Does (story) Size Matter?

[kurrginatorX]

Okay, a few questions on story size. What is the acceptable size for a submission? Let's say I am using MS Word and I have typed ten pages of a single story. Is it okay to submit it in it's entirety, or should I break it up into chapters so as to compensate for attention spans and overall time one may have to dedicate to a single reading? Will chapters move off the "pending" list quicker because of their smaller size? Thanks for any feedback you may provide.

D

 

[Keirarose]

Legit was just thinking the same thing. I have previously always split mine up, as I write I posted chapters as I went. Problem being..... I haven't finished the story!

I have started a new story that I have a good 15 pages on word but am MAYBE halfway done?

My opinion: a 20 page story for me on here sometimes looks a bit daunting. I'm more likely to read 3-5 page stories... If they're good, you bet I'm going to be looking for the next chapters!!

 

[TxRad]

The minimum size is 750 words. What is max is, is anyone's guess.

Chapters? If your story has natural breaking points, yeah. If not, leave it as one post. If the story is good the size does not matter. I write long stories and have good scores. I have written chaptered stories and some have good scores, some don't.

 

[SimonDoom]

In talking about story length on this site, it's useful to talk in terms of "Lit pages." A Lit page is a single long, scrollable screen page. It contains approximately 3750 words, which obviously is a lot more than a standard story page. My single-spaced, non-indented, 33-page, 16900+ word story became a 4 1/2 Lit Page story.

That's a fairly standard length. All of my stories, so far, have been more than one but not more than five Lit pages. I have two series, and each chapter ranges from just over two to just under five pages.

Some people, looking for simple stroke stories, like their stories no longer than one or at most two pages -- just enough to get the satisfaction they are seeking. And some people like shorter stories because of a scarcity of time.

I'm surprised, though, how well longer stories do here, both in terms of views and ratings. The longer the story is, the fewer people may get to the end of it, but those that do may be likely to give you a higher score. There are plenty of readers here who like character development and buildup in the stories they read.

The minimum length, per guidelines, is 750 words. I'm not aware of a maximum length. You can find plenty of stories that are between 20 and 30 Lit pages -- the length of a novel. Some of them have done very well.

My advice, if you have a 10-page story, is to submit it as a single story. A couple of reasons:

1. 10 pages aren't that many by the standards here. Even single-spaced, it's only 2-3 Lit pages.

2. There is the risk that if you break the story into chapters, some readers will see the first chapter but not see the chapter after that. Story views tend to drop a lot after the first chapter.

3. Breaking a modest-length story like yours into chapters is particularly a bad idea on this site if any of the chapters have no sex. Some readers will grow bored and frustrated and drop your story. It's less of a problem if you submit everything together. Then they get satisfaction at the end of their reading.

 

[Bramblethorn]

We have semi-regular arguments about this issue here, and there's some disagreement about just when you should think about splitting a story into chapters.

One page on the website view is about 3750 words. Some authors recommend keeping stories in two- to three-page chunks, others think five is fine, others will go longer than that.

But if your story is ten pages in MS-Word, it's probably about 5000 words, which is only two Literotica pages. I don't think anybody would recommend splitting a two-page story.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Okay, a few questions on story size. What is the acceptable size for a submission? Let's say I am using MS Word and I have typed ten pages of a single story. Is it okay to submit it in it's entirety, or should I break it up into chapters so as to compensate for attention spans and overall time one may have to dedicate to a single reading? Will chapters move off the "pending" list quicker because of their smaller size? Thanks for any feedback you may provide.

D

Depending on your print size and other factors, ten Word pages is only about 5,000 words. This is not particularly long. I would submit it as a single story. It should take about three days to post but, if you break it up into chapters, it will take longer.

750words is the minimum. Technically, there is no max. but, if you have a story that is tens of thousands of words long, you would be well-advised to break it up into chapters.

And, welcome to Authors' Hangout. Have you submitted the full frontal nude photographs of yourself yet?

 

[ElectricBlue]

Agree others above. If it's 5000 words stand-alone, a single submission would be best.

If it's part of longer yarn, a 2 - 5 Lit page chapter size is quite common (7500 - 18500 words). The longest single submission I've seen was 50 Lit pages I think. A monster novel.

 

[Handley_Page]

Are we assuming about 500 words per MS Word page ?
because character size, margins 6 spacing will affect it.
Better by far is the Lit Page (3750 words).
3 lit pages is a good length for a quick read; it gives a chance for something by way of a story and leaves sufficient space for the 'stroke' bit.

 

[My I]

I've never felt a need to break up longer stories. One of my highest rated stories was almost 30 pages in Word and was submitted as a single piece. I have seen other authors with stories way longer than that as a single piece and have done very well.

But you can do the cliff hanger thing too and might actually get more followers just because if the first chapter was good they will follow you to get the rest of the story when it comes out.

