Welcome to 1,000 Characters!

This is a project about exploration, into writing and into characters. The goal is to create one thousand characters, and learn more about all of them. Most days (at least twenty per month) there should be a new story snippet to keep the words flowing. Do not fret that everything (or at least most things) are short, as that is the intention.

1,000 Characters is a practice for better storytelling, improved fiction. The focus is diving into characters, looking curiously and deeply into their hopes, dreams, desires. Exploring new characters, their stories, the places they live and work, becomes a journey of fun. This process of discovery should, in many cases, lead to longer stories, possibly even a novel. Dare it be said: maybe novels.

A total of 99 works of fiction featuring 31 different Characters!

Featured Story

Published: Nov 19, 2020

One Hump or Two

The man wore safety glasses and heavy boots, probably steel-toed. He led one camel and then the next down the ramp into Allen's fenced side yard. In the back of the trailer several horses and possibly a bull were gated off.

"You have more deliveries?" Allen asked.

"Yeah." He pushed up the ramp, secured it, and locked the back doors. He tapped the door twice.

"What's that?"

"What's what?"

"You hit the door twice."

"Oh just that ambulance thing you see on the television. I'm warning the animals we're about to go." He snuck a dip of chew into his cheek. "Why camels?"

"Oh it's just something I saw in a movie."

"What do you know about them?"

"One hump or two."

He laughed, doubled over for a moment. He opened the truck door and climbed to the seat. The gears clunked, and he leaned out the window to say, "That's really a funny one!"

Recent Stories

Published: Jun 19, 2023

Jonesy

featuring: Harold White

Trash tumbled down the parkway, carried by the wind. Trees swayed, the crescendo of rustling leaves drowning out the sounds of the street at the end of the block. Harold watched from ...

Published: Jan 25, 2022

Email is Popular

featuring: Kroft Rodgers

I thought about writing this story last week. The plan was to type some words and see what I thought of them. Instead researched the top searched words on Google. I learned ...

Published: Jan 24, 2022

Shoveled Snow

featuring: Kroft Rodgers

I shoveled the snow this morning. It was a great workout, which is about the only reason I do it. I come into the house, covered in the white stuff below the ...

Published: Jan 23, 2022

Let's Talk

featuring: Kroft Rodgers

I just took up writing again, after many years of typing out computer code. I like sitting on my ass, getting old, wasting away. Whoever said we should all live to be ...

Published: Jan 22, 2022

Virus Blues

featuring: Kroft Rodgers

My son has Covid. Nothing more than a cold, thankfully. I'm writing this down for the future, which future or what future I do not know. Soon viruses will have to spread ...

Characters