Long VS Short stories

[SimonDoom]

I was taught to keep readers on a roller coaster while they read.

To keep readers interested, no matter the length of the story, I find rotating between short, concise sentences, medium-length sentences, and long, more complex sentences. Likewise, I move between short paragraphs, followed by ones of medium size and a few longer paragraphs here and there. Along with that, action is interspersed with some slowdowns so they can catch their breath. At least, that is my goal.

In addition, my stories vary in length, flash, short stories, longer short stories. And I try to move between genres as well.

But that’s just me.
.

This describes my writing style as well.

In general, I think short paragraphs work for Internet fiction. I can't say why, exactly, but I think it has something to do with the way readers scroll through the text. I mix up normal length paragraphs with very short paragraphs. I often use one-sentence paragraphs. I always give a line of dialogue its own paragraph. I try to mix up narrative, description, dialogue, and interior thoughts, and keep the mix going to keep things interesting.

I have yet to publish a really long standalone story. I think my longest standalone story is about 7 Lit pages. My other long stories were published in chapters.

 

[Djmac1031]

Personally, by the time I've introduced some characters,.got them together, and got them to have sex, it's over 10k. At which point they might as well have a bit extra plot and some more sex. Or more plot until they manage to get it on, leavened with some sexual thoughts or anecdotes.

My shorter stories haven't been so good - basically they're scenes rather than stories. I find short stories can work for Fetish and Toys/Masturbation because authors know what their audience want and can get straight to it, but otherwise they seem to offer too little, for me (and many short stories are by authors who just don't have much to say,.so I end up a bit biased against them).

SF readers like longer stories (and published books support that), which makes sense when you're looking for world-building but many (free or printed) are just too long and would benefit from editing.

I know there's an audience for short stroke pieces and often wonder if they are mostly slow readers or fast at climaxing? Different strokes for different folks, literally.

The only definite I think is that if you have a long multi-chapter story, keep the chapters a similar length, as a sudden short one will disappoint readers.

I think my main problem is, writing stories without a clear endgame in view. I kinda jumped into the deep end right away trying to get some stories up, but then having to decide how to continue, or even if to continue.

I'm working on a new one now that I'm going to completely finish before publishing so I know exactly how long it is and how it ends. But still deciding on whether to publish it in chapters or as one long story. Seems there's pros and cons to both.

 

[rjordan]

As a reader if the story is interesting I really don't care how long it is. Yet I'd say around 3 to 10 lit pages are just right.

I just finished reading George Saunders' A Swim in a Pond in the Rain. He uses a critique of 7 classic Russian short stories for instructional examples.

Just for fun, I measured the word count and number of Lit pages they would occupy. [Sorry, can't figure out how to format tabular data here.]

Title, Author Words Lit Pages
In the Cart, Chekhov 3500 1
The Singers, Turgenev 7100 2
The Darling, Chekhov 4900 2
Master and Man, Tolstoy 19,200 6
The Nose, Gogol 9000 3
Gooseberries, Chekhov 4300 2
Alyosha the Pot, Tolstoy 2100 1


Certainly, not a representative sample, even of just Russian classics, but it shows that a lot of meaningful stories could appear on Lit at around 2 pages. A couple of the stories on the list would show as 2 pages though the second page isn't filled.

rj

 

[Gitan_Roma]

It's content for me. I can get bored reading a 750 word tale, alternatively I can read 75,000 words in one sitting given the time.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

My three shortest stories are my three lowest scores (of course one of them is in Non-erotic which may explain that one). My chaptered stories are my highest scoring stories. My long single stories are just below the chaptered ones. You definitely get more votes (and higher scores) for a two-part story that has the same word-count as a single story.

Personally, as a reader, I prefer a 3 - 6 Lit page length story to read so I can read it all in one sitting. So, if you have a story that comes out to twenty Lit pages, I'd be more likely to read it if it was broken into 4 chapters so I can read it at my leisure.

