Writing Challenge #12 - Emoji Story (Write Nov. 12th)

Hi folks

Seeing all your creativity come flooding into the inbox is very gratifying.  It’s why we do the challenge, to encourage the practice of playwriting, however you choose to exercise it.

In one of my past lives, I hosted a local theater arts discussion show on cable access, and during one of the interviews, the guest said that he was reminded of an artist (he couldn’t remember the name), but during a time of unrest and uncertainty, this writer said, “In the future, people won’t ask about what the politicians did or didn’t do about a bad situation. They will ask why the artists were silent.”

So thank you all, for continuing to write.  And not being silent.

No raw numbers at the moment (day job’s busier than usual today).  More on that later.

Let’s get you that writing prompt…


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Challenge #12 - Emoji Story

Write Thursday, November 12th - or earlier if you like
Due: Friday, November 13th, 12pm noon Central Time 
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)



This challenge comes to us from Threshold Theater Literary Associate Kate Cosgrove.

Kate sent as a topic a series of five emojis:

A smiley face
A monkey
A medal (like in sports competitions or formal state ceremonies)
Two clinking glasses of champagne (a toast? Cheers!)
A police car

Also, another instruction - Maximum word count: 300

I shall try to insert a picture of the emojis but I may not be successful, we shall see.
 

Regardless, if you have a smartphone with the ability to text, you can probably conjure your own sequence of similar emojis.

Now, is this just the tale of a drunk monkey celebrating an award they received a little too enthusiastically and then getting pulled over by the cops?

Nah, that’s too easy.

But feel free to write that if you want, don’t let me stop you.

Now, even though we should also be familiar with how laid back we are around writing rules here - other than “write something” and “turn it in by 12 noon Central Time each day” - 

I’m sure some folks will look at that maximum word count of 300 and think “I have to write that many words?!” 

And other folks will lot at that maximum word count of 300 and feel incredibly constricted (“I can ONLY use 300 words? But I have so much more to say!”)

Don’t let that number stress you out.

If you want to take it as a challenge and craft something with only 300 words, that’s great.

If you end up writing short or long, don’t bemoan that you’ve failed somehow.

Again, if you write something, anything, short or long or exactly 300 words, and turn it in by the deadline, mission accomplished, no worries.

“But I must have structure and boundaries,” I hear you say.  “What words count towards that 300 words?  Do I just go to the Word Count feature of my word processing software and see what the word count is that way and if it says 300 there, I’m good?”

Sure.  But don’t fret about it.

“Do character names over or next to the actual dialogue count toward the 300?”

Only if you want them to.

“Do stage directions count?”

Only if you want them to.

“What if I only write stage directions?”

Those are still words, aren’t they?

“Can I submit a story that is composed of nothing but emojis?  300 emojis?”

Do you really have that much free time?  Great!

“But how do I know if I’m doing it right?”

It’s a writing challenge composed of five emojis.  How exactly could you do it wrong?

 

Take any or all of those if they inspire you, and spin a scene or two out of them.

Or if those don’t do it for you, but they make you think of something else you might like to write about instead, go with that.  Choose your own emoji adventure.

Just write something.



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

try 2021’s challenge #12: Random Phrase Generator part 2

Or try 2022’s challenge #12: Omens

Or try 2023’s Challenge #12: Snapshots 2 (from Threshold Theater’s co-founder and Managing Director David Schlosser)

Or try 2024’s challenge #12: The Neon Sign, The Keys, The Door (from Threshold Theater’s co-founder and Managing Director David Schlosser)

Or try 2025’s challenge #12: The Weight


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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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 26th (however you recognize the holiday weekend) - 2026 edition


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How to submit your work for Challenge #12

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 12 :) 
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 12th - or earlier if you like
Again, this is: Due: Friday, November 13th, 12pm noon Central Time 
(1pm Eastern Time, 11am Mountain Time, 10am Western Time for the US Time Zones)


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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 18 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 drunken but very happy cartoon monkey wearing a gold medal staggers across the stage and off on the other side.

After the monkey disappears, a toy remote control police car follows in hot pursuit.

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)