1000-word stories

[flights_of_fancy]

Do you ever write stories of around 1000 words, even down to the 750-word threshold and if so, what do you get out of it? I’ve just started writing here on Literotica (last week to be precise) and feel that very short stories suit me well, mainly because I prefer creating one or two scenes and amping up the emotional content. I’m also aphantasic so I’m rubbish at lengthy descriptions. And then there’s the added bonus of being able to get really granular about the language without it taking hours.

Would be interesting to hear the thoughts of others who like to keep it short, especially any challenges you’ve run into and how you’ve tackled them.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I typically only write stories of that length as contract jobs or as "How-To" submissions here.

As a reader and a writer, I'm too much into the characters and details to cheat the story for the sake of brevity.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Do you ever write stories of around 1000 words, even down to the 750-word threshold and if so, what do you get out of it? I’ve just started writing here on Literotica (last week to be precise) and feel that very short stories suit me well, mainly because I prefer creating one or two scenes and amping up the emotional content. I’m also aphantasic so I’m rubbish at lengthy descriptions. And then there’s the added bonus of being able to get really granular about the language without it taking hours.

Would be interesting to hear the thoughts of others who like to keep it short, especially any challenges you’ve run into and how you’ve tackled them.

My story length runs from 750 words to 90,000 words. I don’t have an exclusive relationship with word count. Different types of stories can be rewarding in different ways.

 

[NotWise]

There's an annual writing event for 750-word stories. You should take part.

The readers don't have a lot of appreciation for such short stories, but they're interesting to writers.

 

[StillStunned]

Every story has its own length. People say that readers prefer 6-10k words, but I find that if your story is properly crafted, and tells a complete tale, readers will appreciate it no matter what its length.

The trick is not to try to tell too much in too few words, or use too many words that the tale doesn't need.

Start the story as close as you can to the inciting incident - and make sure you know what the inciting incident for your tale is. A one-scene stroker doesn't need to include the characters' biographies. It doesn't need anything that's not in the room with them. But the inciting incident does need to draw the reader in. Give them a reason to be curious about the next sentence.

And when your tale is done, end it. Assume that your reader has joined your characters in their climax, and now all they want to do is wipe their eyes/forehead/hands, depending on the story, and leave you 5 stars and a comment. Don't make them wade through an epilogue to get there.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I'm firmly married to the story length determined by what a story needs, except when a specific length is required.

 

[THBGato]

I've written a few short ones (two 750, one at 1800, a couple more at 3,400). Works best if it's a single scene. The trickiest bit is finding a decent ending - out of those five, I think I've only managed that once.

 

[alohadave]

750 word stories are fun to write. You have distill the story into the bare necessity. When you get to the final word count, you are picking words to replace or reduce.

It's fun challenge, but readers tend not to like them.

There is usually a 750 challenge in February, and lots of stories are written for that.

 

[SkyBubble]

Every story has its own length. People say that readers prefer 6-10k words, but I find that if your story is properly crafted, and tells a complete tale, readers will appreciate it no matter what its length.

The trick is not to try to tell too much in too few words, or use too many words that the tale doesn't need.

Start the story as close as you can to the inciting incident - and make sure you know what the inciting incident for your tale is. A one-scene stroker doesn't need to include the characters' biographies. It doesn't need anything that's not in the room with them. But the inciting incident does need to draw the reader in. Give them a reason to be curious about the next sentence.

And when your tale is done, end it. Assume that your reader has joined your characters in their climax, and now all they want to do is wipe their eyes/forehead/hands, depending on the story, and leave you 5 stars and a comment. Don't make them wade through an epilogue to get there.

All of this.

 

[SkyBubble]

I'm firmly married to the story length determined by what a story needs, except when a specific length is required.

Precisely.

 

[flights_of_fancy]

Every story has its own length. People say that readers prefer 6-10k words, but I find that if your story is properly crafted, and tells a complete tale, readers will appreciate it no matter what its length.

