“1,000 Words” Improv
They say a picture is worth 1,000 Words. Witness science fiction & fantasy author J.S. Morin put that adage to the test. Improvised. Live.
During select live gaming & author event streams, moderators share a surprise image provided by fans in the #1000-words channel of the J.S. Morin Discord group. And for the next 10-15 minutes, J.S. Morin aims to create a 1,000-word story inspired by the image.
1,000 Words archive
Emily Spacewalk
Word count: 700
An asteroid gold rush. A promise of alien tech. Emily and her two business partners rent a ship with some rudimentary scanners to strike it rich.
Paradisium Lost
Word count: 1,200
Ted left behind a life of accounting on a little moon. Selling everything he had, he set out for colony life with a tiny spaceship and a dream... that turned into a nightmare.
Spacer's Haven
Word count: 2,050
A veteran of interstellar wars returns home and tries to fit back into life in a hometown he barely recognizes. A new friend and a potted plant offer two paths to a new Rufus.
Olivia, Jump!
Word count: 1,500
A pair of planetary explorers bite off more than they can chew when a lucrative world turns out to be more inhabited than they bargained for. A walk with scanners becomes a desperate race to survive.
First Emperor
Word count: 1,050
A young boy finds a magical painting and steps though it to rescue his long lost father. Instead, he reshapes the destiny of an empire.
Ontario Mystery Portal
Word count: 1,200
Non-hiker Trevor is dating hiker Trudy, who wants to take him on a hike through a portal in Ontario to a highly-rated trail on the other side. Adventure! Mystery! Sore feet! What pitfalls await our "intrepid" explorers? Art by kajirye
A Crooked Path to Paris
Word count: 1,100
When a man opens a strange door, he enters a world of connections. A horse's head is a small price to pay for interdimensional commerce.
Watch live
To witness J.S. Morin squirm live, on camera as he fumbles his way through 1,000 words (give or take) of improv micro-fiction, watch him stream live on Twitch or YouTube.
How to participate
Want to play along next time? Members of the J.S. Morin Discord group are welcome to share image candidates for a future 1,000 Words challenge. Visit the #1000-words channel to read the rules and post an image.
While AI-created images are welcome, if you share your own human-created artwork, we'll credit your artist name in the YouTube archive description (and this page's archive).