Marlene C. Bertrand
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Why Write Short Stories?

10/28/2014

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If It’s Good Enough for Edgar Allen Poe, Then It’s Good Enough for Me!

Edgar Allen Poe is a respected writer and reviewer. He is considered the originator of the short story (short prose narrative) genre. In his essay, “The Philosophy of Composition” (1846), Poe explains that short stories, a fictional work of prose, should be read in one sitting.
“It appears evident, then, that there is a distinct limit, as regards length, to all works of literary art-                 the limit of a single sitting…” – Edgar Allen Poe
Short Story Length

In Poe’s “Review of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Twice Told Tales” (1842), Poe claimed the following about the proper length of a short story:

"We allude to the short prose narrative, requiring from a half-hour to one or two hours in its perusal.”             -- Edgar Allen Poe

Short Stories Keep Me Occupied While Waiting

My attraction to reading short stories stem from being able to read a story from beginning to end while sitting and waiting – at the doctor’s office, at the dentist’s office, at the airport waiting for a flight or during the flight. I enjoy being able to pick up a book, read it from cover to cover, and then put it down -- being done with it before the nurse calls my name or before the airport attendant calls for boarding. As I am attracted to reading short stories, I am equally attracted to writing short stories.

Short stories are, well… short.

A short story usually has a single event with one or two characters. Every sentence matters. A good writer moves the reader toward the end of the story succinctly, without a lot of fluff.

While there are no hard and fast rules for determining the length of short stories, generally short stories are anywhere from 3000 words to about 10,000 words. Some scholars suggest that a short story can be as long as 20,000 words. Any longer than 20,000 words, the story edges into the Novella (a short novel) category.

Average Reading Level

Reading experts have determined that the average person has an eighth grade reading level, and according to a Staples study, the average person reads about 250 words per minute.

Based on the average reading level, a short story can be read in a period as short as twelve minutes to an hour and twenty minutes.

Are You an Average Reader?

Find out now with the Staples eReader Evaluator.
Try it! I did it! It's quick, easy, and informative.

ereader test
Source: Staples eReader Department

Famous Short Story Writers

I enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing. Writers who inspire me the most are the writers who are well-known for their short stories. I admire such writers as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Henry James, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ernest Hemingway, E.T.A. Hoffmann, O. Henry, and Edgar Allan Poe. The majority of these writers devoted their writing time exclusively to the short story genre.

Keeping it Short

One day, I aspire to write a novel. But, for now, I shall write what my heart desires – short stories. My first attempt at writing and publishing short stories was a success (in my mind, anyway). If you get a chance, please read my first short story book titled, “The Mountain of Love” and tell me what you think about it. According to the Staples Reading Survey, if you are an average reader, you should be able to read the book in approximately 32 minutes.

Sources of Information:

Wikisource – Hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikisource is an online digital library which consists of free content. I used this source to obtain a copy of Edgar Allen Poe's Review of The Philosophy of Composition (1846).
Eldritch Press – Eldritch Press is a resource for accessing free online books. I used this source to obtain a copy of Edgar Allen Poe's Review of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Twice Told Tales (1842).

Staples -- Staples is a US office supply chain store with a fun tool to help e-Readers see how fast they can read a novel from cover to cover. I used this source to obtain the Staples eReader app.
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New Author Logo

10/23/2014

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Yeah, I might have had better things to do with my time than to spend a couple of hours updating my author logo. But, such is how it is when you are your own boss. There is no one to crack the whip and say, "Hey, get back to work!"

I'm still living in a dream world from a recent assignment to narrate and produce a very sensitive and informative book.

I like being creative and updating my logo is something that needed to be done. There was no better time than today to create a logo that delivered a more definitive image of me and my current interests.
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Updating My Author Websites

10/21/2014

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Sometimes, our days are carved out for us.

I'm spending all day updating my author websites so that my author profile matches Amazon, Kindle, and Goodreads.

What a task!

I discovered that there are a lot of Marlene Bertrands on the Internet. A few of them are writers. So, in order to distinguish myself from the other Marlene Bertrands out there, I started adding my middle initial "C" to my author name. While it did the job of distinguishing me from all those other Marlene Bertrands, adding the middle initial to my name created a whole new set of issues. Identifying my author name as Marlene C. Bertrand started a significant turn of events that suddenly disconnected my author identity with the books I have recently published.

That one little initial, "C." (with the period) made a huge difference. Suddenly, Marlene Bertrand, Marlene C Bertrand, and Marlene C. Bertrand are three different people and there is no way to automate the process of merging these names into one identity.

I could ignore this, but if I do not stop and take time to update my author profile pages on Amazon, Kindle, and Goodreads, my books will be out of sync with each other in relation to these valuable online outlets. It is a good thing I discovered this little dilemma early in the game.

My goal for today is to update all of my online author pages, setting the profile name to Marlene C. Bertrand.

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My First Blog Post as a Published Short Story Author

10/20/2014

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Writing Desk
For the longest time, I have wanted to claim the title of, "Published Author." While I have written a lot through my years, the publications I have written have either been co-authored, as in the Kindercize book I wrote way back in 1988 or have been written for other people. I have written press releases and sales copy for many industries. I have written and still do write blogs for real estate agents. But, these type of publications are duly written for someone else, thus my name is nowhere to be found on just about every publication that I write. I have written screenplays which do have my name on them, nevertheless, I longed to be known as a writer of books. 

Retirement from the workforce allowed me to spend time reading and writing. Needing something to read from time to time, I picked up a few short stories one day and found that I enjoyed the nature of short stories a lot. I started writing short stories and found them to be a bit of a challenge, but once I got the hang of it, writing became quite enjoyable. The experience directed me to select short stories as my genre of preference. When my first short story book, "The Mountain of Love" became available on Amazon, I was thrilled to no end. If you get a chance to read it, please tell me what you think. You can also get a copy of the book at Kindle. In fact, it is much less expensive through Kindle at only $1.99 right now.

It is through the magic of digital technology that I am now a published author. I thought about trying to get my books published by regular book publishers, but then the idea of independent publishing, or indie publishing as it is sometimes called, caught my attention. With step-by-step instructions I found the independent publishing process quite enjoyable.

Of course, if a publisher from one of the big publishing houses were to offer to publish one or all of my books, I would consider the offer. But, that hasn't happened yet, so I will sit happily enjoying the book sales as they come in.

Now that the books have been published, the next step in this independent publishing journey is to polish up on my marketing skills so that I can open up a few sales channels and then get to work on writing another book.

If you know someone who enjoys reading short stories with a dynamic love twist at the end, please direct them to Amazon or Kindle to purchase my book. Thank you bunches for spreading the word.


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    Marlene C. Bertrand declared "Independent Writer" status in 2013. This blog shares her journey as a writer. Visit Marlene's  My Books page for recently published books.

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    Disclosure: This website contains affiliate links.
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    Recommended Recources

    When I need answers to my writing questions, I refer to resources that have served me well as a technical writer in the past and as a freelance writer now. The following books sit on my bookshelf ready for use at my demand. When working with clients, you will need to adhere to the client’s style guide for how they want their documents to be formatted. As a freelance writer, you have the liberty of setting up your own style guide. The following resources offer excellent information on grammar and punctuation styles that are most common to writing for United States publishing standards.

    Any one or all of the following books are valuable books to have on your bookshelf at all times:

    Strunk and White's Elements of Style

    The Chicago Manual of Style

    Associated Press Stylebook


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