A New Story?

   I was contemplating on what type of story a friend and I should write together. One of my ideas was to make it about how an entire town has suffered from some massive disaster. All the survivors have turned into dogs and must learn how to live their lives in their own separate packs before they embark on a journey to find a way to turn themselves back into humans.

   Thinking about this story has reminded me of the days I would spend as a child, planting new ideas for a different animal story. I realized that writing this story would reopen the old, nostalgic feeling I get when I’m around animals, or reading about them. If I were to write such a story, there would be a lot involved with the characters: the survivors will have their instincts put to the test and will encounter deception, internal conflicts, relationship struggles, betrayal, sacrifice. To do this with animals, and not people, would produce quite a new feeling throughout the process of my writing. I would be getting into the minds of animals, and not people. I would be setting up the paths of animals, and not people. It would be quite an interesting feat, and one that I have always loved to look forward too. I wonder how much it would affect my partner.

   I will update our decisions soon, and it won’t be long before we begin the story.

Short Stories vs Novels

A quick look at Amazon shows 3,500 out of the 29,000 short stories are by a single author. However, short stories are easy to read and digest. When it comes down to the question of marketing success, the short story approach might look a little more appealing. After reading books upon books, won’t the publisher rather spend time reading and critiquing 5,000 words rather than 50,000?

    Recently, I’ve gotten into the habit of writing short stories, only because of the lack of time I have to write. I’ve found writing short stories has taught me to condense my stack of ideas and organize them in such a way so that only the best are presented to my readers. Writing a short story that would attract a wider audience was like following a simple formula:

 (time taken to write the story) x (effectiveness of the story) = Level of Reader Interest 

    Of course, the more time spent writing the story, or the more effective the story is, the greater your result will be (which is the level of reader interest!). If you want to impress your reader and gain a greater audience, you’ll have to spend more time on your story and make sure it has effective characters, plots, and themes. The more pages in your book, the more time you’ll have to take to make sure that each of those pages are effective enough (otherwise, effectiveness goes down, and just by looking at the formula, level of reader interest will decrease if the effectiveness is decreased).
    And this is why I’ve started to enjoy writing short stories. Fewer pages means less time, and usually, less time means less effort will be put into the effectiveness. However, this is why I’ve learned how to increase the effectiveness of a story. By spending less time writing and reviewing my entire story (because it is much shorter), I have decreased the time portion of the formula, but have worked extra hard on the effectiveness side of the formula, so that my readers’ levels of interest can go up without having to require so much time out of my schedule on the story.
    Such can apply to the readers too: less time can be spent reading a book while more pleasure is received from the book. Is this why short stories may be more appealing to some publishers out there? Not always. Not all short stories have the effectiveness needed to balance out the formula.
 
    In the end, it doesn’t exactly matter whether you are writing 5 pages or 500. What matters is the way you use your time and create effectiveness into writing your story—and how much you, as a writer, are getting out of it.

The Writers' Experiment Group Blog

Embrace your work! Here, you can post links to any books that you are trying to sell, or if you are still in the process of writing, you may post up excerpts of your stories for anyone to read them and comment/make suggestions! You can post anything you want—short stories, novels, fanfictions—and you can post them in any format you want, such as in excerpts, chapters, or the entire piece. Collaborate with other writers and give each writer a chance to share his/her written works with others so that he/she can receive feedback and recognition for their writing accomplishments! http://thewritersexperiment.tumblr.com

People of the Fire- available for FREE on the kindle

What happens if you die and your spirit ends up in some strange new realm, and all your memories of your previous life has been erased? Find out how one young man copes with his new life in a peculiar otherworldly place in "People of the Fire." FREE COPIES are available on Amazon Kindle from 1/27-1/31! (The app is also free to download) Free orders for People of the Fire at: http://www.amazon.com/People-Fire-Purgatory-Michele-Dalson-ebook/dp/B00I1WXVIM/ref=la_B00I28YPWG_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390878121&sr=1-1

The Nook Family: Planet Rape

While Steven Nook and his colleague, Erikson, are experimenting with their latest invention, the apocalypse begins. Pretty soon, the entire planet is overrun by demonic monsters. Steven Nook, his family, and the rest of his colleagues at the Institute flee to a rocket and escape the chaos. Eventually, they crash land onto a faraway planet where ape-like aliens dwell. After investigating the planet’s resources, Steven Nook is determined to use the resources to build weapons that would defeat the monsters back on Earth. He convinces his family and his colleagues to train the ape-like aliens so that they can become an army of powerful ape warriors Steven calls the “Zoon-Apes.” Unfortunately, things do not go as planned when they return to Earth with the Zoon-Apes. These apes do have a taste for human flesh...and the story is not called "Planet Rape" for nothing...

