objects donated anonymously by members of the public from all over the world.  Each exhibit is an object (some of them ordinary, some of them extraordinary) and a story, which together recount a watershed event in someone’s life.

The exhibits reflect the full range of human emotions.  Some are sad; but many are amusing and hopeful and remind us that people change, grow and recover.  Love relationships may end; relationships with family members, business partners, cities, religions and even with our former selves may end.  But we learn and move on.  The dislocation of a broken relationship may be isolating, but the experience is universal.  No one is alone in this.

Most people have kept some object, memento or souvenir somewhere that, because of its meaning, they do not want to throw away.  The Museum is always accepting donations.  Giving it to the Museum provides a donor with an opportunity to tell their story anonymously and share it with others.  The reasons for doing so may range from therapeutic relief to simple closure.

The Museum’s concept was born when an artist ex-couple in the midst of their own breakup wondered what people did with objects that had been meaningful in their relationships.  In 2006 they had their first exhibit and the Museum has since toured internationally, amassing an amazing collection. They opened their permanent museum in Zagreb, Croatia in 2010.

In 2016, John B. Quinn founded the Museum in Los Angeles, a city of dreams – many realized and many not – which often leave broken relationships in their wake.”

The Croatia museum has a fabulous Instagram page with delightful examples of the museum’s exhibits and gift shop offerings:

Gift shop journals with covers saying things like
“A Complete List of My Jealous Observations”
or “Stories More Exciting Than Yours”
or “My Superior Findings of All of Life’s Trickery”


Each museum has a confessional space with a blank journal inside that quickly fills up with notes from museum visitors - notes like:

“Your dog doesn’t deserve you.”

“I’m not certain I’ve known real love, yet.”

“I forgive you, I forgive me,
Will always love you
- Snoopy”

“Together we shall find our place among the stars”

“If you’re ever in need of advice,
I don’t have it.”

“A life lived in love is never dull.”

“We found matching shells on the beach
I kept mine, did you keep yours?
You were my first love and I think I will always love you.”

“I deserved better.”

“Visit this place next year to see how far you’ve come.”

“Whatever is meant for you, it will find you, like I found you.”

There’s also a fun little twelve minute video profile of the LA museum with the curator, staff and museum visitors talking about the many and varied random keepsakes.

There’s a sign in the background of some of the interviews of the curator that says:

“Burning more bridges than fire.”

The curator mentions that though there are tears when people visit, there’s also a lot of making out among couples, and laughter.

Watch the video, it’s short, and has wild stories, like the guy working demolition who found an old bowler hat from the 1930s in the ruins of a fallen building and inside the brim of the hat was a broken-hearted letter from someone - was it the owner of the hat and they never delivered the letter, or was it written by someone else to the owner of the hat and they kept it tucked inside their hat?

Or the woman who donated the remainders of her husband’s collection of colognes after he died of cancer.

Or the woman who had breast implants at the behest of a lover who then left her.  So she had the breast implants removed and donated them to the museum.

That’s not the half of it.

So whether it’s this museum
or imagining a completely different museum of your own design,
or stories of heartbreak, loss or resilience,
or using some of those random confessionals as dialogue jumping off points,
hopefully you might find some inspiration to generate some interaction between characters or a monologue or two.

Or you know, today and every day, just ignore this and write something else.

Just write - something…


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

try 2021’s challenge #8: Series and Cycles

Or try 2022’s challenge #8: Chance Encounters

Or try 2023’s Challenge #8: Breakup Songbook (from Threshold Theater Literary Associate Kate Cosgrove)

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 #8

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 #8
(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. 8th - or earlier if you like
Again, this is: Due: Saturday, November 9th, 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 till 12 noon Central Time on Saturday 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 22 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 person walks into a museum where on display are

An abandoned bicycle    

A radio that resembles another object entirely

A discarded bouquet of flowers.

There is an empty journal nearby.

The person contemplates the exhibit, and their own life, and begins to write.

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.