Story length and reading habits

[WanderForLust]

Hi everyone - I'm new here having recently discovered I love both reading and writing smutty stuff. This is definitely my new favourite hobby.

I'm curious how most people read stories. I've only ever read Lit stories on my phone and maybe have a short attention span, so I usually like things that are between 1-3 pages on the Lit site. (So maybe more short stories?)

But I see there are lots of stories that are much longer and there are tons of extended series as well. Are people reading on Kindles or other devices that make reading long stories and saving progress easier?

And as a related follow up, do you have favourite story lengths? I searched and saw forum discussions about chapters vs single posts, but I'm curious if there's an overall length sweet spot that anyone as found.

Thanks!

 

[alohadave]

I read on my computer, and I open each story that looks like something I want to read in a new tab.

As I read through a story , I close the tab.

They tend to build up so I go through every so often and close tabs that I'm no longer interested in reading.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I also read on my computer.

I tend to favor stories that tell a tale rather than depicting just a scene or two, so they tend to be longer than a few pages. I also tend to write longer stories (my longest here is more than 80 pages).

I never start reading a story that isn't obviously completed.

 

[MaturemanAJ]

I read everything on my phone, here, kindle, news or whatever.
On occasion I am reading something here that I enjoy and by accident shut it down. Then it's tough to find again.
Length of story I prefer a bit longer than quick ones but some of those are hot too.

What I don't like is stories about guys that cum 15 times in a night by the gallon it's just stupid as everyone knows it's impossible.

I myself would prefer a category that are only true stories of people's actual sex life. If they are fictional don't over exaggerate things to the point of it being ridiculous

 

[WittyUserName]

Hi everyone - I'm new here having recently discovered I love both reading and writing smutty stuff. This is definitely my new favourite hobby.

I'm curious how most people read stories. I've only ever read Lit stories on my phone and maybe have a short attention span, so I usually like things that are between 1-3 pages on the Lit site. (So maybe more short stories?)

But I see there are lots of stories that are much longer and there are tons of extended series as well. Are people reading on Kindles or other devices that make reading long stories and saving progress easier?

And as a related follow up, do you have favourite story lengths? I searched and saw forum discussions about chapters vs single posts, but I'm curious if there's an overall length sweet spot that anyone as found.

Thanks!

I read on a phone or my PC. I do all my writing on my PC. For story lengths? I like long series with many chapters. The kind where you want to skim the sex scenes sometimes to get back to the plot. There's no 'sweet spot' just like there's no magic formula for writing an enjoyable story. You can't please everybody. What one person loves, another will think is the worst garbage they ever read. You will never be able to please everyone, so do yourself a favor and don't try. Write what you enjoy reading, and I promise, there are people out there who will agree.

 

[lc69hunter]

I read and I comment (#7 on the all time list). My sweet spot is multiple chapters of 3 to 5 pages. Anything more than that gets saved to read later.

 

[NuclearFairy]

I read on my kindle, and I tend to have enough tabs open to give some people anxiety. The length of the story depends on my mood and whether I'm suffering insomnia that night. Only time I insist on only reading short stories though is when I'm tired and just wanna rub one out real quick, and then I tend to stick to one pagers.

 

[WanderForLust]

I myself would prefer a category that are only true stories of people's actual sex life. If they are fictional don't over exaggerate things to the point of it being ridiculous

I'd love that category too!

 

[WanderForLust]

Write what you enjoy reading, and I promise, there are people out there who will agree.

Sage advice. I actually love re-reading my own stories so I guess that's a guaranteed audience already

 

[WittyUserName]

I'm always scared when re-reading my own work. I'm afraid I'll catch a small error and have to submit yet another edit(I'm sorry, Laurel)! Then I cringe when I read some of the really old stuff.

 

[AG31]

If I find something in Lit that's over 3 or 4 Lit pages long that I have a strong desire to read, I copy it into Word on my computer and then e-mail it to my Kindle. Can't stand to read long things on the computer, and can't stand to read anything on my phone.

 

[ElectricBlue]

And as a related follow up, do you have favourite story lengths? I searched and saw forum discussions about chapters vs single posts, but I'm curious if there's an overall length sweet spot that anyone as found.

There's a fairly broad consensus that a chapter length sweet spot is around 10k - 12k words (3 - 4 Lit pages). Long enough for slow arousal, a result (if that's what you're after), and a cup of tea afterwards.

 

[WanderForLust]

If I find something in Lit that's over 3 or 4 Lit pages long that I have a strong desire to read, I copy it into Word on my computer and then e-mail it to my Kindle. Can't stand to read long things on the computer, and can't stand to read anything on my phone.

That’s the sort of answer I was expecting tbh. The site is fine but reading long form on a web browser doesn’t feel that ergonomic to me.

 

[Voyeurkenneth]

I prefer to read on tablet or phone. And I can’t be the only one that sets the default Lit font size to +2!

