Why 501?

"Any idiot can knock off 500 words on any topic, any time."
"Oooooh. But anything over 500 is harder, right?"
- A conversation between writers at a National Novel Writing Month meeting

Why 501 words?

There was a time I updated my blog frequently. Heck, there was time when I wrote about issues, but that was earlier. I started and wrote articles on a blog site called "Critique" back in 2000, before "blog" was even a word. We were a bit ahead of the trend there, and we didn't keep it going. But then again, that was just as I was really getting started on a career, and was juggling my time a bit more... I wasn't involved in as many things, and it was time that I had to drop words into the ether.

Now? Work. Kung Fu. Tai chi. Running. Marriage. Acting... and the inevitable rehearsals. Really interesting computer games. Reading. Many things compete for my time - and that's not a bad thing at all. I enjoy doing "stuff". Lots of stuff, actually. Like many people, I wish there was more time in the day, and I find myself considering what my old flatmate and I called the "Opt-out plan", where you decide what amount of money is your target income per week, and once you hit 20% more than that, you negotiate a day off... 20% less time sucked up by work , and your target income, and time to spend on anything you damn well please. The idea of "opting out" of the career ladder in exchange for the other passions in your life is one that doesn't just hold an appeal as an ideal... it's the very concept of work/life balance made flesh, as it were. It has a sense of really buying in to the idea and pursuing it.

You'll note that I'm a wuss and haven't done it yet.

Its time will come.

But now? This is a step. 501 words, every week. Reflection time, every week. Putting thoughts on a screen, sending them off to do whatever it is that quantum words go and do while you're looking the other way. It suppose the quantum word paradox has haunted diarists and journal writers for dozens of generations (not to mention the dissertation writers!) - you write the words and send them off into dry dusty pages or electronic bits and bytes, and they just... don't exist until observed. And in most cases, you have no idea whether they're off doing anything useful, being observed, or not.

I'd actually argue that it's the process of writing that matters, and don't really mind whether others read them or not. Hence the 501 words, I guess. It's not really advertised anywhere, I haven't told anyone about it, I just send the words off on their way, as I reflect. Anyone can write 500 words. I'll do 501.

We'll see if it works. We'll see if I write anything worth reading. I, for one, am fascinated.