How long before readers won’t open a story?

[TarnishedPenny]

I know the question of ideal story length has been raised, but this is a bit different.

Some people do very well with quite long tales. (Wee bit of jealously showing.) On the other hand, I’ve had comments like, “I thought this would be too long, but am glad I started to read.”

OK, I get it. Once you get them to open a story, it’s up to you to keep them reading until the end. That said, is there a line above which most readers are reluctant to even open a story, a length they find so daunting or intimidating that they just move on?

 

[NotWise]

I know the question of ideal story length has been raised, but this is a bit different.

Some people do very well with quite long tales. (Wee bit of jealously showing.) On the other hand, I’ve had comments like, “I thought this would be too long, but am glad I started to read.”

OK, I get it. Once you get them to open a story, it’s up to you to keep them reading until the end. That said, is there a line above which most readers are reluctant to even open a story, a length they find so daunting or intimidating that they just move on?

I don't think readers have a way of telling how long a story is until they open it, and then you have a view.

What do you think of as a long story? My longest is 35K (10 Lit pages).

 

[KeithD]

Surely you've been around long enough to know there's no "universal" reader here. There isn't even a "most" reader here. There's no useful answer to your question. A story is either as long as it needs to be or it's left something out or put too much irrelevant stuff in. Each reader has her/his own untrackable view of where the story is on the scale.

 

[Emirus]

When a title and description interest me enough to want to read a story I then look to see how many pages. It’s rare for me to start a story which has more than 4 pages. However my own stories vary from 1 page to 8 pages. Hypocritical or what?

So I don’t really have a definitive answer. Except that, irrespective of length, the beginning has to hook you because if not no matter what the length you are inclined to move on.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

NW, when I open a story in, say, the New section, it”s right there, right-hand side.

KD, certainly there is no one cast-in-bronze standard, but there are trends. We commonly say things like one reader in a hundred will vote and one in a thousand comment or a Lit page is 3,700 words. Trends are valid.

 

[ScrappyPaperDoodler]

I don’t dIrectly avoid reading onger stories, but I do tend to bookmark them to be read when I have more time. However, that list only gets longer with me rarely going back to actually read anything.

Usually, I’m looking for shorter stories, but it depends on a few things. I don’t want to read 25k words of only sex, but I also don’t want to (necessarily) read 25k before any sex. I always appreciate a little author’s note before longer stories, indicating where the 'action' starts.

 

[NotWise]

Nw, when I open a story in, say, the New section, it”s right there, right-hand side.

KD, certainly there is no one cast-in-bronze standard, but there are trends. We commonly say things like one reader in a hundred will vote and one in a thousand comment or a Lit page is 3,700 words. Trends are valid.

When they open the story to see how long it is, they've already registered a view. I tested that once.

I don't know of any way to tell whether a reader actually reads a story once it's open.

My most-viewed story is 30K words, and someone or two did comment that the story was too long. Other's disagreed. I don't think the length was the problem so much as the long buildup before the main event. It produced plenty of good feedback despite the odd complaint.

 

[KeithD]

KD, certainly there is no one cast-in-bronze standard, but there are trends. .

On a site this open with an ever-changing mix of readers? Nope. I don't know why writers need to be insecure enough to even worry about this sort of thing. Votes and views are neither money in the bank nor a reliable index to the quality of the story. Too many readers are on this site just for release and leave for any of this to matter.

 

[SimonDoom]

I am continually struck by how receptive Literotica readers are to long stories. My impression is that length is no barrier to success. The winners of contests tend to be quite long -- often novella length. Long stories get high scores, and surprisingly many views.

Personally, I don't usually read novellas at Literotica. I used to, but I've found my attention span has grown shorter since becoming an author. I prefer stories that range from 2 to 7 Literotica pages, and I seldom tackle stories longer than that. Every once in a while I make an exception, but it's a rare exception.

But if I were you I wouldn't even think about it. Write as long a story as you want because obviously there is a huge audience for very long stories.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Unless you write chaptered stories there is no way to tell how many people will finish a long story. My analysis of my own (chaptered) content suggests one in five who read the first chapter will read the last. I see no reason why a stand-alone story of any length would be any different.

But that's based on Views. I don't think there's anyway to correlate story length to the likelihood of a story being opened in the first place.

Don't worry about it, I'd say, unless all you want is maximum reads. If that's the case, write incest stories.

 

[lovecraft68]

If that's the case, write incest stories.

Or just write good stories in general and people will follow you where ever you go.

You can blame I/T for your insecurities all you want, that doesn't make it true.

I write a bunch of I/T stories yet my stories with the biggest numbers are in other categories.

