Hi folks
We have reached the midpoint of the month - day and challenge 15 of 30!
No matter how much writing you've done or haven't done over the past two weeks, well done, everyone!
Every day you write something (no matter how good or bad you think it might be in the moment) is a better day than a day where you don't write.
These are just first drafts, you can go back and fix whatever you want later.
For now, just let the pages flow.
Happy writing to all!
And also remember, you can ignore this prompt and write whatever you like.
Just write some pages and turn them in before Sunday, 12 noon Central Time. That's enough to satisfy the challenge.
(Or that escape hatch play at the end of this message/post is always an option)
Remember, if you ever find that you haven’t received the day’s email, or perhaps Gmail is hiding it from you, you can always find the challenges posted here on the blog
Yesterday’s submissions for Challenge 12 tallied up as follows:
79 playwrights, with material totaling 290 pages
(Or the equivalent to two full-length plays plus another one-act)
Let’s get you that writing prompt…
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Challenge #15 - Things That Remind Me of “Sex and the City”
Write Saturday, November 15th - or earlier if you like
Due: Sunday, November 16th, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)
This set of writing prompt suggestions comes to us from Threshold Theater Managing Director and co-founder David Schlosser, though he probably did it unintentionally.
Among David’s list of suggestions this year were the following three items:
“The last guy to hit on me said: Want go back to your place, and would it be cool if I stay over? My boyfriend has a restraining order against me again.”
“He cried out; Oh honey go outside.”
“I like to turn off the lights & listen to the people argue below my window.”
Each individually, and the three of them together, immediately took my mind to the comedy/drama TV series “Sex and the City”
I realize this is a bit of a throwback - the original series ran from 1998 to 2004, though it really did kind of refuse to die, with two movies in 2008 and 2010, and a follow-up series “And Just Like That…” that just ran from 2021 to 2025 - but if you need a quick refresher on the style and tone of the whole thing:
Here’s the 25th anniversary trailer for the original TV series
A trailer for the 2008 movie
And two short parody videos and pretty much nail everything people loved to hate about the show:
Every episode of Sex and The City part 1
Every episode of Sex and The City part 2
Now, you don’t have to take those three lines for David and do anything like “Sex and the City,” that’s just where my brain went.
But a story about friends trying to figure out who they are, and who they might belong with, even if it’s just for a short time and not a lifetime, that’s not a genre these gals have a corner on, as I’m sure Jane Austen would be happy to point out (and the Jane Austen Society of North America would be happy to expound upon, though I don’t think restraining orders were involved)
So if those lines from David, or my rambling offshoots from them, provide you with any inspiration, dive right in
Or ignore the two of us and write whatever you want - either way, we’re halfway there!
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If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can
try 2021’s challenge #15: Endings
Or try 2022’s challenge #15: Fake Adaptations
Or try 2023’s Challenge #15: Pictures That Haunt You
Or try 2024’s challenge #15: Reunions
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 #15
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 15 :)
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 Saturday, November 15th - or earlier if you like
Again, this is: Due: Sunday, November 16th, 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 Sunday 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 15 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.
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And that something can be:
Lights up.
Dick and Harry are sitting together at the local bar.
The conversation has been going well...
HARRY: You want to get out of here.
DICK: Sure. You mind of we go back to your place?
HARRY: Fine by me.
DICK: And would it be cool if I stay over? My boyfriend has a restraining order against me again.
HARRY: So... boyfriend.
DICK: Yeah.
HARRY: Restraining order.
DICK: Yeah.
HARRY: Again.
DICK: Yeah.
Harry pulls out a tiny red flag, puts it Dick's drink, gets up and leaves.
Dick looks at the little red flag, pockets it, finishes his drink, then looks around for someone else.
He spots one.
DICK: Hey, you! How ya been?
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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