Basic story form - questions???

Okay I am in the process of writing my first story for submission. My original intent was to write it in chapters and submit them as I wrote them but after doing some reading here in the various forums have decided that might not be the best for me so I am now trying to complete the story first before submitting it.

I have a few questions that have arisen. I am a reader and enjoy reading several if not most categories. I like reading stories that have some depth to them as opposed to just raw blunt sexual descriptions. So this is also the style I have chosen to follow with my writing.

So how are the different categories for each story chosen?

What is the best submission method? i.e. a single story of say 60k words that will have 10 or 20 pages or a chaptered story that has distinct chapters for each different scene and is about 3 to 5 pages each?

As an example if I submit chapters, my initial chapter is 9.3k words and the second and third chapters are each about 7k. Is this a good way to keep it or should I combine it into a single story of say 24k words?

Also I want to keep the submissions together but the action in each scene will be different and belong in different categories such as coerced, anal, lesbian, voyeur and exhibitionism. So will my story appear in ALL of those categories or just the single chapters?

OTOM

Oldtalesoldman said:

So how are the different categories for each story chosen?

Click to expand...

You can choose the category where you want to post it, but the mod may override that at her discretion. If there are multiple categories that could apply, base it on the main theme and/or the thing most likely to squick unwary readers.

What is the best submission method? i.e. a single story of say 60k words that will have 10 or 20 pages or a chaptered story that has distinct chapters for each different scene and is about 3 to 5 pages each? As an example if I submit chapters, my initial chapter is 9.3k words and the second and third chapters are each about 7k. Is this a good way to keep it or should I combine it into a single story of say 24k words?

Click to expand...

About 3 pages is a good length for a posting. You could post the whole thing to the Novels category, but I don't think it gets a lot of readers.

Also I want to keep the submissions together but the action in each scene will be different and belong in different categories such as coerced, anal, lesbian, voyeur and exhibitionism. So will my story appear in ALL of those categories or just the single chapters?

Click to expand...

Each submission only shows up in a single category. (You can add tags for the other categories that might apply, but it's more effort to find stories by tag.) You have two options: you can pick a category that describes the overall story and post them all there, or post individual chapters in different areas depending on their content.

Bramblethorn said:

You can choose the category where you want to post it, but the mod may override that at her discretion. If there are multiple categories that could apply, base it on the main theme and/or the thing most likely to squick unwary readers.

Click to expand...

This will work for me I guess as my story properly will belong in the coerced category but could easily apply to others based on progression of the storyline.

Bramblethorn said:

About 3 pages is a good length for a posting. You could post the whole thing to the Novels category, but I don't think it gets a lot of readers.

Click to expand...

So I can figure a "Lit" page at about 3.5k words? Making each "chapter" around 9k words would work.

Bramblethorn said:

Each submission only shows up in a single category. (You can add tags for the other categories that might apply, but it's more effort to find stories by tag.) You have two options: you can pick a category that describes the overall story and post them all there, or post individual chapters in different areas depending on their content.

Click to expand...

As I said I am a reader here and actually quite voracious in several areas. I find that sometimes I have come across a story that will have 7 or more "chapters" in total but in the particular category I am perusing only 4 show.

I find that both amusing and frustrating at the same time especially since there is no "link" to the entire work. Before you give me the big sigh and admonish me like a wayward child I admit to a little bit of laziness - and - I also soon discovered that there actually is a "link" for the entire story. It's available by "clicking" on the author's name and being transported to a listing of all of his offerings. Still I find this is not a very good way for a reader to have to pursue to read those "other" chapters. Does it work, yes, is it convenient, no. This is exactly what I have been wrestling with. To submit in chapters that will be moved or separated in the "search" engine or to submit a SINGLE story that will have everything inclusive in multiple pages. Really there is no answer and both ways have their own drawbacks.


OTOM

Oldtalesoldman said:

I find that both amusing and frustrating at the same time especially since there is no "link" to the entire work. Before you give me the big sigh and admonish me like a wayward child I admit to a little bit of laziness - and - I also soon discovered that there actually is a "link" for the entire story. It's available by "clicking" on the author's name and being transported to a listing of all of his offerings. Still I find this is not a very good way for a reader to have to pursue to read those "other" chapters. Does it work, yes, is it convenient, no. This is exactly what I have been wrestling with. To submit in chapters that will be moved or separated in the "search" engine or to submit a SINGLE story that will have everything inclusive in multiple pages. Really there is no answer and both ways have their own drawbacks.

Click to expand...

If you title chapters sequentially, like so:

Senators In Catsuits Ch. 01
Senators In Catsuits Ch. 02
...

then Lit will identify them as a series and link them all together, so that readers at the end of chapter 1 will see a direct link to chapter 2. (There's an example of this in my submissions, linked in my .sig). But if you're worried about readers being confused, you could include a brief explanation at the start of each post; I know some writers do that and it seems to work.

Yes, a "prologue" of sorts would be best for me and I will number the chapters as you have advised before uploading them.

I really appreciate the help.

Thanks,

OTOM