Hi folks
22 writing challenges down.
Only 8 to go!
And as of yesterday’s submissions of challenge 20, you folks are two thirds of the way there!
76 writers turned in material totaling 246 pages
(Again, just a little more than two full-length plays’ worth of pages in a single day. Phew!)
Winter’s definitely starting to set in around the country but let’s warm up our hands and keep on typing.
On to the day’s challenge…
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Challenge #23 - Podcast Inspiration
Write Sunday, November 23rd - or earlier if you like
Due: Monday, November 24th, 12pm noon Central Time
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)
I listen to podcasts as background to a lot of the data entry work that’s part of my primary day job. And invariably, every week something random pops out of the conversations that grabs my attention.
For instance, apparently there is a town called Poetry in the state of Texas
Poetry, Texas
Of course it has a website, which informs you, among other things, that the town hall is open on Thursdays from 1pm to 5pm. That’s it. You need to see on Thursday afternoons if you need something :)
Some intriguing metaphors for the current political situation arose that I wasn’t expecting.
Someone said that their mentor often told them:
“If you see a bear on a unicycle, you don’t criticize the bear’s technique.
It’s a bear on a unicycle.
You just stare at them and say, ‘Look at ‘em go.’”
Someone else commented that they often think of some political leaders as clowns.
“However, though a clown with a flamethrower may be a clown, they are still holding a flamethrower.”
The hosts of one podcast sometimes get a little punchy reading the ad copy and go way off script.
One sponsor was a job posting/recruiting website.
“It’s that time of year again, companies are hiring for seasonal roles. Everything from Haunted Corn Maze Workers to Lead Elves and Real Bearded Santas to Snow Plow Drivers.”
“It is September”
“We’re in Los Angeles.”
Later in the same ad:
“I’m searching for a haunted corn maze Santa”
“Oh really? Bearded or unbearded?”
“Bearded, but I hope they can plow.”
“A Santa who can plow.”
“They’ve got it all.”
“They can help you sort through a lot, which I think you need to do.”
“That’s a tough filter for the candidate search.”
I had to rewind in order to be sure I was hearing them correctly. They were completely off the rails that day.
(It’s also a heckuva Hallmark Channel holiday movie :)
On a completely different podcast, Vibe Check
Their guest on a recent episode was the author and activist adrienne maree brown
(and yes, she doesn’t use capital letters in her name)
Two of many things she said that struck me really stuck in my head so I wrote them down:
In the context of a discussion about working one’s way through dark times, and to embrace it rather than just be afraid of it:
“Going through the darkness is the best way to get to something new.”
And then literally out of nowhere elsewhere in the podcast, she said:
“Humans are just another form of water. There’s rivers and ice and mist and fog, and there’s us.”
Humans are just another form of water.
I don’t know why, but I love rolling that around in my head.
So play around with what one or more of those bits of podcast randomness brings to your own mind.
Or, as always, just ignore this, write whatever you want and turn it in by the deadline.
Just write something… :)
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If you’re not interested in this prompt, you can
try 2021’s challenge #23: Hidden Histories
Or try 2022’s challenge #23: Location, Singer, Poet
Or try 2023’s Challenge #23: The Vanishing Point
Or try 2024’s challenge #23: Embarrassing Guitar
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 #23
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 23 :)
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 Sunday, November 23rd - or earlier if you like
Again, this is: Due: Monday, November 24th, 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 Monday 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 7 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.
A corn maze.
A lost human drenched in sweat, looking around confused.
Around a shadowy turn in the corn maze, Santa approaches.
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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