1000 Words

A Guide to Staying Creative, Focused, and Productive All-Year Round

By: Jami Attenberg - editor

Narrated by: Jami Attenberg, Kamali Minter, Joy Osmanski, André Santana

National Bestseller

Inspired by Jami Attenberg’s wildly popular literary movement #1000WordsofSummer, this “encouraging handbook” (Publishers Weekly) features essays on creativity, productivity, and writing from acclaimed authors including Roxane Gay, Lauren Groff, Celeste Ng, Meg Wolitzer, and Carmen Maria Machado.

In 2018, novelist Jami Attenberg, faced with a looming deadline, needed writing inspiration. Using a bootcamp model, she and a friend set out to write one thousand words daily for two weeks straight. They opened this practice to Attenberg’s online community and soon hundreds then thousands of people started using the #1000WordsofSummer hashtag to track their work and support one another. What began as a simple challenge between two friends has become a literary movement—write 1,000 words per day without judgement, or bias, or concerns about writer’s block, and see what comes of it.

1000 Words is the book-length extension of this movement. It is about becoming—and staying—motivated, discovering yourself and your creative desires, and approaching your craft from a new direction. It features advice from more than fifty well-known writers, including New York Times bestsellers, Pulitzer Prize winners, and stars of the literary world. Framing these letters are words of wisdom and encouragement, plus specific strategies, from Attenberg on how to carve out a creative path for yourself all year round.

1000 Words is an accessible and motivational craft book that allows you to get a quick and fulfilling hit of inspiration.

Featuring Roxane Gay, Bryan Washington, Susan Orlean, Maris Kreizman, Sara Novic, Rumaan Alam, Lauren Oyler, Emma Straub, Christopher Gonzales, Benjamin Percy, Mira Jacob, Laura van den Berg, Carmen Maria Machado, Courtney Sullivan, Rebecca Carroll, Ada Limon, R.O. Kwon, Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, Elissa Watusha, Alexander Chee, Maggie Shipstead, Deesha Philyaw, Jasmine Guillory, Kristen Arnett, Attica Locke, Megan Abbott, Min Jin Lee, Lauren Groff, Andrew Sean Greer, Camille Dungy, Megan Giddings, Isaac Fitsgerald, Hannah Tinti, Michael H. Weber, Celeste Ng, Elizabeth McCracken, Will Leitch, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Morgan Parker, Kiese Laymon, Melissa Febos, Alissa Nutting, Liz Moore, Laila Lalami, Megan Mayhew Berman, Rebecca Makkai, Meg Wolitzer, Mychal Denzel Smith, Josh Gondelman, and Dantiel W. Moniz.

Critic reviews

"Author and narrator Jami Attenberg delivers this inspirational audiobook about the creative spirit and how to make the sometimes daunting task of writing a reality in a busy world. When faced with a looming deadline, Attenberg decided to create a type of bootcamp for herself and a close friend in which they would write 1,000 words a day for two weeks. Joined by narrators Kamali Minter, Joy Osmanski, and André Santana, Attenberg and her friends share excerpts from writers like Roxane Gay and Celeste Ng. Their cheerful narration style acts as an inspiration for even the most discouraged listener. Attenberg’s delivery is approachable and friendly but never pretentious. What results is a delightful listen that can be enjoyed all at once, or in short, easily digestible listens."

Get’s your mind right

Jami and her crew broke down the Herculean effort of book writing into easy steps, tips, best practices and so on. It’s just 1000 words and repeat.

I was able to relate to this book. I enjoy writing and expressing my thoughts.

I have nothing bad to say about the book. It was put together great and great examples for people can understand.

Great Inspiration for writers!

As this book started, I thought it wasn’t going to be easy to get through. However after the first chapter I loved the project and really enjoyed the premise. The 100 letters are a phenomenal experience! Definitely worth listening to.

Amazing book on craft!!!

Loved this book so much! This author should have a podcast because I could listen to this sort of content all day! My only qualm was the book ended too soon.

Writers need to read this book!

Really liked all comments of other writers mixed in with the author’s work. Very helpful to me .