Today's Word: idol

501words is a reason to write. Every. Day.

What makes anyone a better writer is writing. Often. A lot. Like any creative work, we get better when we roll up our sleeves daily and make something. Unfortunately, we often think we don't have anything to say, or we don't have anything to write about.

501words is here to change that. Everyday, we post a word or phrase. You write a 501 word response.

We provide the reason, the excuse, to write. And that's one heckuva big hurdle out of your way.

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Most Recent Writings


  • @Enough Said | Road Trip
    Where are you going today? Where will your journey take you? The word ‘journey’ is related to the word ‘journal.’ Both of them come from the Latin ‘diurnus,’ daily. A journey used to mean a day’s travel or work. So, where have I been today? All over the world. In a day I can see what the Gulf of Mexico»»MORE

  • @Will's 501 | Identity
    When we're young we seek to craft our identity. We see a blank canvas. To most, this is exciting; we can write on this and create who we want to be. That's the dream, right? Is that what the adults meant who always tell the high schooler, "Have fun ... these are the best days of your life?" That sentiment»»MORE

  • @The Recovering Pharisee | The Word
    Hello everyone! I haven't written in a while. This month has just blown by. We had a wonderful vacation and now it is time to get back in the swing of writing. I have really been feeling that I should blog through the life of Jesus. I was given this great compilation book called "All About Jesus". It takes the»»MORE

  • @Ryan Hughes | About Storm
    Those last two posts are parts of a larger story I'm writing, and I'm not sure what I want to call the whole thing. I just feel like I should clear some things up, in case you got confused. The first one, "Storm," is the first installment; "The New Defense of Storm" comes directly after it on the timeline. And»»MORE

  • @501 by Pat | Treasure
    It has been a while since I've written here. Life gets in the way from time to time, I guess. We're at a moment in our lives (my wife and I being the we) in which busyness is our constant companion. With children at 7 and 4 and on summer break, and extended family hanging out with us a lot,»»MORE

  • @Ross Garison | garden
    After a long, heavy rain, when the ditches running along the sides of the road become homes for rushing runoff water, the best possible thing to do is to find a toy boat (make one if necessary) and toss into the current. Entertainment will follow. Daniel did just that. As soon as the storm passed and the June sun came»»MORE

  • @just another bubba | Picnic
    No cliches here. Life is a picnic. When you consider that picnics aren't always fun, that is. I've been on good picnics, bad picnics, memorable picnics, disastrous picnics. I've been on picnics I didn't even know were picnics. Sometimes work is a picnic, but not often. When you've been cranking on a deliverable, up against a hard deadline (why aren't»»MORE

  • @John's 501 Words | battle
    Battle, huh? The first thing that comes to mind is a fight to the death. I suppose that would be a standard understanding -- a battle is a conflict where violence is seen as the means to resolving the conflict, ultimately in death. One who is willing to go to battle is one who is willing enforce whatever means necessary»»MORE

  • @Let's See | My thank you letter
    A teacher says thank you Dear Macbook, You have been through many years of schooling, many long nights and many useless you tube videos. You have served me most diligently and kindly. You have always been user friendly and speedy in executing my tasks. I have filled your hard drive twice over and killed your battery countless times. You have»»MORE