The Amazing Instant Novelist

Cherry

By hudsonmoon

Sat, 26 Sep 2026
  • 541 reads
9 comments
 

In 1994 I was on worker’s compenstion due to a back injury. Having all this spare time on my hands—after my wife had gone off to work and six year-old Sam was put on the the school bus—I needed something to while away the hours. I wasn’t a sports guy or a builder of things. I was a reader who had an interest in writing. But never wrote anything of any consequence.

Until 1994 when I bought my first computer. I began searching writer related things and came across a site on AOL called the Amazing Instant Novelist. Founded by Dan Hurley.

The premise was to write a story in 250 words or less. They gave away weekly token awards: gold, silver and bronze honors to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners. It was an easily accesible site and I joined the group.

It was an education. I quickly learned how much I didn’t know about writing. I wrote amateurish tales at the start, but after months of constantly chiseling down my stories to meet the 250 word limit I figured I might make a writer out of myself after all. I wrote under the name of SamStoneNY.

It wasn’t long before I was asked to be a NOVL. An editorial postion much like here on ABCTales. As a result I was given free internet access from AOL. I remained a NOVL until the site died sometime around 1999. And that is the end. In 250 words.

***

Ha. I'm over-caffenated and needed to write something! Anything! Even with exclamation points! Stop me before I put in another! Too late!

 

Photo courtesty of Wiki Commosns:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parts_of_a_Corona_No._3_folding_...(front).jpg

Certificate U
Non-fiction
Miscellaneous

Comments

Submitted by Penny4athought on

Great 250-word excerpt for your autobiographical book- which you should definitely write. smiley

Penny4athought

Submitted by hudsonmoon on

Don't know if I'm ready for that yet, But for thinking it. C

 

Submitted by insertponceyfre... on

Perhaps you could set yourself a number of words each day, or a particular day of the week, stick to it and then post it here, either weekly or monthly? Turlough does a fabulous version each month. OR make yourself do something for the Inspiration Point each week. There is a particularly interesting one this week. Good luck Hudson - and keep writing!

 

Submitted by hudsonmoon on

I might just give it a go. Stretch those editing muscles. I was just having fun with this. The old site crossed my mind and I thought I'd give it a quick write. X

 

Submitted by Di_Hard on

Would be FABULOUS if you did a Diary!

Also, maybe knowing you were going to write about what you'd been up to for a month might make you write more of your much anticipated Craven and Betty book :0) Reading about you explaining why might NOT be writing about Craven and Betty would be great, too :0)

 

Submitted by hudsonmoon on

Thanks, Di. I do have thoughts on the Craven thing. Maybe I'll do just that. 

 

Submitted by celticman on

the end is never the end (now how many words is that?!)

 

Submitted by hudsonmoon on

Tell that to my body. It's telling me different. Then my wife tells me I write too many words. We've been trying to do a children's book together - her drawings, my words. "You're too wordy for a kids book," she tells me. Kids today. . .

 

Submitted by marandina on

You are right about the skill needed to write in short form and be good at it, Rich. There's an account at Twitter/X that only publishes work that is no more than 75 words. I did manage to get a submission accepted on there a while ago. It's trickier than it looks. 

Keep writing, Rich. Long or short form. You're a talented guy.