Also although you won't believe it, there are some damn good stories in that category.

 

[lovecraft68]

NW, when I open a story in, say, the New section, it”s right there, right-hand side.

KD, certainly there is no one cast-in-bronze standard, but there are trends. We commonly say things like one reader in a hundred will vote and one in a thousand comment or a Lit page is 3,700 words. Trends are valid.

Pay no attention to the permanently bitter and insecure, there are trends here, but they do tend to shift from time to time.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Or just write good stories in general and people will follow you where ever you go.

You can blame I/T for your insecurities all you want, that doesn't make it true.

I write a bunch of I/T stories yet my stories with the biggest numbers are in other categories.

Also although you won't believe it, there are some damn good stories in that category.

Down dog. You are arguing against the fundamental statistics of the site. Incest stories get much higher view counts than any other category. How you conflate that to insecurity is beyond me.

And yes, I know there are exceptional stories in that category. I even have a few favourited.

 

[XerXesXu]

Story Length.

I know the question of ideal story length has been raised, but this is a bit different.

Some people do very well with quite long tales. (Wee bit of jealously showing.) On the other hand, I’ve had comments like, “I thought this would be too long, but am glad I started to read.”

OK, I get it. Once you get them to open a story, it’s up to you to keep them reading until the end. That said, is there a line above which most readers are reluctant to even open a story, a length they find so daunting or intimidating that they just move on?

This is yet another feature of Lit I find frustrating. One can publish by kink or as Novels and Novellas, all kinks and none.

I've been been publishing novels, chapter by chapter, in N&N assuming that was how it should be done, served up in digestible portions. But I see novel length stories published in one submission in kink categories. From the the first few pages they tend to be well written and I'd like to read them through, in a leisurely manner, on an appropriate occasion. On Lit I'm in butterfly mode, flitting about from New Stories to New posts, just scanning for anything that catches my attention, regardless of category.

I can't see any straightforward way of parking them for a long read, when I'm in the mood.

Also, if a 100,000 word story is published as a single submission can the rating system work fairly for the author? They may get many views, but very few will make it to the rating page. Their rating can't be fairly compared to that of short submissions, and I see many authors are very sensitive to ratings.

 

[NotWise]

This is yet another feature of Lit I find frustrating. One can publish by kink or as Novels and Novellas, all kinks and none.

I've been been publishing novels, chapter by chapter, in N&N assuming that was how it should be done, served up in digestible portions. But I see novel length stories published in one submission in kink categories. From the the first few pages they tend to be well written and I'd like to read them through, in a leisurely manner, on an appropriate occasion. On Lit I'm in butterfly mode, flitting about from New Stories to New posts, just scanning for anything that catches my attention, regardless of category.

I can't see any straightforward way of parking them for a long read, when I'm in the mood.

Also, if a 100,000 word story is published as a single submission can the rating system work fairly for the author? They may get many views, but very few will make it to the rating page. Their rating can't be fairly compared to that of short submissions, and I see many authors are very sensitive to ratings.

xelliebabex's "Her Fairy-Tale Life" isn't 100K; It's 68.7K in one chunk. It has a score of 4.89 from 5321 votes, nearly 286K views, 989 favorites, and 201 comments.

I'd say the system worked pretty well for her, but she's a well-known author. If you have a lot of name recognition (including followers), then you can succeed doing things that might be difficult for new writers.

I'm trying to figure out how much I should expect a reader to cover in one sitting. I'll chapterize a story near that size, put the chapters out on consecutive days (or alternate day), and see if can tell a difference.

 

[KeithD]

I can't see any straightforward way of parking them for a long read, when I'm in the mood.

Favorite them. Then just go to your story favorites list to pull it up when you want to continue reading it. I'm assuming that's what many are doing. I get readers who favor twenty or more stories at one go. I'm assuming they are just compiling a futures reading list.

 

[SimonDoom]

Also, if a 100,000 word story is published as a single submission can the rating system work fairly for the author? They may get many views, but very few will make it to the rating page. Their rating can't be fairly compared to that of short submissions, and I see many authors are very sensitive to ratings.

You'd think this would be true, but it's not quite true. There are very long stories that do very well.

Burntredstone's story One Who Understands is 32 Lit pages long. That makes it the length of a full-length novel. It has over 2 million views and over 13,000 votes, which is a very high number and indicates that plenty of people who viewed it read to the end. It is one of the most highly rated incest stories ever.

 

[Payne_Hall]

Not in my experience, mate. Just make it as long as it needs. I’m so trash at writing short stories that it’s basically a superpower. Sightless clocked in at 75k and it seemed to be okay.

