Is there an ideal length to a Literotica story?

[Syzoth]

My question to the authors out there is, what do you think is an ideal length for story on Literotica?

Do you even think there is such a thing?

My postings have been averaging 30+ pages (12 font, double-spaced). I tend to focus a lot on conveying what the main characters are thinking and explaining the reasons for their actions. This often takes a lot of exposition before I get to the "action".

I realize there are many types of stories posted on Literotica: romance, quick fuck stories, and, literally, everything in between.

While I feel like the average reader isn't here to read a long novel, as I writer I don't want to short-change my writings. There's a specific story that I want to tell.

On the other hand, I also want to attract as many readers as I can, and I've been told that shortening my stories will hold more people's attention.

Your thoughts? Thank you for your help.

-Syzoth

 

[ElectricBlue]

No. A story needs to be as long as it needs to be.

Your "thirty pages, double font" is meaningless - you need to think in terms of words and Lit pages (a Lit page is around 3750 words, plus/minus a hundred or so).

If you're writing a multi-part thing a good chapter length is 3 - 4 Lit pages (10k - 14k words). But I've seen single submissions up to 80 pages (around 240,000 words).

 

[Desiremakesmeweak]

Probably one of the most outstanding expositions of what to write IN, versus what to leave OUT, is the interview on YT of Noomi Rapace - I mean I personally was rather stunned by just how smart this woman really and truly is. She said that the director WAS ADAMANT that he wanted her to explain to her boyfriend in her 'breakthrough' movie how she (the character, that is) was raped when she was very young and all of that and how it all had impacted her which was why she was the way she was... blah blah blah.

And apparently she went into a stand-up fight with him telling him that she was NOT going to SAY all of those things and that with just one look she was able to convey the whole thing...

She prevailed and moreover she was right.

This site is outstanding for developing one good trait in writers if anything - namely, to be able to edit things back so that things are expressed economically but nevertheless right 'on target.'

The point is to 'get everything that's necessary' across to the reader, but it is remarkable just how smart readers are and what they can work out from tiny tiny traces in the text or narrative or dialogue.

Most experienced writers will tell you there is no such thing as a set-in-stone length, style, template - or anything. Having said that, we all have to accept that readers hereabouts are looking for two pages. And that's it. Beyond that we are at risk of exercising our own vanity in place of their desires.

Titanic - the Movie (the whole entire story): big ship, lots of people; ship sinks, people drown. The End.

And the dialogue? Well that's just this: 'Jack.' 'Rose.' Jack!' Rose!' Jaa-a-a-a-ck!!' Ro-se -, glub glub glub...'

 

[Hypoxia]

No ideal length exists. LIT's minimum is 750 words (poetry can be shorter) and the maximum has yet to be reached. Figure out what you want to say and have at it.

 

[Desiremakesmeweak]

'As a writer I don't want to short-change my writing.'

Don't man, don't go there; DON'T GO DOWN THAT ROAD.

Go down this one instead:

'As a writer I don't want to short-change my readers.'

 

[MichaelGH]

Most experienced writers will tell you there is no such thing as a set-in-stone length, style, template - or anything. Having said that, we all have to accept that readers hereabouts are looking for two pages. And that's it. Beyond that we are at risk of exercising our own vanity in place of their desires.

I don't know, a lot of shorter pieces I've written don't seem to get as good reviews and thus less views. With no evidence backing me up whatsoever I would assume like 4-6 pages would be the ideal. That promises something at least mildly fleshed out along with a lack of commitment.

But yeah, it's about finding that balance between brevity and detail that will keep readers enthralled. A forward momentum with time spent examining your characters and their situations.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I don't know, a lot of shorter pieces I've written don't seem to get as good reviews and thus less views. With no evidence backing me up whatsoever I would assume like 4-6 pages would be the ideal. That promises something at least mildly fleshed out along with a lack of commitment.

But yeah, it's about finding that balance between brevity and detail that will keep readers enthralled. A forward momentum with time spent examining your characters and their situations.

What some folk forget, I think, is that one of the aims of erotica, as distinct from a more traditional short story or novella format, is arousal. One assumes that's the case, anyway. Providing a route to arousal requires a different rhythm to the words, a different flow. More repetition, more peaks and troughs, plateaus so the reader can catch their breath and slow down. To some extent that can be at odds with a crisp, precise rendering of emotion and short story drama.

 

[jsmiam]

... an ideal length for story on Literotica? ...

In practical terms, a one-page story where casual readers see the scoring stars at the bottom of the page will get more "impulse scorings", of which some will be one-star "one-bombs".

Everything I'm saying here applies to (1) casual readers, and (2) that most stories score somewhere in the 4+ range, so a one-star score is more impactful than a five-star rating. (It's important to distinguish casual readers, from the non-casual, which will include raving fans, but also includes sworn enemies and/or obsessive haters of certain topics or haters of "category crossing". In my opinion, there are a lot more casual readers than anyone else.)

