Hi folks
More words of encouragement for artists from Erica Elan
If you’re questioning the significance of making art right now…
Creating art right now is healing because it can bring attention to what is important - helping us focus on priorities and action that matters.
Thank you for creating.
Now that I have all the submissions from the first seven days, we can do some fun number crunching…
Yesterday’s initial numbers for Challenge 7 were:
83 playwrights submitting a total of 267 pages
The first look at the week’s overall numbers are mighty impressive:
The average number of writers submitting each day was (a new high) of 90 playwrights.
There were 630 total pieces of writing submitted this week, adding up to a total of 2,118 pages.
That’s the equivalent of 17 full-length plays (or more than two each day), plus another one-act play besides.
Nicely done, everyone.
A page or two a day really does add up, eh?
And again, if you ever find yourself missing a day of writing, don’t beat yourself, just get up the next day and write again.
As you can see, every little bit helps, accumulating day after day this month.
Keep going :)
Now let’s get you that next writing prompt…
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Challenge #10 - Little Guys, Jump Scares, Coffee and the Apocalypse
Write Monday, November 10th - or earlier if you like
Due: Tuesday, November 11th, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)
This one comes to us courtesy of Threshold Theater company member (and stage manager) June Haider.
Three more of June’s selection of random evocative phrases are:
Just a little guy
JUMP SCARE (June's capitalization :)
Out of coffee during the apocalypse
Any variation on one (or more) of these (or one of your own that just sparked in your head) intrigue you enough to write about it?
Go forth and write.
Or, as always, just ignore us and go write something else.
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If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can
try 2021’s challenge #10: Cars
Or try 2022’s challenge #10: Food Vs. Humans
Or try 2023’s Challenge #10: Inevitable (from Threshold Theater co-founder and Technical Director Nick Mrozek)
Or try 2024’s challenge #10: Nurse (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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How to submit your work for Challenge #10
We’re streamlining the process this year with a Google form,
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdy-wyjz-IITaNsOkXM1zVQu_yrt_o7E4Vp2eQnr-8VNnu49w/viewform?usp=header
but you still have multiple options for how you submit your playwriting output for the day.
After you enter the required fields of
email,
name,
challenge number (for today, that’d be 10 :)
and page count,
you can submit your writing in one of four ways:
Save your script as a PDF or Word Doc and upload that document to the Google form.
OR
Post
your script online (on your personal website, as a blog post, or as a
Google doc) and put a link to that online script in the Google form.
OR
Copy/paste your work from another source directly into the Google form
OR
Type directly into the Google form.
(Whichever option you choose, you can leave the other ones blank.)
Write Monday, November 10th - or earlier if you like
Again, this is: Due: Tuesday, November 11th, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)
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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 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 27th (however you recognize the holiday weekend) - 2025 edition
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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 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 20 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 makes sense to you.
It just needs to be something.
***********************
And that something can be:
Lights up.
Sam shambles, bleary-eyed, over to the coffee maker.
There’s no coffee in the pot.
Sam sighs.
Then a little guy leaps out from behind the coffee maker.
Jump scare for poor Sam.
LITTLE GUY: Ka-boom!
In the distance, a mushroom cloud appears the horrizon.
A flash of light.
Guess they won’t need that coffee after all…
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.
Matthew A. Everett
Literary Director
Threshold Theater
(he/him/his)
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