 

[RetroFan]

I am continually struck by how receptive Literotica readers are to long stories. My impression is that length is no barrier to success. The winners of contests tend to be quite long -- often novella length. Long stories get high scores, and surprisingly many views.

Personally, I don't usually read novellas at Literotica. I used to, but I've found my attention span has grown shorter since becoming an author. I prefer stories that range from 2 to 7 Literotica pages, and I seldom tackle stories longer than that. Every once in a while I make an exception, but it's a rare exception.

But if I were you I wouldn't even think about it. Write as long a story as you want because obviously there is a huge audience for very long stories.

I tend to write longer stories, but I've received negative comments from Incest/Taboo readers about this.

Of the IT stories I've posted in the past 18 months or so, 'X-rated Xmas Gift from Nutty Niece' and 'Siblings Stuck In Self Quarantine' at 6 pages, 'My Nephew Got Into My Knickers' 8 pages, 'Secret Sex With My Stepdaughter' at 9 pages and 'Cousin Kaitlyn the Flight Attendant' which ran 10 pages all got negative comments about the length. Only 'Banging Cousin Becky In Blackpool' which ran for 7 pages escaped any negative comments for being overly long, perhaps they liked reading about England in the mid 1950s?

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Correction to my original.

Yes, of course, they have to open it to find out how long it is. (Headsmack...) What I meant is people opening a story, seeing 100k words and instantly bolting, without reading.

 

[SimonDoom]

Correction to my original.

Yes, of course, they have to open it to find out how long it is. (Headsmack...) What I meant is people opening a story, seeing 100k words and instantly bolting, without reading.

It happens. Of course. I'm likely to do that. I don't come to Literotica to read novel-length stories. Sometimes I do, but rarely.

But the point is that there are plenty of readers unlike me who DO want to read stories of that length, so no one should shy away from writing such stories.

The sixth most favorited Lit story of all time is Threads: The Island, which is 42 pages long. It's one of the highest rated incest stories of all time, and it has over 27,000 votes, which means lots and lots of people actually read it all the way through.

 

[Euphony]

If it were solely off the raw number of pages, gut feeling is closer to double digits, harder a blind willingness is yours for the taking. Somewhere 6-8 feels like where choices are made.
But as has been said, there is no normal.

If you tend to go long (but well) I'd pay extra attention to your title and tag line since resistance based only on length is more of a possibility.

I'll drop out of a crappy 4 in 1/2 a page but around 6-8 I find myself thinking more about the time commitment.

But if that first 1/2 page or so is compelling, I'll happily take the chefs selection into double digit territory.

Crappy opening 6-8s are my fastest drop outs behind only the god awful 2 page super train wreck from the jump.

 

[yibala2]

I would say no

OK, I get it. Once you get them to open a story, it’s up to you to keep them reading until the end. That said, is there a line above which most readers are reluctant to even open a story, a length they find so daunting or intimidating that they just move on?

Taking into account your followup correction, you're still assuming that readers are looking at word count or # of pages before they become engaged in the story. As a reader, I generally don't do that, and I wonder how many readers do.

As you imply, craft matters. If the reader is hooked, I would guess they're going to at least give the story a chance, or maybe bookmark it once they find out it is longer than they are wanting at that moment. Even if they're looking for stroke material, a story that doesn't save all of the sex until the end might interest them. The whole point of an opening (and everything that follows) is to get the reader to keep reading. And readers aren't paying by the page or the hour. So why not keep reading, if they like the story?

Some of those commenters who complain that stories are too long might be telling writers that in their opinion a story isn't paced well, is dull, or lacking in plot. Even when they comment, readers usually don't say much. So we have to infer.

I also theorize that highly-rated longer stories get more views just because they are longer, because people aren't reading them in a single sitting. My longest story (31K - I know, not super-long, but probably too much for most to read at once) is also my highest rated, and it collected views at a much faster rate than my others.

Maybe I am just projecting my own behaviors on other readers. But I think a story should be as long as it needs to be. I'm usually more disappointed by a story that is too short (esp. one-page parts of a longer story) than too long.



-Yib

 

[XerXesXu]

Favorite them. Then just go to your story favorites list to pull it up when you want to continue reading it. I'm assuming that's what many are doing. I get readers who favor twenty or more stories at one go. I'm assuming they are just compiling a futures reading list.

Thanks, I'll do that.

 

[SisterJezabel]

It changes from week to week for me. 2 months ago I was working a 6 day fortnight, now I’m back up to a 9 day fortnight which lessens my reading (and writing darn it!) time quite a bit. I have 3-4 stories over 35k words in my reading list to read, but I need to find a time to read them and I prefer to read in a sitting. Of course footy season has started too thus reducing time ;-)