750 Word Story

[Rob_McCall4]

My first post here. Newbie. Hope that is okay. I love the short 750 word story. The fun of writing a compelling story in such a compact structure. I understand why readers on here might find them unacceptable considering the primary purpose of the visit, but gosh I like writing them. What a wonderful challenge to use your words specifically and without waste. Every word has to count. Forces you as a writer to really look at what you are putting on the page. I just submitted another. Love them.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Look out for next year's anthology collection.

Here's the link to the support thread for 2023:

2023 - 750 Word Anthology

 

[TarnishedPenny]

RMc4 - I enjoy the 750s. They can be a challenge sometimes.

You might want to add a link to your stories in your signature.

Good luck.

 

[Rob_McCall4]

Look out for next year's anthology collection.

Here's the link to the support thread for 2023:

2023 - 750 Word Anthology

Thanks. I entered this year's 750 Word contest. That is how I fell in love with the form. I've been reading for years and only started writing a while ago. I thought all stories had to be long - multiple pages to be accepted and then discovered that was not the case.

When I was a kid, my dad subscribed to some kind of Alfred Hitchcock monthly story magazine that always featured 500 word mysteries. A crime, an investigation, a solution, and sometimes an arrest. I think the most famous one was the wife who killed her husband with a frozen ham and got away with it by feeding the cops the ham for dinner!

I always loved those 500 word mysteries. Maybe that is why I like the challenge of the 750 word story so much. A childhood instinct.

 

[Zenith77]

I really liked the 750 word story I entered this year. Remains my lowest-scoring story of all time, despite some very positive comments. I don't think readers see it as the challenge writers do; they seem to still expect it to push all their buttons. I left it on my list, but I won't be doing that again.

 

[MrPixel]

Yeah, the 750s can be a bunch of fun. I banged-out four this year. I don't worry about the scoring, tho' mine were all ~4 and above. Not bad.

They are a bit of a challenge. Being that concise yet still telling an interesting story is a precarious balance. The liberal use of contractions certainly helps!

 

[SirBurnInside]

I'm very impressed by those who do the 750 word stories, simply because I tried once writing one for fun and before I realised what had happened I'd done 1249 words and hadn't finished!

It's really not for me, but if you love that challenge then carry on doing them and good luck in the contest each year!

 

[Duleigh]

My first post here. Newbie. Hope that is okay. I love the short 750 word story. The fun of writing a compelling story in such a compact structure. I understand why readers on here might find them unacceptable considering the primary purpose of the visit, but gosh I like writing them. What a wonderful challenge to use your words specifically and without waste. Every word has to count. Forces you as a writer to really look at what you are putting on the page. I just submitted another. Love them.

Exactly! It is so much fun trying to get a lot of story into the "legal lower limit" of 750 words. That's why, when late last year and I found that the 750 Word Challenge wasn't listed on the official Author's Challenges list, I reached out to the site admins and volunteered to host the challenge for 2023. Here's the official support thread which is still active.

 

[Trionyx]

That's why, when late last year and I found that the 750 Word Challenge wasn't listed on the official Author's Challenges list, I reached out to the site admins and volunteered to host the challenge for 2023.

And many thanks! I certainly hope there will be another next year.

 

[RoperTrace]

Thanks. I entered this year's 750 Word contest. That is how I fell in love with the form. I've been reading for years and only started writing a while ago. I thought all stories had to be long - multiple pages to be accepted and then discovered that was not the case.

When I was a kid, my dad subscribed to some kind of Alfred Hitchcock monthly story magazine that always featured 500 word mysteries. A crime, an investigation, a solution, and sometimes an arrest. I think the most famous one was the wife who killed her husband with a frozen ham and got away with it by feeding the cops the ham for dinner!

I always loved those 500 word mysteries. Maybe that is why I like the challenge of the 750 word story so much. A childhood instinct.

That almost sounds like a twilight zone story. I remember one on TwZn, where a murder was committed with a large plastic ashtray. The killer held it over a flame and melted into the shape of a dagger, then remelted it back into its original shape.

 

[KeithD]

That almost sounds like a twilight zone story.

It was a TV program, yes. Very memorable. Alfred Hitchcock Presents, 1958. "Lamb to the Slaughter."

 

[Duleigh]

And many thanks! I certainly hope there will be another next year.

This one was really popular even though there was a lot of "Not again" and "I hate this one" at the start. A lot of new authors hopped in. I think we had 165 entries and I have two ready for next year.

 

[ColinPiper]

Love this Rob. It encapsulates everything I don't like about long stories. If there is justification for a long story, great, but please don't BLOAT it with excessive description and no sense of proportion.

This six word story with a beginning, middle, and end, is sometimes attributed to Hemingway, but there's no real consensus. But that's not the point. It's about brevity.

Baby Shoes

For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.

 

[Zenith77]

Baby Shoes

For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.

Too sad.

Off out. Picking flowers. For her.

 

[XerXesXu]

Too sad.

Off out. Picking flowers. For her.

For sale. Chastity belt. Never worn.

 

[Rob_McCall4]

Love this Rob. It encapsulates everything I don't like about long stories. If there is justification for a long story, great, but please don't BLOAT it with excessive description and no sense of proportion.

This six word story with a beginning, middle, and end, is sometimes attributed to Hemingway, but there's no real consensus. But that's not the point. It's about brevity.

Baby Shoes

For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn.

This reminds me of the old Ogden Nash poem

"Fleas"
Adam
Had 'em

 

[ElectricBlue]

Love this Rob. It encapsulates everything I don't like about long stories. If there is justification for a long story, great, but please don't BLOAT it with excessive description and no sense of proportion.

Keep in mind though, one of the primary purposes of erotica is to get people off, so you've got to give them enough content, with changes of pace, so they can get some meat on their bone (so to speak). Either that, or you're only mowing a small lawn and can get by with a two-stroke.

If a story is too short, your reader will go find another one, get their rocks off, and give that story a score, not yours. Brevity might work for some, but most people want something longer. The consensus, generally, is that a two to three page Lit story/chapter (7000 - 12000 words) is pretty much on the money, for the money shot.

 

[Rob_McCall4]

RMc4 - I enjoy the 750s. They can be a challenge sometimes.

You might want to add a link to your stories in your signature.

Good luck.

Thanks for the tip, but I don't know how to do that. What do I do?

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Top right on this page is your name and your avatar., just to the left of Search. Click on that, then on Signature.

As you are typing there, you will see the Link icon, like two links of chain. Copy the URL of your My Stories page and use that Link icon to embed it into your signature.

Good luck.