How Long Is Too Long?

[slyc_willie]

I know this topic has been discussed before, but I couldn't find the thread pertaining to it (to be honest, I'm a little lazy).

I have been spending this past week writing a story that sort of ran away with itself. I love every part of it, and all the characters involved have their own personalities and motivations. I think I have done a good job with explaining why the characters do what they do, and the sex scenes, for the most part, are more than just gratuitous acts and situations.

The problem is that it is very long at 73,000 words and 178 pages. I figure it will top out somewhere around 200 pages once I am done.

Now, I have noticed that roughly 7-8 pages on a .doc file equates to one Lit page, and have broken down the story into blocks of about 4 Lit pages each.

I realize that the majority of readers do not like such long stories, finding them tedious. I hope that by breaking the story down I can appeal to both those who want a 'quick fix' and those interested in getting to know the characters and following along with the story.

This story is, without a doubt, the most ambitious thing I have ever written for this site, and definitely my most erotic and touching to date (if I say so myself). There are scenes which, even though I have read and editted them many times, still make me cry every time.

I know there is a reader base for stories like this, but my questions are:

1. Is breaking down the story a good idea?

2. If so, have I broken it down enough, or too much?

3. Should it be published in Novels, or the appropriate section (I'm thinking First Time)?

I would appreciate any feedback concerning this, and if anyone wants to know more specifics regarding the story, I would value input on that as well.

Thanks!

 

[Penelope Street]

If you search just the AH forum for threads with "too long" in the title, I believe you will find several dealing with this topic.

 

[PAUL C]

too long

I wrote and posted a story on this site that is 150,000 words long. i posted it in 49 chapters. took me over a year to write and post it.

i was accused by the only person to read it that i rushed the ending.

most of my stories take on a life of their own. both you and it will know when you have finished it. then if you are happy, post it.

 

[scriptordelecto]

Some of my favorite writers on here have written novels in chapters and posted them in their respective categories. I lost some sleep reading them, but it was easier with them broken up like that.

I am posting in chapters right now(although it won't be nearly as long as yours ) and it seems to be doing OK. I think the trick is to post them far enough apart that you give the reader time.

It works great for Daniellekitten!

 

[slyc_willie]

It works great for Daniellekitten!

I've read some of her work and like the way she develops characters through the respective chapters. But I wonder if such works are better received from more established authors, rather than a relative newbie such as myself.

Of course, now that I think of it, some of my stand-alone stories have been 4 Lit pages long, and while I've received a few comments regarding the length, most people seem to appreciate what I have done with the characters.

I figure I'll post the story, in chapters, about a week apart (pursuant upon acceptance, of course) and see how it is received.

Honestly, I can't wait.

Thanks for the input, guys and gals.

 

[dirtylover]

Wow >73,000 words and 178 pages<


Congratulations! How long did that take?

I thought I'd been having a good day with 2 000 words.

 

[Weird Harold]

Now, I have noticed that roughly 7-8 pages on a .doc file equates to one Lit page, and have broken down the story into blocks of about 4 Lit pages each.

Because of the way Litbreaks submisions into pages, word count is a better guide -- figure 3,500 words +/- about 500 words for each Lit page. (a Lit page actually averages 3,767 words but 3,500 makes for easier math.)

The calculation is actually based on a character count and the nearest paragraph break -- roughly 15,000 characters/page -- but that's much harder to calculate

1. Is breaking down the story a good idea?

2. If so, have I broken it down enough, or too much?

3. Should it be published in Novels, or the appropriate section (I'm thinking First Time)?

1: Some stories lend themselves to serialization and some don't. Serialization does have the advantage of keeping your story on the New Stories List -- and in the public eye -- much longer, so that is gnerally preferable.

2: I'm not a big fan of serializing a story strictly based on word or page count. Breaking a story down by word counts tends to leave the reader unsatsified because there is no internal logic to where each episode ends.

In a work as long as yours, you should have natural chapter breaks or peaks and valleys in the action to guide you in breaking the story into episodes that don't leave the readers frustrated.

3: A work as long as yours almost has to cover more than one category. You can try to post each episode in the appropriate category, or post it all under Novels and Novellas; both techniques have advantages and disadvantages.

Spreading the chapters over several categories exposes it to more people, but a lot of those people will skip episodes in categories they don't like and rate the chapters they do read lower because the continuity of the whole story is missing.

Posting in Novels and Novellas reduces the exposure because fewer people are looking for long stories, but the readers you do get tend to have fewer "squicks" than fans of a single category.

My personal choice would be to go for the "quality" of Novels and Novellas readers rather than the "quantity" of readers from several different ctegories.

 

[slyc_willie]

Wow >73,000 words and 178 pages<


Congratulations! How long did that take?

I thought I'd been having a good day with 2 000 words.

Believe it or not, I've only been writing this story for six days now, although the idea itself was germinating for a long time in my head.

As regards your suggestions, Weird Harold, I will take them into account. I originally started writing the story with the intention of breaking it down into 'Parts,' and wrote accordingly. I like the breaks I have included and hope that they keep the reader hooked and wanting the next installment.

But only time will tell, I suppose.

 

[Weird Harold]

I originally started writing the story with the intention of breaking it down into 'Parts,' and wrote accordingly. I like the breaks I have included and hope that they keep the reader hooked and wanting the next installment.

If you intended from the beginning to break the story into parts, you should have no problem with readers feeling let-down -- as long as you don't try to force the "Parts" into some arbitrary standard length.

Where authors run into problems is when they let size considerations determine where the story breaks without consideration for the content and flow of the story.