 

[MajorRewrite]

My stories range from 13,000 to 19,000 words. It’s just naturally worked out that way. I’ll mess around with a story for years sometimes, adding and deleting scenes until the story feels told without too much extraneous junk.

When I’m reading stories I feel cheated if it’s only 1 or 2 pages, but I hesitate to dive into a story that’s more than 10 pages.

On a semi-related note, I avoid reading series that are more than a few chapters long. I’ve found that the quality of writing in any series quickly diminishes after about 3 chapters.

 

[Haulover]

...as a READER...

Long

...one long sitting.
...

I only read stories on Lit's Android app.

That allows me to stop reading at any time, and pick the story up later - on the same (small, phone-screen) page. I.e. no need to read it in one sitting.

 

[jehoram]

I personally like stories that are about 10,000 words or less. I don't want to invest the time in more. But I don't mind short chapters of long stories.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I personally like stories that are about 10,000 words or less. I don't want to invest the time in more. But I don't mind short chapters of long stories.

The last story I published was over 25,500 words and had six chapters. However, it was all one posting as it is was for the Hammered event. The next one is over 30,000 words so far and is for the Halloween even so it is one posting despite having at least six chapters.

 

[gordo12]

I prefer 2-6 lit pages. Anything longer, and I archive it for reading when I have downtime.

 

[8letters]

Let's look at the data. Here's the Lesbian Sex story data broken out by the number of pages:
[tr][td].[/td][td]

.​

[/td][td]

Average​

[/td][td]

Average​

[/td][td]

.​

[/td][td]

Average​

[/td][td]

%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td].[/td][td]

Stories​

[/td][td]

# of​

[/td][td]

# of​

[/td][td]

Average​

[/td][td]

# of​

[/td][td]

Stories​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Pages[/td][td]

Published​

[/td][td]

Views​

[/td][td]

Favorites​

[/td][td]

Rating​

[/td][td]

Comments​

[/td][td]

Red H​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1 page[/td][td]

10429​

[/td][td]

45.7K​

[/td][td]

12.0​

[/td][td]

4.19​

[/td][td]

3.5​

[/td][td]

16%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2 pages[/td][td]

4897​

[/td][td]

49.0K​

[/td][td]

23.7​

[/td][td]

4.48​

[/td][td]

6.0​

[/td][td]

55%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]3 pages[/td][td]

1779​

[/td][td]

51.7K​

[/td][td]

35.2​

[/td][td]

4.57​

[/td][td]

9.0​

[/td][td]

74%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]4 pages[/td][td]

840​

[/td][td]

55.2K​

[/td][td]

46.3​

[/td][td]

4.63​

[/td][td]

12.9​

[/td][td]

82%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]5 pages[/td][td]

410​

[/td][td]

59.8K​

[/td][td]

64.7​

[/td][td]

4.68​

[/td][td]

18.0​

[/td][td]

88%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]6 pages[/td][td]

217​

[/td][td]

67.7K​

[/td][td]

78.1​

[/td][td]

4.72​

[/td][td]

23.1​

[/td][td]

91%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]7 pages[/td][td]

129​

[/td][td]

76.2K​

[/td][td]

108.5​

[/td][td]

4.72​

[/td][td]

29.5​

[/td][td]

91%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]8 pages[/td][td]

87​

[/td][td]

74.8K​

[/td][td]

91.5​

[/td][td]

4.72​

[/td][td]

30.8​

[/td][td]

91%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]9 pages[/td][td]

47​

[/td][td]

85.6K​

[/td][td]

95.3​

[/td][td]

4.70​

[/td][td]

25.2​

[/td][td]

87%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]10 pages[/td][td]

24​

[/td][td]

105.0K​

[/td][td]

148.1​

[/td][td]

4.78​

[/td][td]

28.2​

[/td][td]

96%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]11 pages[/td][td]

9​

[/td][td]

50.8K​

[/td][td]

69.7​

[/td][td]