Buy online for $5.80!

Website: http://www.lulu.com/shop/michelle-dalson/the-nook-family-planet-rape/paperback/product-21388978.html

The Nook Family: Gleetopia

Columbus Town is the most modernized place in the world, thanks to the powerful devices built by the Institute’s engineers. But what would happen if all the Institute's devices were stolen? That would just like a slap in the face for the Institute's scientists. 

And in this story, Steven Nook trades all the devices to a pair of aliens in return for their promise to discard their plans to destroy the Earth. When the Institute’s leading scientist, Ms. Hu, discovers what Steven has done, she transitions into a furious rage and destroys the entire town of Columbus, leaving the area completely devoid of civilization. Since the Institute’s devices are missing, Ms. Hu forces the residents to toil the land like their early human ancestors had done, and serve Steven and the rest of the scientists. At first, Steven enjoys having the town serve him; he has tired of serving the town for so long. But eventually, he learns that Ms. Hu has a devious trick up her sleeves as she begins to convince the enslaved residents about a planet called Gleetopia. According to her, the Institute’s devices are all stored in this so-called planet, and if the residents toil the land and serve the scientists, they will be rewarded with admissions to the planet. Whether the place is real or not, Steven can see that it is definitely hypnotizing the residents—as well as himself—to behave as slaves to the tyrannical Ms. Hu.

Buy online for $5.79!

Website: http://www.lulu.com/shop/michelle-dalson/the-nook-family-gleetopia/paperback/product-21388966.html

The Nook Family: The Dot

Here is what happens when the Nooks discover a black hole in their own house!

Story Description: A mysterious dark bubble is floating inside the Nook family’s house. Six-month old Bennis and the family’s humanized rat, Oliver, are the first to discover the strange bubble, and witness it sucking in small fragments from the carpet. Eventually, it enlarges into a massive black hole that swallows up Oliver, and the humanized rodent awakens in another universe. It isn’t long before the rest of the Nook family realizes that this new universe is located within a whole new dimension where their dreams can come to life—literally.

The story is available online for $6.38! Buy online at

 http://www.lulu.com/shop/michelle-dalson/the-nook-family-the-dot/paperback/product-21388984.html

Introduction: The Nook Family

   Do you enjoy watching shows such as Family Guy, American Dad, The Simpsons, King of the Hill, or South Park? If so, I recommend you read this collection of short stories!

   The Nook Family is a short-story collection about a lazy American man named Steven Nook. Now Steven  Nook is a lazy white American in his late thirties. He drinks up to fifteen cans of beer every day, gets a hangover every weekend, and sleeps with twenty women every month. However, no one must underestimate the obnoxious, inconsiderate drunkard. Steven Nook is also a Harvard graduate with an IQ of 220, and is a member of the nation’s most valued company, known as the Institute. He is an extreme genius who, along with his colleagues at the prestigious Institute, has turned America into the most modernized top-tier nation in the world. Oh, and on top of that, he is seven feet tall.

   And the rest of the Nook family are just as extraordinary. Steven's wife, Milana Nook, is a silver-haired physician at the Institute-owned hospital. She, too, is also a Harvard graduate who received her PhD at the age of 22. His 16 year-old daughter, Emily, may look and act like a ditzy, spoiled Barbie girl, but she's ranked number one for each of her high school years. His 10 year-old son, Max, is no different from Steven Nook himself-- he is obnoxious, lazy, and a troublemaking daredevil whose outstanding grades have been the only reason why his school has not expelled him for his horrendous pranks. 

   The Nooks are no different from the Simpsons, the Griffins, or the Smiths. They are just as dysfunctional as any average American family. The only exceptions are their surprisingly high income, intelligence and career success.