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 103 works of fiction featuring 33 different Characters!

Featured Story

Published: Dec 03, 2020

Retirement

Jerry worked as a production manager at the John Deere plant before he retired a couple of years ago. He took an early-retirement package as the company did some restructuring because he thought it might be nice to enjoy a hobby or two before he got really old. It had been a series of disappointments instead. First he could not decide which hobby he might like, then all the hobbies were boring or too costly, and now he couldn't do anything but think about finding a new job. But he was much too old to be scouting for work, especially in this small town they moved to, where there were no jobs except at the community center. Those were not jobs at all, but volunteer engagements - that's what he called them, because they sounded like something you'd be signing up for life to do.

Recent Stories

Published: Mar 13, 2026

Rain Water

featuring: Marie Salman

Rain water cascaded off the roof of a motel. Marie Salman huddled next to the wall, hugging her knees. Long, dirty amber hair clung to her head like a helmet, framing her ...

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 ...

Characters