4.62​

[/td][td]

18.6​

[/td][td]

67%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]12 pages[/td][td]

11​

[/td][td]

217.2K​

[/td][td]

308.6​

[/td][td]

4.78​

[/td][td]

95.5​

[/td][td]

91%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]13 pages[/td][td]

8​

[/td][td]

34.6K​

[/td][td]

64.4​

[/td][td]

4.64​

[/td][td]

17.4​

[/td][td]

75%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]14 pages[/td][td]

3​

[/td][td]

31.8K​

[/td][td]

61.7​

[/td][td]

4.75​

[/td][td]

38.0​

[/td][td]

100%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]15 pages[/td][td]

8​

[/td][td]

78.4K​

[/td][td]

115.9​

[/td][td]

4.75​

[/td][td]

30.0​

[/td][td]

88%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]16 pages[/td][td]

1​

[/td][td]

94.9K​

[/td][td]

64.0​

[/td][td]

4.42​

[/td][td]

8.0​

[/td][td]

0%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]17 pages[/td][td]

2​

[/td][td]

29.9K​

[/td][td]

79.5​

[/td][td]

4.64​

[/td][td]

28.5​

[/td][td]

50%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]18 pages[/td][td]

1​

[/td][td]

6.8K​

[/td][td]

11.0​

[/td][td]

4.73​

[/td][td]

5.0​

[/td][td]

100%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]19 pages[/td][td]

2​

[/td][td]

18.0K​

[/td][td]

39.0​

[/td][td]

4.87​

[/td][td]

32.0​

[/td][td]

100%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]20 pages[/td][td]

3​

[/td][td]

53.7K​

[/td][td]

112.3​

[/td][td]

4.71​

[/td][td]

24.3​

[/td][td]

100%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]21 pages[/td][td]

3​

[/td][td]

44.4K​

[/td][td]

53.7​

[/td][td]

4.78​

[/td][td]

21.3​

[/td][td]

100%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]22 pages[/td][td]

1​

[/td][td]

6.0K​

[/td][td]

13.0​

[/td][td]

4.73​

[/td][td]

3.0​

[/td][td]

100%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]23 pages[/td][td]

2​

[/td][td]

250.6K​

[/td][td]

451.5​

[/td][td]

4.79​

[/td][td]

114.5​

[/td][td]

100%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]24 pages[/td][td]

3​

[/td][td]

18.7K​

[/td][td]

29.7​

[/td][td]

4.71​

[/td][td]

5.0​

[/td][td]

67%​

[/td][/tr]

 

[8letters]

Here's the data for stories that Literotica thinks is a stand-alone story:
[tr][td].[/td][td]

.​

[/td][td]

Average​

[/td][td]

Average​

[/td][td]

.​

[/td][td]

Average​

[/td][td]

%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td].[/td][td]

Stories​

[/td][td]

# of​

[/td][td]

# of​

[/td][td]

Average​

[/td][td]

# of​

[/td][td]

Stories​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Pages[/td][td]

Published​

[/td][td]

Views​

[/td][td]

Favorites​

[/td][td]

Rating​

[/td][td]

Comments​

[/td][td]

Red H​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]1 pages[/td][td]

6190​

[/td][td]

52.0K​

[/td][td]

12.2​

[/td][td]

4.10​

[/td][td]

3.4​

[/td][td]

7%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]2 pages[/td][td]

2204​

[/td][td]

61.2K​

[/td][td]

27.2​

[/td][td]

4.41​

[/td][td]

6.5​

[/td][td]

43%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]3 pages[/td][td]

804​

[/td][td]

65.2K​

[/td][td]

42.2​

[/td][td]

4.52​

[/td][td]

9.7​

[/td][td]

65%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]4 pages[/td][td]

386​

[/td][td]

63.1K​

[/td][td]

50.9​

[/td][td]

4.61​

[/td][td]

13.3​

[/td][td]

