Chapters or not...

[MondoGoGo]

Please excuse this poor soul if I am posting something in the wrong place or worse yet posting something that has been asked and answered ad nauseam.

I am looking for guidance regarding when one should consider breaking a work into chapters.

Is it primarily based on length? If so generally speaking how long is to long for a single piece?

I have a couple stories that I have been working on and they are three to four thousand words in length but pertain to a single incident or event.

Thoughts and/or recommendations are most welcome.

Thank you,

Mondo...

 

[Scotsman69]

A three to four thousand word story doesn't need to be broken into chapters. Depending on the density of the writing, how you break paras, what proportion of dialogue etc, you are looking at a couple of Lit pages. Only the very best writers can make a one-page story work.

My tuppenceworth.

 

[MondoGoGo]

A three to four thousand word story doesn't need to be broken into chapters. Depending on the density of the writing, how you break paras, what proportion of dialogue etc, you are looking at a couple of Lit pages. Only the very best writers can make a one-page story work.

My tuppenceworth.

Thank you kind sir...

At what point, pray tell, should one consider breaking submissions into chapters or parts? Also what sets the Novella/Novel class apart from other multi-chapter stories?

Sorry to be a bother. These are silly questions, I realize, but they are of interest to me as a newbie here.

Thanks again.

Mondo...

 

[CWatson]

First off, I need to ask you what you mean by "chapters." Are you just gonna have headings within the main document, or are you actually planning to submit separate pieces of the story in seqeunce? 'cuz, multiple chapters all on the same page... It's always seemed a little pointless to me. (Not to mention that Literotica's limited formatting options can make it difficult to highlight the different headings.)

Second off: the main concern you'll be thinking about with chapters here on Lit is length, and how many (as we call them) "Literotica Pages" an individual document comes up to. You'll know from reading on here that some stories have multiple pages down at the bottom. Well, more than about 3 is too many; The Reader, a lazy creature if ever there was one, might get scared off. At that point you might want to break it up into multiple submissions.

 

[MondoGoGo]

First off, I need to ask you what you mean by "chapters." Are you just gonna have headings within the main document, or are you actually planning to submit separate pieces of the story in seqeunce? 'cuz, multiple chapters all on the same page... It's always seemed a little pointless to me. (Not to mention that Literotica's limited formatting options can make it difficult to highlight the different headings.)

Second off: the main concern you'll be thinking about with chapters here on Lit is length, and how many (as we call them) "Literotica Pages" an individual document comes up to. You'll know from reading on here that some stories have multiple pages down at the bottom. Well, more than about 3 is too many; The Reader, a lazy creature if ever there was one, might get scared off. At that point you might want to break it up into multiple submissions.

Thanks for the reply CW. Based on your experience about how many words fit on one "Literotica Page"?

You kinda hit the nail on the head with regard to my desire to limit the number of "pages" while still getting my story across succinctly for the "lazy consumer". It seems to me that one device would be to "chapterize" the story so that each segment is tight and easily digested in a single page or so but the begs the question I pose above.

Thanks for the reply. I look forward to your pearls of wisdom.

Mondo...

 

[Scotsman69]

I mostly agree with CWatson. You have to be really good to hold readers mush past a three-Lit page chapter, maybe 6-7000 words. Personally I've never gone to more than three for that reason.

 

[_Lynn_]

Thanks for the reply CW. Based on your experience about how many words fit on one "Literotica Page"?

You kinda hit the nail on the head with regard to my desire to limit the number of "pages" while still getting my story across succinctly for the "lazy consumer". It seems to me that one device would be to "chapterize" the story so that each segment is tight and easily digested in a single page or so but the begs the question I pose above.

Thanks for the reply. I look forward to your pearls of wisdom.

Mondo...

Approximately 3,500 words fit onto one Lit page.

 

[MondoGoGo]

Many thanks Mistress...

 

[lovecraft68]

Thanks for the reply CW. Based on your experience about how many words fit on one "Literotica Page"?

You kinda hit the nail on the head with regard to my desire to limit the number of "pages" while still getting my story across succinctly for the "lazy consumer". It seems to me that one device would be to "chapterize" the story so that each segment is tight and easily digested in a single page or so but the begs the question I pose above.

Thanks for the reply. I look forward to your pearls of wisdom.

Mondo...

I think the word lazy is being a bit politically correct. What you have on Lit. is readers and strokers. Strokers don't want more than two pages and they skim until they find a girl starting to give a blow job.

On the other hand there are people here who do like to read and if you can hold their interest page count is irrelevant. My last story was 12 lit pages 44,000+ words. No one complained. Depends on if you are writing something with substance or just "smut" there are audiences for both so just think about who you are targeting.

 

[MondoGoGo]

I think the word lazy is being a bit politically correct. What you have on Lit. is readers and strokers. Strokers don't want more than two pages and they skim until they find a girl starting to give a blow job.

On the other hand there are people here who do like to read and if you can hold their interest page count is irrelevant. My last story was 12 lit pages 44,000+ words. No one complained. Depends on if you are writing something with substance or just "smut" there are audiences for both so just think about who you are targeting.

Point well taken lovecraft68.

Using the term lazy was, well, in a word, being "lazy" I guess.

I am curious at 44k + did you submit your piece in the Novella/Novel category?

Thanks for the insight I am looking forward to finding your work and immersing myself in your prose.

 

[Scotsman69]

Words per page vary a lot

I often use a lot of dialogue to take the story forward, and this breaks up the presentation and significantly reduces the number of words per page. Similarly, using short paras rather than long (generally a good idea on Lit) will reduce the number of words per page.

How long is a piece of string?

Approximately 3,500 words fit onto one Lit page.