501words is an excuse to write every day…
The Short Version.
Everyday, we post a word or phrase. This is your excuse to write, with a goal of 501 words. We provide the reason, the excuse, to write. That’s one heckuva big hurdle out of your way.
Get started now, or read…
The Longer Version.
It began as a failure.
In the summer of 2009, I launched 501words as a personal blog. Launch might not be the right term. I snuck it on to the internet as a writing outlet, and didn’t tell anyone about it. It was a means to practice writing and find my voice. I figured that the domain alone would inspire me to write 501 words — no more, no less — every day.
At this point, you might wonder why it was 501 words. Well, the domain was available, so that had a lot to do with it. But, it’s a good number: short enough to hammer out in 30 minutes or less, but long enough that it requires you to say something. As it turns out, 501 words is about one single spaced page, which felt about right.
I did well the first week. 3507 words spread evenly over 7 days. Unfortunately, 3506ish of those words were about the pain and agony of writing 501 words a day. I was writing about the process of writing. My regularity sputtered and, a few weeks later, died. Thus, failure.
But.
While writing about the process of writing, I realized that it might be good to have a particular direction to write about every day. You know, an actual reason or topic to write about. And while wondering about that, I thought that inviting others to be part of it would create a more meaningful experience. And so here we are. Join me.
Get started now. Or keep procrastinating and read the…