81%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]5 pages[/td][td]

185​

[/td][td]

89.3K​

[/td][td]

92.3​

[/td][td]

4.66​

[/td][td]

21.8​

[/td][td]

88%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]6 pages[/td][td]

109​

[/td][td]

90.6K​

[/td][td]

102.3​

[/td][td]

4.68​

[/td][td]

23.8​

[/td][td]

86%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]7 pages[/td][td]

72​

[/td][td]

88.5K​

[/td][td]

133.5​

[/td][td]

4.68​

[/td][td]

29.9​

[/td][td]

87%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]8 pages[/td][td]

45​

[/td][td]

88.6K​

[/td][td]

99.5​

[/td][td]

4.68​

[/td][td]

25.7​

[/td][td]

84%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]9 pages[/td][td]

28​

[/td][td]

80.2K​

[/td][td]

100.4​

[/td][td]

4.72​

[/td][td]

24.1​

[/td][td]

93%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]10 pages[/td][td]

18​

[/td][td]

84.6K​

[/td][td]

140.8​

[/td][td]

4.77​

[/td][td]

26.8​

[/td][td]

94%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]11 pages[/td][td]

5​

[/td][td]

61.2K​

[/td][td]

64.8​

[/td][td]

4.63​

[/td][td]

14.4​

[/td][td]

60%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]12 pages[/td][td]

9​

[/td][td]

251.4K​

[/td][td]

350.0​

[/td][td]

4.79​

[/td][td]

101.4​

[/td][td]

89%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]13 pages[/td][td]

4​

[/td][td]

53.6K​

[/td][td]

111.5​

[/td][td]

4.71​

[/td][td]

24.3​

[/td][td]

75%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]14 pages[/td][td]

3​

[/td][td]

31.8K​

[/td][td]

61.7​

[/td][td]

4.75​

[/td][td]

38.0​

[/td][td]

100%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]15 pages[/td][td]

5​

[/td][td]

117.5K​

[/td][td]

166.8​

[/td][td]

4.79​

[/td][td]

41.6​

[/td][td]

100%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]16 pages[/td][td]

1​

[/td][td]

94.9K​

[/td][td]

64.0​

[/td][td]

4.42​

[/td][td]

8.0​

[/td][td]

0%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]17 pages[/td][td]

1​

[/td][td]

48.7K​

[/td][td]

143.0​

[/td][td]

4.91​

[/td][td]

46.0​

[/td][td]

100%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]20 pages[/td][td]

1​

[/td][td]

150.2K​

[/td][td]

296.0​

[/td][td]

4.73​

[/td][td]

50.0​

[/td][td]

100%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]21 pages[/td][td]

2​

[/td][td]

61.6K​

[/td][td]

72.5​

[/td][td]

4.81​

[/td][td]

29.5​

[/td][td]

100%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]23 pages[/td][td]

1​

[/td][td]

494.3K​

[/td][td]

891.0​

[/td][td]

4.79​

[/td][td]

220.0​

[/td][td]

100%​

[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]24 pages[/td][td]

1​

[/td][td]

30.7K​

[/td][td]

38.0​

[/td][td]

4.88​

[/td][td]

7.0​

[/td][td]

100%​

[/td][/tr]

 

[8letters]

Each additional page results in better numbers, hitting a plateau around page 6.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Each additional page results in better numbers, hitting a plateau around page 6.

Yes, that seems to be a sweet spot for standalone stories, for long chapters in a long story, seems to be around 3 - 4.

 

[Emirus]

The best rule of thumb I've came across is write as long or as short as the story needs.

I'm not a big fan of chapters. It might be different if Lit didn't allow chapters to take up space in top lists and allow them to dominate the monthly and end of year awards. This is after all a story site and the last time I looked chapters were not a story.

I agree with TxRad as to writing the story of a length required by the plot. There’s no point in putting in words for the sake of it because, in most cases, it will only bore the reader.

