Writing Challenge #20 - Weasel (Write Nov. 20th)

Hi folks

We have arrived at the two-thirds mark!

Challenge 20 out of 30.

Well done, everybody!

Let’s keep rolling into that final third.

Rough numbers from yesterday’s submissions for challenge 17 look like this:
76 playwrights, with material totaling 237 pages
(So basically the equivalent of another two full-length plays, give or take 3 pages.)

You might look at your output some days and not think a page or two adds up, but basically yesterday’s numbers is just all those playwrights pitching in with about 3 pages each, some more, some less.  

But you spend enough days cranking out a couple of pages, and you’ve got yourself the rough draft of a play :)

Even if you only did a page a day every of November, you’ve got yourself a one-act!
Two pages a day, that’s 60
Three pages a day, that’s 90
Four pages a day, that’s 120, or a full-length play.

Just something to think about.

And if you miss a day, don’t beat yourself up about it.
Just write again the next day.

And now, today’s challenge…

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Challenge #20 - Weasel

Write Thursday, November 20th - or earlier if you like
Due: Friday, November 21st, 12pm noon Central Time 
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)


Threshold Theater Literary Associate Maren Findlay really outdid herself this year in the suggestion department.  I love these random ideas of hers.  Today’s prompt:


“Write whatever scene you want but one character turns into a weasel part way through.”


Now, you could maybe avoid going the Kafka/Metamorphosis route by making the character a metaphorical weasel, just a squirmy little jerk that refuses to take sides or take any responsibility for their actions, but c’mon, have some fun with it.

A character turns into a weasel in the middle of an ordinary conversation.

Or in the middle of an argument.

Or in the middle of a romantic date or a love scene.

Or in the middle of a job interview - is it the job applicant or the potential future boss that turns into a weasel

Or in the middle of a high stakes situation where nothing can go wrong and now… a weasel?
(Defusing a bomb, cracking a safe, perhaps just running a performance - could a weasel complete the assignment of a stage manager or light board operator or a musical accompanist?)

My first point of entry for how I might tackle it myself was sort of halfway between completely avoiding it, and fully embracing the real weasel of it all by having it be backstage somewhere and the two characters involved in my scene were putting on costumes, and halfway through the scene, one of them is fully outfitted in a weasel costume.  I realized that was still kind of cheating, but if you can’t see your pages going the full weasel as it were, that’s a possible strategy to split the difference.

However your weasel appears, take the absurdity and run with it.

Or, as with any other day in this challenge, just write whatever idea comes to you, even if it has absolutely nothing to do with the day’s prompt.

Up to you, as always.

Just write something.

Have fun!

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

try 2021’s challenge #20: Your Favorite Story

Or try 2022’s challenge #20: Regional Slang

Or try 2023’s Challenge #20: Reverse Order (from Threshold Theater Literary Associate Kate Cosgrove)

Or try 2024’s challenge #20: Leaves, Lighter, Love (from Threshold Theater’s co-founder and Managing Director David Schlosser)

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 #20

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 20 :) 
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 Thursday, November 20th - or earlier if you like
Again, this is: Due: Friday, November 21st, 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 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 10 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.

Two people walk across the stage together, hand in hand.

About halfway across the stage, one person finds themselves holding hands with an enormous weasel instead.

They pause.

The weasel shrugs its rodent shoulders sheepishly.

The human smiles.

The two continue walking, hand in paw, eventually disappearing offstage.

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)