Writing Challenge #5 - Hands (Write Nov. 5th)

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 vital because it keeps collective memory alive when history books are re-written.

Please keep making art because…
It builds neural resilience. In studies, regular art therapy correlates with significant reductions in PTSD symptoms.
Thank you for creating

HANDY TIP FOR QUESTIONS
Read the email

I know it’s a long email, but here’s how it breaks down.
There’s a preamble - this section - where questions are answered, etc. - you can skip it if you want
Then there’s the challenge of the day itself, you’ll want to read that, it also tells you what your deadline is
Then there’s a list of links for the challenges on this day of November in previous years - if you don’t like the current day's challenge, you can check out one of those, or skip that section
Then there’s the section which tells you how to submit and has a link to the Google form and runs through what it entails - this, like the challenge of the day, is important to read. It, too, tells you what the deadline is.
Then there’s a section with links to answers for common questions like “Do I need to worry about format?” “Is it required that I write to the prompt?” “Do I have to write a whole play by the end of the month?” (Spoiler alert, the answers to all those questions is no, and there are more)
Then there’s a section that tells you it’s not a race, and you can take all the time you want, right up until just before the noon Central Time deadline to write and submit via the Google form.  No penalties for turning it early, but no prizes either, so don’t put unnecessary pressure on yourself.
Then there’s the closing section, which has an escape hatch mini-play.  If you’re just not feeling it for writing on a particular day, you can copy and paste that escape hatch mini-play into the Google form and that can be your submission for the day, or you can bang out a short play of your own of just a couple of lines.
This last section also just encourages you to write.

HOW TO GUIDE for the GOOGLE FORM
We had a playwright who didn’t understand how to submit their work, so I threw together a handy pdf complete with screenshots on how to enter your information and pages of the day into the Google form.  If anyone else needs such a thing, just give a holler via email.

And thanks to the magic of Ava’s Google form design, I already have some fun statistics to share from the first two challenges.

On challenge #1, 95 of the 111 playwrights submitted some material.

(As a point of reference, last year’s high watermark, which was the highest number of playwrights we had before this year, the high point of number of writers submitting in a single day was 88, so you all have already blown past that milestone and created a new one of your own.)

Challenge #2 didn’t have much drop off, 94 of the 111 playwrights submitted material.

And I’ll say this a number of times but if you happen not to write one day, don’t beat yourself up, just write again the next day.

First challenge, we had a total of 327 total pages turned in - and if you think of 120 pages being a standard full length play - that means that day you all cranked out almost three of them.  See?  A couple of pages, plus a couple more pages, plus a couple more, etc., that starts to add up fast.  Well done, very impressive.

Challenge two’s submissions totaled up to 299 pages, so again, more than two full-length plays - those two plus a one-act play, you could say.

Nicely done, everyone!  Keep up the good work.

Even a page or two or day definitely adds up.

You may think just having a page or two is nothing special, but any writing in a day is more progress than no writing.

And it doesn’t have to be perfect, that’s what rewriting later is for.

For now, just push through.

Thanks for prioritizing your own creativity, whether you’re responding to a prompt, or just writing your own thing and using the daily submission deadline to keep yourself moving forward on an existing script idea.

And if you aren’t feeling it one day here in November, remember that at the end of every one of these emails and challenge blog posts there’s an escape hatch option:

“Lights up
(Something happens)
Lights down.”

I change them every day to match the day’s challenge.  

So feel free to use something like that on a tough day if you need to.

(Over the past three years, playwrights have put their own spin on the mini-play option, often in very amusing ways, so feel free to have fun with that as well - I am.)

A BRIEF VOTING ASIDE…

The day I’m sending this out, Tuesday 11/4 is Election Day for everybody in the U.S.

Again, to those who’ve already voted, thank you.

And if you haven’t voted already, please do vote.  Deadline amnesty due to time spent voting is still in effect.  Just let me know you were out voting, and you’ve got more wiggle room to get that latest submission in the door :)

 And now, let’s get you that writing prompt for the day…


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Challenge #5 - Hands

Write Wednesday, November 5th - or earlier if you like
Due: Thursday, November 6th, 12pm noon Central Time 
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)


This suggestion for a writing prompt comes from Threshold Theater’s managing director and co-founder, David Schlosser.  David is also a photographer so he often thinks in terms of images, which you’ll see a lot more of in previous years’ prompts from him. He also likes a good cliffhanger or unfinished phrase.  These two from his list both have to do with hands…


“I took her hand in mine, after a lifetime of living it was now frail and  warm and soft and felt like it was covered in tissue paper, I held it and said….”


“I remember the moment holding his hand, kissing in public, my arm around him thinking he felt the same, this was more than a moment. An hour later…”


Thinking of hands, I’m reminded of a young person on the street, probably unhoused, who regularly appears at a major intersection near my home where the wait for the traffic light in both directions is long because both streets are main routes across town.  Because the light is a long one, that gives the young man time to walk down the middle of the street, his hands pressed together as if in prayer, his eyes pleading wordlessly for some spare money from the drivers in the cars in a line, trying to avoid making eye contact with the guy until he moves on to the next car.  He’s not there every day, but he’s a regular.

And because I am old and sentimental, here’s the song “Hands” by Jewel (the video itself is ridiculous if you think about it too hard, so just roll with hit :)

So… hands…


Use whatever you find interesting in the trio above as a jumping off point and get writing.

Or ignore me and David and write something completely different.

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

try 2021’s challenge #5: Random Phrase Generator

Or try 2022’s challenge #5: “This Guy Told Me He Was A Centaur…”

Or try 2023’s Challenge #5: Snapshots 1 (from Threshold Theater co-founder and Managing Director David Schlosser)

Or try 2024’s challenge #5: Dismantled Piano

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 #5

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 5 :) 
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 Wednesday, November 5th - or earlier if you like
Again, this is: Due: Thursday, November 6th, 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 :)

Deadline Amnesty for Voting (and other handy challenge tips) - 2025 edition

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.

We will be VERY understanding about technical difficulties and how they can screw up making the deadline on the first few days.  No need to fret about anything except the writing (and hopefully that’s not something causing you to fret too much either :)

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 Thursday 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 25 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 person walks up to another person, their hands in prayer, their eyes pleading.

The other person gets a couple of bills out of their wallet and hands them over.

They stare at one another.

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.

(After you vote, of course :)

And take good care of yourselves, and each other.

Matthew A. Everett
Literary Director
Threshold Theater
(he/him/his)