Does story length come with experience?

[GrantBricksly]

750 is difficult for me. And for the challenge, I'm not sure if it is supposed to be 750 exactly or there about.

It is SUPPOSED to be exactly 750 words. No more, no less. Not counting title and description. But anything that you add into the story field (like a disclaimer) counts toward your word count

 

[KeithD]

It is SUPPOSED to be exactly 750 words. No more, no less. Not counting title and description. But anything that you add into the story field (like a disclaimer) counts toward your word count

It's been noted earlier that an explanation that this is for a 750-word contest is not counted in the total. The 750 words is for the body of the story.

 

[GrantBricksly]

When I first posted my stories were around 2-4k. Now I'm averaging around 10-12k. I just started including more detail over time. If I'm writing enough to fully explore what's happening, it naturally takes a few thousand words. If I have more than 2 characters playing, that takes more words to give them all the attention they deserve. I don't tend to write about long periods of time, like following characters around over months; I'd like to try something with a lot of meat on it like that at some point, where I delve into character and plot development and such. If I did, that would surely add some more thousands.

I think that experience DOES bring about more words eventually, if the lack of words was a lack of good writing or skill. When I get comments on my stories that tell me that they didn't get what I was going for, I realize that I need to work on my writing and find a better way to get my point across. The more I write, and read, and the more editing I have done, the better I get.

 

[MillieDynamite]

It is SUPPOSED to be exactly 750 words. No more, no less. Not counting title and description. But anything that you add into the story field (like a disclaimer) counts toward your word count

Not according to the stated rules,

Write a story that is EXACTLY 750 words by Microsoft Word, Google Docs, or Literotica Control Panel Editor count - no more, no less. The story must be 750 words EXCLUDING title, description, tags, etc. Word count includes story text only.

As I understand the word EXCLUDING, it excludes those portions. A disclaimer is a description of what might be offensive in a story or how the story, which it isn't a part of, isn't true.

 

[willyshindig]

Story length is a constant battle. I struggle with the word count all the time. Word count requirements seem artificial to the creative side of my art, but they are what they are--a fact of writing. I started a Valentine story hoping to end around 4k, and I'm there and only halfway through my story. Now I'm thinking I'll end my Valentine ambitions for the story here and get on it for a novela as I've fallen in love with the protagonist. Ew... I want to try my hand at the 750 flash fiction contest. The shortest I've ever done is 1k for an erotica. So, I think I'll spend some time on the flash piece.

 

[GrantBricksly]

Not according to the stated rules,


As I understand the word EXCLUDING, it excludes those portions.

That's what i meant. Perhaps I said it wrong. But that is exactly what I was saying...

 

[MillieDynamite]

That's what i meant. Perhaps I said it wrong. But that is exactly what I was saying...

Well, you said disclaimers counted, and I think they are just another description. They aren't necessary but helpful, if you don't like vampires, turn back you fool, isn't part of the story.

 

[Voboy]

Unless I'm writing commercially, or as part of the 750-word thing, I write until the story's done. Sometimes that's 10k words, usually it's closer to 20k or a bit more. Once or twice it's been down as low as 5k or so.

If you prefer to write short-form, keep writing short-form. If you're driven to write longer, write longer. But writing to fill an "ideal" word count is probably not a recipe for success, at least not if you're a writer like me.

Why not start by making your next series... not a series? Write it all out and then submit as one piece. See what it's like.

 

[KeithD]

I think that experience DOES bring about more words eventually, if the lack of words was a lack of good writing or skill. When I get comments on my stories that tell me that they didn't get what I was going for, I realize that I need to work on my writing and find a better way to get my point across. The more I write, and read, and the more editing I have done, the better I get.

I'd only go so far as to say that license can bring more words. I do generally put more words in my Literotica stories than most I write in the mainstream, and especially for contests in the mainstream. Literotica shows a bias for more words rather than conciseness, focus, and engaging the reader in figuring things out for themselves. I can let some serious aspect of writing craft lapse when writing a story for Literotica, knowing that "more words; better story" is a Literotica mantra, oft asserted here on the discussion board.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I believe, there is a time for verbosity and time for succinct, pithy writing. Know when to do what, now that's the trick.

 

[KeithD]

I believe, there is a time for verbosity and time for succinct, pithy writing. Know when to do what, now that's the trick.

Yep, especially in writing to the flavor of a historical period. Some invite expanded prose (Victorian period) while some would invite short, simple sentences. (I have one novella titled "Beginning of Time," which zipped through very early history and became more complex in wording with the passage of time.)

