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 100 works of fiction featuring 32 different Characters!

Featured Story

Published: Oct 23, 2020

Ugly Clumps

Jeffry lay in the park, near the top of the sledding hill, watching the clouds float through the sky. He was having trouble seeing anything but blobs of puffy whiteness. His mind wandered to childhood and he remembered seeing many shapes and characters in the marshmallows of the atmosphere. This thought made him wonder if any of those had been true or if he had simply wanted to see what he saw, willing his mind to find the secrets even though they were not there.

It was both alarming and comforting to think that he could trick himself so easily, be so willing to enter into an agreement that he would find what he wanted to find. Along the time of growing up, it seemed that he had lost this skill, or defect. He was not sure which side of the argument he would want to land on. For the moment he would have to be content with what he had: a serious of ugly clumps heading nowhere at all.

Recent Stories

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 ...

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 ...

Characters