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 94 works of fiction featuring 29 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: Jan 12, 2021

Escape Time

featuring: Traelyn Nelsen

Traelyn found an escape pod. Odd, he thought, that after flying spaceships for forty years that this would be the first time he needed one of these. Inside was smaller than he ...

Published: Jan 11, 2021

Crush

featuring: Monica Charles

I started seeing Monica when my wife checked into the rehab center. Not because I was a bad husband or a terrible person, but because I needed comfort. Monica was unafraid to ...

Published: Jan 08, 2021

Job Offer

featuring: Angela Moriss

There was a job offer, but she wasn't certain it was for her. It meant going into an office, the office, again. The people, in person, were not her biggest problem. It ...

Published: Jan 07, 2021

How to Outlast a Door

featuring: Steve Suns

Several days later Steve returned to the door. It was still golden and spotless. He felt just as unsure of his next action as he had at last visit, and quite sure ...

Published: Jan 06, 2021

Used to be Wind

featuring: Steve Suns

"Hard to believe there used to be something called wind," Steve said to Uhlrick. "Never heard of it," the younger man said, swinging from his safety cable from bolt to bolt with ...

Characters