 

[SimonDoom]

I think it's more a matter of personal taste and habit. I suppose to some degree one might "learn" how to write longer stories over time, because with experience one acquires a better eye for detail and a better skill for capturing it in words. But my tastes and habits and story lengths are no different from when I started writing this stuff over six years ago. I gravitate toward writing stories that are from 3 to 6 Literotica pages, which is roughly 10,000 to 20,000 words. I think that's because it's what I like to read, and my erotic story reading tastes were formed over 15 years before writing a word.

 

[KeithD]

with experience one acquires a better eye for detail and a better skill for capturing it in words.

This is sort of the nub, though. Increased writing experience and skill tend to lead to fewer words in giving detail and capturing the essence. Writing awards tend to go to those who have the vocabulary and talent to nail a description with one word rather than a series of adjectives narrowing down to the singular detail.

 

[SimonDoom]

This is sort of the nub, though. Increased writing experience and skill tend to lead to fewer words in giving detail and capturing the essence. Writing awards tend to go to those who have the vocabulary and talent to nail a description with one word rather than a series of adjectives narrowing down to the singular detail.

I agree with all that. But with experience and skill you might be more comfortable, for instance, describing what a room looks like, or taking a paragraph here and there to narrate a character's relevant experience with something, or to describe a character's internal thoughts and feelings in more detail. I think it goes both ways. I think with more experience you become more mindful. You ask yourself, what am I really trying to say and what words do I need to say it? Could be less. Could be more.

 

[KeithD]

I agree with all that. But with experience and skill you might be more comfortable, for instance, describing what a room looks like, or taking a paragraph here and there to narrate a character's relevant experience with something,

But likely to be less prone to doing so because you have a greater understanding when it's appropriate to include.

I can't give up the belief that those with experience and skill at storytelling are less "kitchen sink" writers than less experienced writers are (or that verbosity is celebrated and encouraged at Literotica for itself.)

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

Give it a try - I cranked out 4, but it's a challenge to get it right

Um, wasn't that my post?

 

[Duleigh]

Um, wasn't that my post?

yeah, that's what I get for trusting a "free" browser

 

[Smuttyandfun]

My first few stories on here were only about 2-3 thousand words long, because I assumed the readers were only interested in something quick and fun. But noticing that I kept requests for more background details, I started to add backstories, and dwell more on their emotions and less on them jumping right in and 'getting busy' with each other. As long you're not filling your stories up with nothing, just to get your word count up, and hopefully whatever details you are adding are helping to drive the story forward, you should be able to find the right length of story that works for you and your writing style, that also satisfies your readers.

 

[TheRedChamber]

I have been thinking about your problem from the other side, trying to conciously write shorter stories. I recently tried to write a story under a Keep It Simple Stupid philosophy - the plot is basically 'she want's to fuck him so she does' and I still came out at 5.5k words. Not that that's necessarily a problem - one of my beta readers has described me as 'overwriting but in a good way', but I have been looking at how many stories on Lit are under one page (thats < approx 3,500 words) and wondering how and why so many people keep it so short. You're getting reasonable scores (I'd guess not much better or worse than mine without going into a deeper statistical analysis) so there's probably no outside pressure to change what you're doing.

I read Mom Watches Part one and the first half of part two. It's noticable that my browser can fit from the start of the story to the heroine getting a cock in her hand on one screen. You certainly don't waste time on build-up and there's some reader's who will appreciate that. There's an argument on this forum that you shouldn't describe what characters look like but let readers insert their own favourite image. I think you take this further - you don't really define Colleen as anything more than 'mom' - and maybe that can also work because readers can insert their own image of the mother-daughter relationship for themselves.

The other thing is you write incredibly punchy sentences.

Colleen spent the next week trying to return to a sense of normalcy.

Her daughter's boyfriend, Sam, caught her watching them have sex. Not only that, she had followed his commands. First to not make herself cum while watching them, then later to make herself cum after they left the house.

In the cold light of day, she felt ashamed and embarrassed by her actions. What kind of mother not only watches her daughter having sex but gets herself off while watching?

She threw herself into her work, trying to make sure that she didn't run into either of them at home. On the weekend, she made up errands to stay out of the house.

It worked for a while.

Colleen went out with friends for a night on the town. Dinner and drinks.

I'd be tempted to add detail - which friends, what kind of dinner, what errends did she make up and in doing so would probably double if not tripple the length of this section. Would any of that add to the story? Possibly or possibly not depending on what the reader is looking for.

