Ideal Length of an Erotica Piece
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Kantarii
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I never bother with the details of counting words on my stories. I want a right mixture of mood, emotion, character development, and story rolled into one magnificent story I’m trying to tell. There is no ideal length to me. That’s like saying there is a perfect size for breasts or cock length. In the real world people have different tastes
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NotWise
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I think 3000 words is short for a stand-alone story. It's not a bad length for a chapter in a longer story.
TarnishedPenny
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How big is an oil painting?
Some write very long, some quite short. It's up to the author.
FWIW, 3,000 words is just under one page here.
Good luck.
Some write very long, some quite short. It's up to the author.
FWIW, 3,000 words is just under one page here.
Good luck.
No, I understand that it's totally on the author's wish and also on the story.
But what if I asked you the ideal length that sells more for you - novella, novel, short story? What would you say? Please also include the price point.
Let's say, would you write 1 novel of 120,000 words or 24 short stories of 5,000 words?
But what if I asked you the ideal length that sells more for you - novella, novel, short story? What would you say? Please also include the price point.
Let's say, would you write 1 novel of 120,000 words or 24 short stories of 5,000 words?
oggbashan
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The standard answer to this question which has been asked many times before on the Authors' Hangout is:
A story should be as long as it takes to tell the story.
The minimum number of words on Literotica for a submission as a story is 750 words. Shorter than that? It can be submitted as Poetry.
But I write 50-word stories. If I submit them in sets of 15 (15 x 50-words = 750) and have my copyright notice and brief titles for each story I have more than the minimum.
A story should be as long as it takes to tell the story.
The minimum number of words on Literotica for a submission as a story is 750 words. Shorter than that? It can be submitted as Poetry.
But I write 50-word stories. If I submit them in sets of 15 (15 x 50-words = 750) and have my copyright notice and brief titles for each story I have more than the minimum.
Handley_Page
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As a general guide, a Lit page is roughly 3750 words, so your 3000 word epic don't fill one page. A 'good length' of story is about 10000 words (3 pages), but a lot depends upon what you are trying to say (telling a story or describing some sex?)
.
If it's a simple 'stroker', you won't need a lot of space to tell the tale, but if you have a story to tell, keep going!
But do watch out for the troll/s.
Sir_Maveric
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Are you planning to publish here or are you looking for advice to sell your stories elsewhere?
LoquiSordidaAdMe
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I agree in theory with most commentators that a story should be as long as it needs to be to tell the story. However, as a reader with limited time to read (damn day job) I know that when a story catches my interest, one of the first things I do is scroll to the bottom of the first page and check the page count. If a story is longer than three pages (over 11,250 words) then I will probably skip it. If it's only the one page (3,750 words or less), I almost always read it.
I'm not proud of that. I'm sure I've missed out on some great work because I didn't have the time to invest in it. But the fact is, I don't have as much time to read as I would like. So I gravitate towards shorter, stand-alone stories.
Since you are just starting out with your first story, my advice is to write a short one. Don't give readers like me an excuse to overlook your early work. As you write more, you'll build a following. People who know and like your writing will invest the time it takes to read longer stories because they know it will be worth their time.
I'm not proud of that. I'm sure I've missed out on some great work because I didn't have the time to invest in it. But the fact is, I don't have as much time to read as I would like. So I gravitate towards shorter, stand-alone stories.
Since you are just starting out with your first story, my advice is to write a short one. Don't give readers like me an excuse to overlook your early work. As you write more, you'll build a following. People who know and like your writing will invest the time it takes to read longer stories because they know it will be worth their time.
ElectricBlue
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Three Lit pages (roughly 10k words) seems to be a pretty good norm, either for a stand-alone story or a chapter length, especially starting out.
Once you get your own style and voice going, I expect you'll gravitate to whatever suits your content best. I've got an 11 pager up at the moment - nobody would have read it if it was my first thing, but 've got a bit of a following now, and folk will start reading with some idea what to expect.
Once you get your own style and voice going, I expect you'll gravitate to whatever suits your content best. I've got an 11 pager up at the moment - nobody would have read it if it was my first thing, but 've got a bit of a following now, and folk will start reading with some idea what to expect.
CeasarBoobage
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I've read 3k work stories that were amazing, and suffered through 6k word stories hoping they would get better before I gave up. The number of letters in the tale doesn't matter. What matters is if it's fun to read, no matter how long it is.
The price point for all of my stories, whether 3k words or 20k words, is all the same here on Lit. Free.99. The readers will be happy to pay you nothing to read the story you worked on, and some will thank you for it, while others will send you death threats.
There is no holy grail or magic potion to use, just write to make yourself happy, accept the thanks you get, ignore the haters, and welcome to Lit.
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sr71plt
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Maybe straights aren't visual in their arousal, but gay males tend to be, I think. Although I'm lost on the perceived effect of height on cock size.
K
KindofHere
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Sir_Maveric
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There's a running joke / rumor that a man's erect dick is the size of his inner arm from the inside elbow to the end of the wrist. Taller guys would obviously have longer members if it were true.
I refuse to cut off two inches to make it true....
I refuse to cut off two inches to make it true....
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SimonDoom
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Speaking for this straight guy, straight guys can be very, very visual. I cede no ground to any gay guy on the importance of the visual in arousal.
ElectricBlue
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Plus plus one one. If I didn't have visuals, I'd have no stories.
JaxRhapsody
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The answer is 42.
Frankly speaking, I never knew I could publish here. But figured that out from the comments.
I am also quite interested to publish on Kindle, etc. So, that's where I was asking about, primarily.
That was helpful advice. Even I was thinking of starting with a shortie (pun intended).
Loved your advice. Thanks.
Hypoxia
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That's the joke. The folk wisdom equates penile extent to hand-span range, pinkie-tip to thumb-tip. That seems to work. No need to cut anything off. Except in circumcision.
tune: When Johnny Comes Marching Home
When I was eight days old, me boys, hurrah, hurrah
When I was eight days old, me boys, hurrah, HURRAH!
The rabbi came with a big sharp knife
And I surely thought he would take my life
But all - he - took - was
A little-bit off the top
Hey!
Have any LIT stories been circumcised or clitotomized to reach the right length?When I was eight days old, me boys, hurrah, hurrah
When I was eight days old, me boys, hurrah, HURRAH!
The rabbi came with a big sharp knife
And I surely thought he would take my life
But all - he - took - was
A little-bit off the top
Hey!
The ideal length is as short as you can possibly make it without losing one iota of eroticism.
If every paragraph has sexual tension, your story can take up volumes and still be great. If you have a lot of boring content, however, it's too long no matter what the word-count.
If every paragraph has sexual tension, your story can take up volumes and still be great. If you have a lot of boring content, however, it's too long no matter what the word-count.
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