 

[alohadave]

I prefer to read on tablet or phone. And I can’t be the only one that sets the default Lit font size to +2!

I set all websites to at least 150%

 

[crookedletter]

My general aversion to reading on a screen is probably a major reason I don't read more on here, and when I do I tend to stick to shorter stories. I'll happily read a 1000+ page novel in a physical copy, but my attention span doesn't translate well to screens, be it computer or phone.

 

[iwatchus]

If I think I will want to reread a story, I copy it out lit page by lit page, into a local app, where I can view it more comfortably. And fix any typos I see.

I maintain a long single document containing many short stories. Longer stories, especially chapters, I put each in their own document. Being able to read the whole thing as a single document is so much nicer.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

If I want to read a story longer than one page, I copy it into a local file, like @iwatchus. Mostly read on a big monitor.

Generally 1-pagers read as too short to me. I like series, but I wait to read them until they're done. (I do copy the chapters as above, when they're published.)

--Annie

 

[WanderForLust]

If I think I will want to reread a story, I copy it out lit page by lit page, into a local app, where I can view it more comfortably. And fix any typos I see.

I maintain a long single document containing many short stories. Longer stories, especially chapters, I put each in their own document. Being able to read the whole thing as a single document is so much nicer.

This question turned out way more interesting than I expected. Can you say more about re-reading stories? Do you re-read many? For me knowing the resolution of the story takes away some mystique or someething like that. Do you try to forget what's going to happen? Or do you like knowing what's next?

 

[SkyBubble]

I read on my computer, either my desktop (which I'm on now) or my laptop. My eyesight isn't what it used to be. It's hard to read these on a smaller screen.

 

[THBGato]

I use the "Read Later" bookmark for anything that looks interesting or new stories by those I follow. I read mostly on my phone (I also read paper books and my kindle too, not just here).

If it touches on the themes I enjoy - lesbian romance, friends-to-lovers, first-time-with-a-woman, touching coming out takes - and it is well written, then I don't care about length. 750 words or 75,000 words. It doesn't matter, though I do get slightly put off by series that run to over 12 chapters (as often with those I get the sense that the writer has artificially stretched the story out and they can get a bit repetitive).

I'm the same as a writer. My stories range from 750 words to 84,000, though I suspect I'm more comfortable at the shorter end of that, around 25,000.

Can you say more about re-reading stories? Do you re-read many?

I re-read quite a lot, both on here and favourite other books. Sometimes a memory of a story will just come to me, and I'll have a yen to read it, so I will. Other times, a favourite story is better than a long bubble-bath to unwinding.

 

[iwatchus]

This question turned out way more interesting than I expected. Can you say more about re-reading stories? Do you re-read many? For me knowing the resolution of the story takes away some mystique or someething like that. Do you try to forget what's going to happen? Or do you like knowing what's next?

I re-read over years, so I don't remember the details of the stories. (But that might just be old age catching up to me.)

Some I only re-read once or twice. Some of the short ones I have read over a dozen times now. My favorite long ones I have read three or four times.

Yeah there is not a mystique left, but it is more like catching up with old friends. You know what to expect, but there is a nice warm feeling about it. The ones I read a lot have scenes that still turn me on --they are well written and hit my particular kinks well. A lot of the themes that show up in my writing too.

 

[Melody_Lightdraft2]

Hi everyone - I'm new here having recently discovered I love both reading and writing smutty stuff. This is definitely my new favourite hobby.

I'm curious how most people read stories. I've only ever read Lit stories on my phone and maybe have a short attention span, so I usually like things that are between 1-3 pages on the Lit site. (So maybe more short stories?)

But I see there are lots of stories that are much longer and there are tons of extended series as well. Are people reading on Kindles or other devices that make reading long stories and saving progress easier?

And as a related follow up, do you have favourite story lengths? I searched and saw forum discussions about chapters vs single posts, but I'm curious if there's an overall length sweet spot that anyone as found.

Thanks!

It depends, I am happy with a short story length of around 1,500 words. Sometimes you are restricted to 500 words say in a Creative Writing class, or competition entry.
Drabbles are the ones that get me, a whole story in 100 words!

 

[Belegon]

I'd love that category too!

My most loved story would fit in that category. I didn't even change the character names, except for Debbie - I couldn't remember her real name. I have to admit, I was kinda hoping the female lead would stumble upon it and get in touch with me. Lost track of her years ago. the story name is Wingman. Its at the very bottom of my works page. ( it won Erotic Couplings Story of the year in like 2005 or something...)

 

[UnexpectedLuggage]

I read on my phone. I've never gotten into any of the extended series, everything I read is usually a one-off. I actually prefer them a bit longer, myself. I like the detail. I tend to find I write longer stories as well, my last one was well over 20k words, and the one I'm working on now is just as long if not longer.