Compare this to a two or more page story; Some of the casual readers who might have one-bombed the story with little thought had the scoring buttons been more conveniently available to them right there on page one will not have bothered to navigate to page two, so they 'll never score your story, good or bad. So on average, the person who bothered to proceed beyond page one either really liked (or really hated) the story. Meaning (in general) that the scores, good or bad, are probably a little more carefully thought out than those on a one-page story.

So, from a purely shallow and cynical perspective, I believe that two or more page stories get higher scores. (Wouldn't it be fascinating to have some raw data to do some analytics?)

 

[Handley_Page]

My question to the authors out there is, what do you think is an ideal length for story on Literotica?

Do you even think there is such a thing?

My postings have been averaging 30+ pages (12 font, double-spaced). I tend to focus a lot on conveying what the main characters are thinking and explaining the reasons for their actions. This often takes a lot of exposition before I get to the "action".

I realize there are many types of stories posted on Literotica: romance, quick fuck stories, and, literally, everything in between.

While I feel like the average reader isn't here to read a long novel, as I writer I don't want to short-change my writings. There's a specific story that I want to tell.

On the other hand, I also want to attract as many readers as I can, and I've been told that shortening my stories will hold more people's attention.

Your thoughts? Thank you for your help.

-Syzoth

Ah, 30+ pages, eh ?
Would that be A4, Foolscap or Quarto size pages ?
Would the 12-fount be a 'compressed' fount, such as Times Roman,or like Arial ?
Surely not a wider fount such as ITC Bookman or Schoolbook ?
Perhaps you might consider re-thinking your length./sizes. ? The number or words, perhaps?

A Lit page is reckoned to be about 3700 words, and that's a really good place to start with the sizing.

A great many readers like a neat 'slice' of a story, so 3-5 pages, or 15- 18000 words is a comfortable size. Anything significantly longer and the opinions get divided; there are those who reckon get it all out (perhaps they travel long distances ?) against those who consider doing the thing in chapters (and not one chapter per page please?).
Of course, the Category is also important. Some seem to take bigger files easier than others.

Good Luck

 

[UsuallyPresent]

-snip-
Of course, the Category is also important. Some seem to take bigger files easier than others.

This. Each category really has a different personality. What flies in SciFi wouldn't work in NonCon, etc. So take a look at what's worked for others in your chosen genre and copy - 'only be sure always call it please, "Research*"' - what's worked for them.


*Tom Lehrer, Lobachevsky

 

[SimonDoom]

1. As EB and others suggest, think in terms of Lit pages. 1 Lit page = about 3750 words.

2. There is no ideal length. A story should be as long as it takes to tell it.

3. The readership here is huge and there are readers with every possible taste. Some like short, stroke stories; some like long stories.

4. Some analysis has been done before that indicates that stories of less than 2 (Lit) pages tend to be scored lower. So if you care about the score, aim to write a story of at least 2 pages.

5. As EB notes, this is an erotic story website. Many come here looking for stories for arousal. Erotic stories tend to follow a pattern that is unique. The first part of the story typically consists of the setup, which introduces the characters, a sexual need or desire of some kind, and a buildup toward sex. The second part of the story consists of sex (broadly defined). Some readers really want a good buildup; others want to get to the sex right away. There's no right way to do it. Generally speaking, however, your story will do "better" (in scores and views) if you have a good setup AND a well-developed sex scene (don't rush it).

 

[TarnishedPenny]

First off, Syzoth, welcome to our community. I look forward to seeing your stuff.

I won't argue with anything others have said. OK, maybe just a leeetle bit of disagreement with EB saying that what counts is the arousal. Yes, it's an erotic site, but (much as I like EB's stuff - do check it out) what's more important is writing well. Do that and creating arousal is made much easier. Ergo, IMHO, our focus should be on writing well. Write good stories with erotic content rather than erotic stories; the difference may be subtle, but it's important.

Length. Again, you have asked a question which has been asked many times before and got a lot of different answers. I very much tend to write short ones; others go much longer. Just from what I have seen, anything less than one Lit page (±3,700 words) is probably not going to be scored as well. Again IMO, two-and-a-bit Lit pages is a good 'minimum' length for a story.

Max length depends on how well you can keep the plot going. Hammngbyrd7's The Preacher Man has proved wildly popular at 46 pages. Most of us couldn't sustain our story (and, yes, EB, our eroticism) that long.

In terms of what genre, again, that's always a topic of discussion. Romance stories tend to get a lot of readers and generally good scoring. Incest/Taboo is supposed to be popular. Things like Fetish or Interracial have their own fan clubs, but the readership is smaller. Loving Wives has a lot of readers but is renowned for its nasty one-bombing scores and sewer-dweller commenting.