I recently read, although that’s really not the correct expression, a story of about 12k words. The title caught my eye and the description made the story sound interesting.

About 8k words were taken up with describing the action in a sex scene which took place, in real time, about an hour. The writer told the reader the same thing over and over just regurgitating the words in a different order. Once I realised what was happening I skipped to the end of the scene to read the remainder of the story.

To me it seemed the writer had decided to write a story of 3plus pages no matter what and a decent editor would have cut the story down to half the length. When I checked the rating it would seem other readers had the same opinion as myself.

I generally read stand alone stories of between 7k/11k words (2 to 3 Lit pages) I have read the occasional series where the chapters have been 7k/11k words. A series with chapters of 25k I don’t bother beginning to read.

As for series chapters, and I consider my opinion unbiased because I’ll never have a story at the lofty heights, dominating the top lists I entirely agree with TxRad’s opinion that the top lists are for stories and individual chapters are not a story. They are part of a story which is an entirely different thing.

 

[KeithD]

11,000 words would be three Lit. pages.

 

[MillieDynamite]

11,000 words would be three Lit. pages.

Does short dialog paragraphs, short and long paragraphs, and using blank space have any effect on that page count?

I would think snappy repartee between two people would push you down the page further with fewer words.

Not doubt you, just curious.

 

[Haulover]

Does short dialog paragraphs, short and long paragraphs, and using blank space have any effect on that page count?

I would think snappy repartee between two people would push you down the page further with fewer words.

Not doubt you, just curious.

Just copy/paste your text into MS-Word or Google documents (which is free) - and let it do the word count.

Takes about 9 seconds...

 

[MillieDynamite]

Just copy/paste your text into MS-Word or Google documents (which is free) - and let it do the word count.

Takes about 9 seconds...

Or, I could open the word files and just check it that way. I'm just being lazy right now!

 

[rjordan]

About 8k words were taken up with describing the action in a sex scene which took place, in real time, about an hour. The writer told the reader the same thing over and over just regurgitating the words in a different order. Once I realised what was happening I skipped to the end of the scene to read the remainder of the story.

I do the same with all Tab A in Slot B sex scenes. They're about as interesting and useful as Ikea assembly instructions.

rj

 

[ElectricBlue]

Does short dialog paragraphs, short and long paragraphs, and using blank space have any effect on that page count?

I would think snappy repartee between two people would push you down the page further with fewer words.

Not much. The page "size" must based on a total character/space block within the database, and works out around 3750 words plus or minus 50 or so. So snappy dialogue and lots of it will make the display length longer, but not the word count within each block, and won't affect the page count itself, not much anyway.

Think digital length, not print page size .

 

[MillieDynamite]

Not much. The page "size" must based on a total character/space block within the database, and works out around 3750 words plus or minus 50 or so. So snappy dialogue and lots of it will make the display length longer, but not the word count within each block, and won't affect the page count itself, not much anyway.

Think digital length, not print page size .

Thanks, I knew it mattered in print, and to a degree in digital at Amazon. Or it seems to.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Thanks, I knew it mattered in print, and to a degree in digital at Amazon. Or it seems to.

That's coz epubs have prescribed page lengths for folk with page swipe readers as an option, more like a print book.

Lit is continuous scroll, with a page break when the data bin is full.

 

[MillieDynamite]

That's coz epubs have prescribed page lengths for folk with page swipe readers as an option, more like a print book.

Lit is continuous scroll, with a page break when the data bin is full.

OIC thanks

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I suppose my question becomes do you prefer the novels broken down to short chapters or published whole?

As a reader, if the story is enjoyable, it's always too short. If it's not enjoyable, it's always too long.

Long versus short, chapters versus single post; you're never going to make everyone happy either way. My best advice is to make certain that the story is finished before posting the first chapter or part so that readers don't have to wait too long to continue enjoying it, and consider the category that you will post it under. Readers going to Novels and Novellas have a different expectation for story length than readers in most other categories.