Ideal Story Length

[EmilyMiller]

You'd be wasted in academia

Maybe. It wasn’t just COVID. Some labs were open. It was just more difficult. I also had this voice saying I wasn’t good enough. It was probably accurate.

Em

 

[StillStunned]

Y'all are ridiculously good at this! I feel like this is textbook of erotica level. Friggin brilliant

Give my method a spin! I'm curious about how it works in practice.

 

[onehitwanda]

I also had this voice saying I wasn’t good enough

 

[Bamagan]

Maybe. It wasn’t just COVID. Some labs were open. It was just more difficult. I also had this voice saying I wasn’t good enough. It was probably accurate.

Em

Oops, sorry. I'll mutter more quietly next time.

 

[Theylo_Bleu]

I’d have quite liked to have been Professor Miller. But COVID .

Em

ne'er too late mayhaps?

 

[EmilyMiller]

ne'er too late mayhaps?

Too long out of the game, hard to get back in with no recent publications.

Em

 

[alohadave]

Too long out of the game, hard to get back in with no recent publications.

Em

You have 50 recent publications...

 

[EmilyMiller]

You have 50 recent publications...

None in Science or Nature, sadly.

Em

 

[Theylo_Bleu]

None in Science or Nature, sadly.

Em

Well, arguably, Erotica is one of the more natural and scientific realities of the world. Come on, let's dust off that dissertation, I think we got this lol. Cool to know that is/was part of your background though. Yo u continue to perplex

 

[ruddygore]

A modest proposal: a unit for measuring erotic story length. I suggest "strokes", "edges" and "climaxes".

A "stroke" is a sequence of text that gets the reader interested. An "edge" is a full sexual act, but the "climax" is what you and the reader build towards.

Now we can use these units to break down erotic stories. Strokes should happen every 4-600 words or so, to reassure the reader that they're not wasting their time. One edge per 3-5000 words seems reasonable. If the story isn't much longer, the edge can also be the climax. Otherwise I suggest no more than 2-4 edges to 1 climax. After this climax, you start again, although the word count until the first stroke can be higher after each climax.

So now it doesn't matter what the total story length is, as long as you stick to these measurements. Voilà!

Well, there goes a big chunk of the F&SF category.

 

[intim8]

Collaboration, eh??? haha - I will say, I run out of words after a while too. How many ways can one describe a bodypart in the style of the narrator. perhaps its a skillset one can get better at

Depends on the narrator.

"She harrumphed on his John Thomas while he waggled his lingual appendage into her coin purse seeking a token of her affection."