 

[NotWise]

My longest story on Lit is eight pages. It's divided internally into chapters, so I could easily have posted it in chapters but decided to keep it whole. I wondered at the time if that was a mistake, and I wonder now if others have had a similar experience.

The story has an okay number of views for a non-contest entry and its rating is my highest. The problem is that it has so few votes that the rating is meaningless. It has 1 vote for each 475 views. It also has just one reader comment to go along with the low votes.

I suspect that only a small proportion of the people who view the story actually get to the end. The fact that it's 'Part 3' and not a standalone story at all probably encourages that. Normally that would get me some one bombs from annoyed readers, but there hasn't been much of that and they've all been swept.

 

[Areala-chan]

I've never done a multi-part story here because I don't like reading them myself. I'd much rather read a single 9 Lit page story here than five 2 Lit page chapters. A single story tells me you're disciplined enough to create something with a beginning, a middle, and an end. A never-ending stream of chapters tells me you're either looking to pad your story submission count, or you have no idea where you're going with things and are writing filler until you figure it out.

But that's just me. Other readers here LIVE for the never-ending, multi-part sagas ('Bleach' and 'Dragon Ball' have been running forever for a reason). There's no pleasing both me and them, and there are more of them than there are of me, so...

A good story will be a good story whether you post it in chunks or one single submission. If you do go the multi-part route, but you have the whole thing written, it's a good idea to let readers know at the beginning. One of the reasons I gave up on multi-chapter stories a long time ago was the annoyance of hitting part 4, seeing the cliffhanger, and realizing it's been two years since the author published anything else, so the chance of seeing it finished is now nil. Thanks for wasting everybody's time.

If the story's the length you've described, then breaking it up is pointless. My longest story here is 49 pages in Word, just under 28k words, which is eight Lit pages. You'll be fine with a single submission, and nothing says you can't write a sequel to it later.

 

[kurrginatorX]

Thanks

You all offered sound advice. I appreciate you taking the time to lend your aid for this query.

D

 

[LadyMireille]

In my experience, as a writer, it is approximately 5 MSWord pages per Lit page. So, 10 pages equal only 2 Lit pages. Definitely, submit as one story.

I find that many stories I read are about 3-4 Lit pages, and I also to submit stories that are between 15-20 MS Word pages (3-4 Lit pages). I think that is an ideal length for a story that is interesting, has some character and plot, and a good intimate scene.

As a reader, I find stories that are over 5 Lit pages daunting because I usually read late at night when I am already tired, and I like to be able to finish a story or chapter. Any longer than that and I typically fall asleep. Not to say that I haven't read plenty that are over that length. Some of the best stories have lengthy chapters, and I am not going to not read them because of their length.

 

[Voboy]

My first couple of stories here, I broke them up because I figured that was the norm.

Nope.

All my longer stories are far, far better received. My typical story is maybe 18-24,000 words. YMMV.

 

[ElectricBlue]

A never-ending stream of chapters tells me you're either looking to pad your story submission count, or you have no idea where you're going with things and are writing filler until you figure it out.

That's not always the case - it often is, but not always - I'm working on a stupid long myth retell at the moment where chapter breaks signify a sub-story, sometimes with continuing characters, sometimes not, but each chapter is self-contained. It would be unmanageable to write if I did it any other way. But it won't be posted until it's complete.

I agree though, most of the longer stories are episodic things that just go and on when they should have stopped much earlier - he says, being the proud owner of a 23 chapter shaggy dog story that was plotted as it went along, but did in the end resolve itself. It's mostly 2-3 Lit page chapters, because I was writing fast at the time, knowing I had to get the next chapter out or lose momentum.

 

[CarlusMagnus]

As a rule, I try to write a complete story--which I then break up at what seem reasonably spaced natural places into chapters of two to four Lit. pages (4000 to 16000 words). I aim for an average length of about 8500 words per chapter, but probably don't finish with that.

The important point is this: Although there may be good reason for me to write one or more sequels, they are true sequels--that is, follow-up stories that are capable of standing on their own. I try to complete each story before I post any of it. Then I post the individual chapters, in order, three or four days apart. This results in free advertising, as my name and work appear in the New Stories section for a while--on one occasion, for weeks on end. If you're getting good ratings and good comments, this almost assures more readers.

 

[SamScribble]

Many, many years ago, I took a short story writing class at a top-tier university.

The course leader, a successful short story writer, suggested that there were two approaches to writing short fiction. You could write principally for yourself; or you could write for an identified audience. On the basis of several years of reading the comments here on Lit, I get the feeling that about a third of the authors here write primarily for themselves, the rest write for ‘an audience’. This is not to suggest that the writers who write primarily for themselves don’t appreciate positive feedback from a wider audience. They do. Or, at least it appears to me that they do. But they don’t ‘write to order’.