Bottom line? It's your story and you can pretty much do as you wish, subject to site rules. There's only one way to learn and that's the way the cat learned to swim. Give it a whirl, be prepared for the trolls (trolls one-bombing you, to my way of thinking, means that your stuff is good enough to notice) and - truly - have fun.

Hope to see you around.

 

[Syzoth]

'As a writer I don't want to short-change my writing.'

Don't man, don't go there; DON'T GO DOWN THAT ROAD.

Go down this one instead:

'As a writer I don't want to short-change my readers.'

Ahhh... that's a GREAT way to put it. Duly noted.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[HeyAll]

My goal is never to be boring. Every line and paragraph has to either further the story, highlight the character, or be erotic.

If you keep that philosophy in mind, it could out a lot of unnecessary stuff which could easily bore the average reader.

Having said that, the ideal page length for me is 2. About 6,000 words.

 

[KeithD]

There isn't just one, universal "what I like" reader at Literotica, so, no, there isn't an ideal length to a Literotica story.

 

[Maeven_quinn]

I'm typically reading Lit Erotica at work lunch breaks. So I appreciate something that I can read about half an hour.

I think my max is about 10k. Anything longer than that I prefer broken up into smaller sections.

 

[RejectReality]

The closest thing to "Ideal" is about 2-3 Lit pages. That's the sweet spot where you don't go too long for the quick wank readers to open it and give it a shot, and not too short for those who prefer a little more meat on the bone.

That's purely how many people will give it a shot, though. Doesn't necessarily translate into anything more than clicks.

Also only really applies to some of the categories. That's on the low end for Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Non Human, or LW, for example.

In the end, as so many have said, the ideal length is how long it takes to tell the story you want to tell. There's a readership for one page pure wank vignettes, and multi-chapter epics spanning hundreds of pages.

 

[Hypoxia]

I suspect the masses of LIT readers and writers have many different "ideal story lengths" varying with patience, mood, fetish, time available, whatever. Some write or read very long pieces, same as airport novels. Some pack numerous short-shorts into each submission for we mortals with short attention spans. There's something for everyone!

 

[Blind_Justice]

Depending on the mood and temperament of your fanbase, your stories can't be long enough, they'll always ask for more. Just write the way you're comfortable with. That's the beauty of our particular corner of Authoria - there are few formal regulations and it's a proven fact that there's an audience for literally everything, even a raunchy story involving banana slugs.

 

[seeshelly]

The lenght of a story...

The length of a story is like the length of a man's legs. They need to be long enough to reach the ground. (Abraham Lincoln)

 

[yukonnights]

Most of this below is just a reiteration of some of what has been said.

Don't write with some arbitrary length as a goal. Write the story that is in your head in the best way you can. To do otherwise...well, why? It's your story, it's a free gift, it's for your enjoyment of creating.

There are tools that are available here to "package" the story in terms of "length". If the story in your head needs more words than fit on the number pages you're comfortable with — form it up in the multi-chapter/multi-part style.

If you decide on the 'multi-chapter style'. There's an additional step one needs to do in the writing phase. That is to try your best to make each chapter fulfilling, end each chapter in a way that makes the reader eager for what comes next, and to do this requires a bit more management on your part. For starters; Do a word count check at the close of each writing session. Shoot for at least two pages — up to four (7500 to 15k words.) [advice: Finish all chapters, then submit each one individually on the same day. They will be posted out every couple of days once approved.]

I think fully developed characters that cause the reader to actually care about them, a believable tension device — antagonist, threat, etc, a disciplined showing instead of telling pov as possible, and a satisfying resolution are the important things. Many readers won't recognize all of these elements, but they will know it's a good story.

For what it's worth; Some of my best received stories have been my longest ones. Some are one long story and some are multi-part.

 

[Maeven_quinn]

The length of a story is like the length of a man's legs. They need to be long enough to reach the ground. (Abraham Lincoln)

My mind must be extra smutty today. I somehow read that as "the length of that which is between a man's legs" or something, and had quite the image in my mind after reading that next sentence.

 

[jaF0]

If I see any indication one will be more than 4-5 pages, I won't even begin to read it.

 

[ElectricBlue]

If I see any indication one will be more than 4-5 pages, I won't even begin to read it.

Your loss, then. Some of the very best content here is in the longer works. Some of the worst, too. Each to their own .

 

[DryLips]

I try to hit 7,000-8,000 words for a chapter in a multipart story. Since I’m taking my story from 90,000 word novel, I have plenty of material to choose from. I tend to combine 2-3 of my book chapters into one Lit chapter, but, if my one chapter hits between 5-6,000 words, I’ll look at the content to see if I need to beef up the sex content or just take the next chapter from my book. I’ve also taken just half a chapter if I think it will end the Lit chapter in a good place.

It’s all about content.

When my first chapter went up, it was only one Lit page and I had a couple complaints. Since then, I try to hit at least three pages, and everyone seems pleased with that. I submit my chapters in Arial 12, single spaced.