The trick is not to try to tell too much in too few words, or use too many words that the tale doesn't need.

Start the story as close as you can to the inciting incident - and make sure you know what the inciting incident for your tale is. A one-scene stroker doesn't need to include the characters' biographies. It doesn't need anything that's not in the room with them. But the inciting incident does need to draw the reader in. Give them a reason to be curious about the next sentence.

And when your tale is done, end it. Assume that your reader has joined your characters in their climax, and now all they want to do is wipe their eyes/forehead/hands, depending on the story, and leave you 5 stars and a comment. Don't make them wade through an epilogue to get there.

Thanks, these are very useful comments, especially about the inciting incident.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Do you ever write stories of around 1000 words, even down to the 750-word threshold and if so, what do you get out of it? I’ve just started writing here on Literotica (last week to be precise) and feel that very short stories suit me well, mainly because I prefer creating one or two scenes and amping up the emotional content. I’m also aphantasic so I’m rubbish at lengthy descriptions. And then there’s the added bonus of being able to get really granular about the language without it taking hours.

I too enjoy very short stories, either deliberately constrained by the 750 word limit, or multiple vignettes, not much longer. They're very much a writer's whim. Generally readers don't like them as much, but I think you get an honest score, because it's so easy to drop to the end and vote.

Would be interesting to hear the thoughts of others who like to keep it short, especially any challenges you’ve run into and how you’ve tackled them.

I have several series of sequential short chapters, usually written intermittently. On occasion, they turn into a longer story, when something finally goes zing.

They generate traffic for sure, mine have a keen little group of followers who often comment because they like the quick read.

https://www.literotica.com/s/a-girl-on-the-bus - starts short, gets longer chapters (deliberately so, to see how many readers I could pull along. Turns out, quite a number went with me to the end and got their erotic reward).

https://www.literotica.com/s/brooke-works-at-the-hardware-store - four 750 word chapters.

https://www.literotica.com/s/melissa-works-at-the-hardware-store - same store, different person. Three parts so far, the fourth is now turning into a complete story.

https://www.literotica.com/s/the-white-swan - this one has my best ever vote/view ratio, nearly 1 in 10.

https://www.literotica.com/s/i-dreamed-of-veronica-last-night
A comment like is always worth it:

Anonymous1 day ago
I really like how you write. It’s a trite thing to say maybe.

But there’s a sense of being present within the text that I can’t shake after reading, and I don’t come across writing like that very often.

This echoes your comment about amping up the emotional content.

 

[iwatchus]

https://www.literotica.com/s/brooke-works-at-the-hardware-store - four 750 word chapters.

If you want to see what can be done with 750's, highly recommend these stories.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

My 750 ended up around 800. Trying to find out which 50 words to cut was ... interesting. Got down to 730 or so and had to figure out how to rephrase a couple of passages to get it back to the mark.

 

[Lifestyle66]

For last year's (Feb 2024), I wrote a dozen 750-word vignettes for the Loving Wives category, just doing so to test their reactions to various scenarios.

Loving Wives Vignettes

I had written others before that and since. But those twelve were to find what might work to be turned into longer stories. "Pavlov's Dog - 750 Words" was my LOWEST rated story at 2.29/810, so it was later turned into "Raging Hormones" (3.17/515) to explain WHY that couple was the way they are.

 

[ElectricBlue]

mainly because I prefer creating one or two scenes and amping up the emotional content. I’m also aphantasic so I’m rubbish at lengthy descriptions.

I came back to this comment because I'm the exact opposite. I'm a very visual person and it's very often the close observation that triggers the intensity I can pack into these short pieces - that readers comment on, often. It's also interesting to me that one of my biggest fans for these vignettes is also aphantastic. I get the sense she "sees vicariously" with the word descriptions I give her.

And then there’s the added bonus of being able to get really granular about the language without it taking hours.

Yep, this too. They can be like the quick sugar hit at eleven in the morning - that sudden burst, done, publish.