How long should a story be? Long enough to tell the story. But that's just my opinion.

 

[Hypoxia]

Basic rule: keep your strokers short and your serials endless.

 

[Areala-chan]

Basic rule: keep your strokers short and your serials endless.

And never the twain shall meet?

 

[49greg]

My first couple of stories here, I broke them up because I figured that was the norm.

Nope.

All my longer stories are far, far better received. My typical story is maybe 18-24,000 words. YMMV.

I did the same thing at first, but now prefer to do one chapter stories, however long they might be - and for me that is usually 3 to 4 Lit pages.

However, I get multiple requests for additional chapters, and I assume many other writers here do as well. When that happens you've got a choice to make. Do another chapter for a story that was meant to be one chapter, or not.

 

[electric1]

I'm going to argue for breaking up long stories. 5,000 words isn't all that long, but I would still prefer to err on the side of shorter submissions.

I can only speak for myself, but when I see a story that goes over 3 Lit pages, my first assumption is that the author either can't use words economically, can't get to the point, can't keep the story focused, and/or overestimates his/her literary abilities. Longer stories may get higher reader scores, but I think that's because only the people who love that story reach the end of it to vote.

As for the fear someone raised that readers won't find your next chapter, if you end the title with "Ch. 1," readers will know to look for chapter 2. All they have to do is click on your name to find all your posted stories.

 

[oggbashan]

...

As for the fear someone raised that readers won't find your next chapter, if you end the title with "Ch. 1," readers will know to look for chapter 2. All they have to do is click on your name to find all your posted stories.

Not Ch.1

If there is a possibility that you might go beyond 10 chapters, start with Ch.01 otherwise Literotica might list them like this:

Ch.1
Ch.10
Ch.11
Ch.12
...
Ch.2

Starting with 01 gives you up to 99 chapters in order. 001 if you might go beyond 100 chapters...

 

[Areala-chan]

I'm going to argue for breaking up long stories. 5,000 words isn't all that long, but I would still prefer to err on the side of shorter submissions.

I can only speak for myself, but when I see a story that goes over 3 Lit pages, my first assumption is that the author either can't use words economically, can't get to the point, can't keep the story focused, and/or overestimates his/her literary abilities. Longer stories may get higher reader scores, but I think that's because only the people who love that story reach the end of it to vote.

As for the fear someone raised that readers won't find your next chapter, if you end the title with "Ch. 1," readers will know to look for chapter 2. All they have to do is click on your name to find all your posted stories.

Chaptered stories have their uses, and CarlusMagnus does have a point: they keep your name and your works on the 'new' lists for a longer period of time, and longer exposure leads to more reads.

It is also possible for stories to be so long I'm not likely to start them. JammyJimmy's "Threads: The Island" perennially crowns the Top List for the I/T category, but it's also 42 Lit pages long, and could be the poster child for your hypothesis that only the people who love the story stick it out to the end for a vote. That said, it's also accumulated over 22k total votes in the last six years, and the next-highest story in the category is four years older but has 14,000 fewer votes, so make of that what you will.

 

[Voboy]

However, I get multiple requests for additional chapters, and I assume many other writers here do as well. When that happens you've got a choice to make. Do another chapter for a story that was meant to be one chapter, or not.

There’s no choice at all. We’re writing gratis; if I don’t feel like writing a sequel, I don’t. If I do, I do. I appreciate fan feedback, but I don’t let it determine what I write about unless they pay me. These are my characters, not theirs.

I can only speak for myself, but when I see a story that goes over 3 Lit pages, my first assumption is that the author either can't use words economically, can't get to the point, can't keep the story focused, and/or overestimates his/her literary abilities. Longer stories may get higher reader scores, but I think that's because only the people who love that story reach the end of it to vote.

You do indeed speak for yourself. All the best stories I’ve read here came in over five, and had no problems with word choice, pointlessness, or untalented writers.

Fortunately, we’ve all got our different likes and dislikes, and Lit supports all sides. But you’re missing out on a lot of good writing by imposing an arbitrary upper limit on yourself.

 

[jsmiam]

Okay, a few questions on story size. What is the acceptable size for a submission? Let's say I am using MS Word and I have typed ten pages of a single story. Is it okay to submit it in it's entirety, or should I break it up into chapters so as to compensate for attention spans and overall time one may have to dedicate to a single reading? Will chapters move off the "pending" list quicker because of their smaller size? Thanks for any feedback you may provide.

D

This isn't an answer, just one person's opinion. This one person detests chapter stories, and never in a million years will I bother reading one.

Other people clearly feel differently though. Some people love chapter stories and follow the authors to see what happens next. Others maybe can take them or leave them, and don't hate them the way I do.

So in the end, it's OK if you make your own decision. That's probably the best answer. Good luck!