 

[alohadave]

Perhaps, although quality certainly doesn't hinge on length. I've looked at some of your stuff. No offense, but as it seems you are looking for suggestions:

Your stories seem to be mainly action, the sex, with just enough outside that to tie things together. That's fine and there's a market for it and I've done some of that myself, but consider including some buildup, backstory and thoughts and emotions (yes, horniness is indeed an emotion ). How did Mom wind up with the mailman in her bed? Has there been another lover? A bit more description of what they are feeling and so forth. My two cents, anyway. Good luck.

You got me. I'm finding writing to be a lot more difficult than I ever thought it was, and it's not something that is coming easily to me.

 

[alohadave]

All of this.

I read a couple of Dave's stories, and they seemed more like scenes in a larger story to me. If he wants to tell longer stories, what he needs to do is tell the whole story of which these scenes are a part.

To get to that story, he needs to formulate a fuller conception of his characters. Who are they when they aren't horny?

And, as someone else noted, his stories need detail. They are sketches that could be colorful paintings.

"She grinned and took her clothes off as fast as she could." What does that look like? Sliding her jeans down her thighs? Letting her skirt drop to the floor? Did she shake her hair from her face after she pulled her sweater over her head? Did she sit on the edge of the bed to take off her shoes? Did the bed squeak? Did she look up at him while she did it, biting her lip and cocking one eyebrow?

Anyway, there's two more cents. That and a handjob will get you a cup of coffee.

This is helpful, thank you.

When I look at what I've written, it reads to me like a list of actions that happened, rather than a story, if that makes any sense. I also feel like I'm getting mired in the details of sex, and feels really tedious to write.

 

[alohadave]

When I first posted my stories were around 2-4k. Now I'm averaging around 10-12k. I just started including more detail over time. If I'm writing enough to fully explore what's happening, it naturally takes a few thousand words. If I have more than 2 characters playing, that takes more words to give them all the attention they deserve. I don't tend to write about long periods of time, like following characters around over months; I'd like to try something with a lot of meat on it like that at some point, where I delve into character and plot development and such. If I did, that would surely add some more thousands.

I've been thinking about it and I think that I'm impatient to get to the 'meat' of the story, rather than building up to it. I'm writing scenes rather than stories.

 

[alohadave]

You're getting reasonable scores (I'd guess not much better or worse than mine without going into a deeper statistical analysis) so there's probably no outside pressure to change what you're doing.

My scores are fine, not worried about that. My writing is likely fine for the people who are scoring it now, but I want to improve it for me.

The other thing is you write incredibly punchy sentences.

I'd be tempted to add detail - which friends, what kind of dinner, what errends did she make up and in doing so would probably double if not tripple the length of this section. Would any of that add to the story? Possibly or possibly not depending on what the reader is looking for.

This is helpful. I need to work on building the story.

 

[Euphony]

I'm a new writer, and I have a problem writing longer stories. Most of my stories are under 2000 words long.

I'm amazed at people who write longer stories. My longest is only 5K words long.

When I'm writing, I feel like I'm getting the story across, but I check the word count (and I know not to base a story on word count, but when most others are writing 5-6K word stories or chapters, it's hard not to compare), and it'll be 900 words, 1500 words, etc.

I guess my question is how do you do it? Do the words come easy and you pare them down?

Personally, (and through my reader lens) a lot of long stories aren't pruned well enough. A lot of bigger stories read as someone who simply committed to telling a long story and is only so focused on tightening the narrative. Some are downright blubberous.

Skillsets we are gifted in/aren't are individual so you writing a tight narrative may be you having a natural talent to control pacing and move the story along with only its more necessary bits.

I, and plenty of younger/newish/try hard authors inflate word count under the notion it's more "literary" or what have you which usually it's not. (most classic lit is still deftly paced. Hemmingway might paint with so very many colors but they work in harmony not competition.)

If you are telling the story wholly in the nature you want to tell it (they ain't all gotta be grandiose) then comparison is a fools errand as you aren't building a kid hauler SUV but a dragster.

Purpose shapes the engineering, even in the word arts.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

You got me. I'm finding writing to be a lot more difficult than I ever thought it was, and it's not something that is coming easily to me.

Gotcha. But it's like getting good at anything, I suspect. One plays a lot of 'Chopsticks' on the piano before one can sink one's teeth into Chopin. Hang in - you have some good plot ideas; I look forward to seeing you start pulling in H's like a cockney parliament.