Chapters or no?

[Adelyn]

How do you decide when to break a story up into chapters?

I've written a story that happens over a three day period. At least one sexual encounter each day. It is 14 pages long in MS Word.

When I read Lit stories I usually avoid the chapter ones, because I don't want to lose the mood the story creates to go find the next chapter. How does everyone feel about breaking the story up versus keeping it all together?

 

[someoneyouknow]

At 14 pages only the most determined person would finish it.

Break it up into 3 page sections. That seems to be the norm.

 

[shutterpsb]

I use MS word new times roman 12 pt. in that format 14 pages is about 8000 words. You can figure a Lit page for about 3600 or so. That translates to your story being about 2 and half Lit pages. I wrote a story late last year and posted in chapters of about 3600 words each. In retrospect I think it would have been better received in a single posting.

 

[Adelyn]

It's 6834 words. But with the way it's written it would only make sense if I broke it up into three chapters or left it as a whole.

 

[RejectReality]

At just short of 7k words, I wouldn't break it up -- especially into 3 pieces.

It's right in the sweet spot of 2-3 Lit pages, which seems to be the optimum level of Lit reader attention span.

 

[Ironiclaconic]

It's roughly one lit page per 8-10 word pages.

Lit's interface sucks for bookmarking where people left off reading. My rule of thumb is that if you go over more than 5 lit pages you should try to break it into chapters for easier reading. But it's your story.

 

[Hypoxia]

Only 6600 words? My best-received stories are around 16k words, no chapters, just a single piece. Roz's one-piece PURELY SINFUL at 66k words won the Hallowe'en contest. That was divided into ten internal chapters but was quite successful as a novella. My guideline: however the story works as a unit, do it.

 

[DreamCloud]

My last story was 24,000+ words, 48 normal pages, 7 lit pages. I released it as one story.

My next story is 32,000+ words, 67 normal pages - I won't post it as chapters either. I only split a story once - it took almost 2 weeks to have 8 chapters posted. I suspect it is a necessary step to stop a single author from flooding the site - one that I now avoid.

If you do post in chapters, I would let the readers know it is 'Part # of #' in the heading.

 

[RejectReality]

I won't post it as chapters either. I only split a story once - it took almost 2 weeks to have 8 chapters posted. I suspect it is a necessary step to stop a single author from flooding the site - one that I now avoid.

That had to have been during the "catch-up" period when the site was overwhelmed with submissions. I've never had a chapter take any longer to post than a normal story.

 

[SamScribble]

I'm a slow reader. I like to savour every word. And so, if you want want me to read more than about three Lit pages, your writing had better be pretty damn good. But, by the same token, I seldom go looking for 'the next chapter'. So my inclination would be to post your story as one complete story. Just make sure that it's worth the reader's reading. Good luck.

 

[TamLin01]

Personally, I hate serialized stories. Everything is "Chapter 7" this or "Part 11" that. Who has the patience?

But my own personal quibbles notwithstanding: Your story is not long at all, and you wrote it as a story--one story, start to finish. That's how it should be read.

 

[Carnevil9]

If most readers are like me, they read the first paragraph, decide if they like it or not, and then check the page count.

If they like the first paragraph a lot, they don't care about the page count. They keep reading no matter what.

If they like it a more than a little, and the page count is three or less, they will keep reading.

If they only like it a little bit, and the page count is one, they will keep reading.

If they don't like it at all, they will never get past the first paragraph. There are thousands of other stories to check out!

 

[Handley_Page]

It's 6834 words. But with the way it's written it would only make sense if I broke it up into three chapters or left it as a whole.

At just short of 7k words, I wouldn't break it up -- especially into 3 pieces.

It's right in the sweet spot of 2-3 Lit pages, which seems to be the optimum level of Lit reader attention span.

If the final version is, say, 8000 words, leave it alone. Put a sign in the text to indicate a new part of the story, if necessary:
=OO=, * * *,
or similar.

You see, Lit pages are a bit of an odd-ball size; about 3000 words per 'page'.
This may come as a shock; it does to most of us at first!
Good Luck

 

[Hypoxia]

Lit pages are a bit of an odd-ball size; about 3000 words per 'page'.
This may come as a shock; it does to most of us at first!

My first few months' exposure to LIT was via its Android app which, depending on device and orientation, displays different word totals. The metric of the "LIT page" (more like 3500 words) did not bite me for some time. Now, as an Author, I write on a laptop and read many stories in browser windows, even on my tablet if I'm in WiFi range, so I pay closer attention to word and page counts.

BTW the Android app is quite handy for offline reading as it can pre-load 12 stories or chapters. If I am going to be sitting around a no-WiFi zone for a while, I'll load a dozen stories, or a dozen serial chapters, and be set for a few hours' diversion.

 

[PennLady]

Personally, I hate serialized stories. Everything is "Chapter 7" this or "Part 11" that. Who has the patience?

But my own personal quibbles notwithstanding: Your story is not long at all, and you wrote it as a story--one story, start to finish. That's how it should be read.

I have the patience. This is one of those questions that has no good answer, because everyone has their own answer and their own preferences.

I tend to read stories/chapters of about 8-12k words, or 3-4 Lit pages. I don't usually have time to sit and read more. So a serialized work is good for me. Other people prefer to read all the way through in one sitting and some wait until a work is finished before reading it. But there's an audience here for just about anything.

 

[JWren]

I have the patience. This is one of those questions that has no good answer, because everyone has their own answer and their own preferences.

I tend to read stories/chapters of about 8-12k words, or 3-4 Lit pages. I don't usually have time to sit and read more. So a serialized work is good for me. Other people prefer to read all the way through in one sitting and some wait until a work is finished before reading it. But there's an audience here for just about anything.

Well said, Lady. My first effort here in interracial (Big Cock Fantasy) ran to 5 chapters and the first one has had over 74,200 views. Part 5 is just below 20,000 views so many had the patience and interest to read to the bitter end! My best work (Love Never Dies in Romance) runs to 9 parts and over 61,000 words. The readership is much smaller but certainly loyal and appreciative. Eight of the 9 parts have scored high enough for the H status.
So, my experience suggests that series do work (2 to 3 Lit pages each chapter/part) if the reader is sufficiently entertained and interested from the outset. And that, of course, applies to all stories, whatever the length. I have given up reading on occasion after the opening paragraphs - with others I've been left gasping for more after thousands of words.

 

[DreamCloud]

That had to have been during the "catch-up" period when the site was overwhelmed with submissions. I've never had a chapter take any longer to post than a normal story.

I posted eight chapters at once. It took two weeks for all chapters to appear. One went live arrive ever one or two days.

 

[Bramblethorn]

That had to have been during the "catch-up" period when the site was overwhelmed with submissions. I've never had a chapter take any longer to post than a normal story.

My understanding (may be wrong) is that even if all chapters of a story are submitted together, they'd only be posted at one per day.

Not that I've ever had two chapters ready to go at once...

 

[Adelyn]

Thank you, everyone, for the advice. Knowing each Lit page has a word count of around 3500 helps a lot!

I ended up posting it as one story, since it is only just over 6800 words.

http://www.literotica.com/s/amandas-lesson-in-love

My third story posted. Over 8000 views on it's first day out! I'm loving the thought of so many people enjoying themselves to words that were strung together in my mind. Such a heady feeling!

Adelyn