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 102 works of fiction featuring 32 different Characters!

Featured Story

Published: Jan 07, 2021

How to Outlast a Door

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 that he would be unsure if he waited another day or week or year for some kind of indication of what to do. The door was going to outlast him. He sat down on a step facing the door to ponder this problem.

He thought of being young, perhaps eight or nine, hunting with his father. It did not seem to matter what they were hunting, his father's most common words were: "Don't wait for the moment, create it." And the old man would pull the trigger, sometimes in quick succession, to the horror of Steve's ears. He wanted to run when that happened. He thought of running now, but the door was quiet and motionless.

Recent Stories

Published: Aug 29, 2025

Lamb History

featuring: Moreland Bouquett

Moreland stood before the picture window filled with hanging sausages, dried jerky, smoked slabs, ribs, and birds, plucked clean, dangling by rope. His mouth watered. He entered the shop, breathing heavily and ...

Published: Jul 12, 2025

He Walked too Far

featuring: Moreland Bouquett

Sometimes the long walks took Moreland into new parts of the city, blocks and blocks that he had never seen before or that had completely changed since the last time he had ...

Published: Jun 26, 2025

Moreland Liked to Walk

featuring: Moreland Bouquett

Moreland liked to walk the streets because he could inhale the smells of foods leaking from the restaurants as he passed: fried, spicy, grilled, sweet, steamed, broiled, baked, and fresh. Glasses tinkled ...

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 ...

Characters