WP Archive: March-April-May 2012

March
Weeks 1 & 2
These weeks' Weekly_-ish Prompt is a Monologue Excerpt:

<> From The Dwarfs, by Pinter:

_{LEN
The point is, who are you? Not why or how, not even what.... You are the scum of so many reflections. How many reflections? Whose reflections? Is that what you consist of? What scum does the tide leave? What happens to the scum? When does it happen? I've seen what happens.... The scum is broken and sucked back. I don't see where it goes, I don't see when, what do I see, what have I seen? What have I seen, the scum or the essence?}

Week 3
This week's Weekly_-ish Prompt is an Extended Quote:

<> From Waiting for Godot, by Beckett:

ESTRAGON
(looking at the tree) Pity we haven't got a bit of rope.

VLADIMIR
Come on. It's cold.

He draws ESTRAGON after him. They halt, as before.

ESTRAGON
Remind me to bring a bit of rope to-morrow.

VLADIMIR
Yes. Come on.

He draws him after him. As before.

ESTRAGON
How long have we been together all the time now?

VLADIMIR
I don't know. Fifty years maybe.

ESTRAGON
Do you remember the day I threw myself into the Rhone?

VLADIMIR
We were grape fishing.

ESTRAGON
You fished me out.

VLADIMIR
That's all dead and buried.

ESTRAGON
My clothes dried out in the sun.

VLADIMIR
There's no good harking back on that. Come on.

He draws him after him. As before.

ESTRAGON
Wait!

VLADIMIR
I'm cold!

Week 4
This week's Weekly_-ish Prompt is an Theme/Quote Duo:

<> First, this theme:

In the Awkward Subtext of an Affair

<> Second, this quote from Betrayal, by Pinter:

ROBERT
Emma read that novel of that chum of yours - what's his name?...Spinks.

JERRY
Oh Spinks. Yes. The one you didn't like.

ROBERT
The one I wouldn't publish.

JERRY
...Did Emma like it?

ROBERT
She seemed to be madly in love with it.

JERRY
Good.

ROBERT
You like it yourself do you?

JERRY
I do.

ROBERT
And it's successful?

JERRY
It is.

ROBERT
Tell me, do you think that makes me a publisher of unique critical judgment or a foolish publisher?

JERRY
A foolish publisher.

ROBERT
I agree with you. I am a very foolish publisher.

JERRY
No you're not. What are you talking about? You're a good publisher. What are you talking about?

ROBERT
I'm a bad publisher because I hate books. Or to be more precise, prose. Or to be even more precise, modern prose, I mean modern novels, first novels and second novels, all that promise and sensibility it falls on me to judge, to put the firm's money on, and then to push for the third novel, see it done, see the dust jacket done, see the dinner for the national literary editors done, see the signing in Hatchards done, see the lucky author cook himself to death, all in the name of literature. You know what you and Emma have in common? You love literature. I mean you love modern prose literature, I mean you love the new novel by the new Casey or Spinks. It gives you both a thrill.

JERRY
You must be drunk.

ROBERT
Really? You don't think it gives Emma a thrill?

JERRY
How do I know? She's your wife.

Pause.

ROBERT
Yes. Yes. You're quite right. I shouldn't have to consult you. I shouldn't have to consult anyone.

April

Week 1
This week's Weekly_-ish Prompt is a Series of Themes:

<> First, this theme:

When I was ____ Years Old

<> Second, this theme:

If Cellphones Had Been Invented

<> Third, this theme:

Only in Case of Emergency

<> Fourth, this theme:

Since the Death of...

Week 2
This week's Weekly_-ish Prompt is a Series of Images:

<> First, Carrier of Faith, by vishstudio:

<> Second, 106, by Bela01:

<> Third, My Craftsmanship, by GregoriusSuhartoyo:

<> Fourth, My Ashtray Heart, by kittycrime:

Week 3
This week's Weekly_-ish Prompt is a Series of Titles:

<> First:

"Police Car"

<> Second:

"A Penny for Your Thoughts"

<> Third:

"Intelligence Defined"

<> Fourth:

"Liberty or Death"

Week 4
This week's Weekly_-ish Prompt is a Duo of Images and a Pair of Openings:

<> First, Left Behind, by codrinseth:

<> Second, this opening from Beckett's Waiting for Godot:

(A country road. A tree. Evening.

ESTRAGON, sitting on a low mound, is trying to take off his boot. He pulls at it with both hands, panting. He gives up, exhausted, rests, tries again. As before.

Enter VLADIMIR)

<> Third, Moira, by bittersweetvenom:

<> Fourth, this opening from Pinter's The Homecoming:

(An old house in North London. Evening.

LENNY is sitting on the sofa with a newspaper, a pencil in his hand. He wears a dark suit. He makes occasional marks on the back page.

MAX comes in, from the kitchen.)

May

Week 1
This week's Weekly_-ish Prompt is a Series of Themes:

<> First:

In the Fox Hunt, from the Fox's Perspective

<> Second:

Ten Years Under the Wing

<> Third:

Reversing the Flow of Blood

<> Fourth:

Although She Stayed, Her Things Ran Off

Week 2
This week's Weekly_-ish Prompt is a Theme/Quote Duo:

<> First, this theme:

A Shot in the Dark

<> Second, this quote from Ibsen's Hedda Gabler:

HEDDA
(with an anxious look about her) Who can that be?

MRS. ELVSTED
I don't know. Someone from his - from his past. Someone he has never completely forgotten.

HEDDA
What has he told you - about this?

MRS. ELVSTED
He mentioned it, just once - quite vaguely.

HEDDA
So. And what did he say then?

MRS. ELVSTED
He said that when they broke up, she wanted to shoot him with a pistol.

Week 3
This week's Weekly-ish Prompt is:

<> First, this poem by Emily Dickinson~

"Hope" is the thing with feathers --
That perches in the soul --
And sings the tune without the words --
And never stops -- at all --

And sweetest -- in the Gale -- is heard --
And sore must be the storm --
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm --

I've heard it in the chillest land --
And on the strangest Sea --
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb -- of Me.

<> Second, Where Industry Ends by wb-skinner~

Week 4
This week's Weekly-ish Prompt is:

<> First, the theme is~

Loss of Greatness and/or Descent into Madness

<> Second, a quote from Robert Louis Stevenson ~

"Vanity dies hard; in some obstinate cases it outlives the man."

<> Third, Broken Rose by evenstar13~