Length of Stories

[PrincessErin]

O.k. random question from a newbie. I know that stories have to be at least 750 words to be approved. Most of my stories are around 900-1200 words and the bad feedback I'm getting is in regards to the length.
So... is their an ideal length in words that a story should be to make the readers happy?
Erin

 

[jomar]

O.k. random question from a newbie. I know that stories have to be at least 750 words to be approved. Most of my stories are around 900-1200 words and the bad feedback I'm getting is in regards to the length.
So... is their an ideal length in words that a story should be to make the readers happy?
Erin

To some extent it depends on what your shooting for. Novels/Novellas are obviously longer as are some Romance. Let the story decide how long it needs to be and the right readers will find it.

 

[mellowgyrl]

O.k. random question from a newbie. I know that stories have to be at least 750 words to be approved. Most of my stories are around 900-1200 words and the bad feedback I'm getting is in regards to the length.
So... is their an ideal length in words that a story should be to make the readers happy?
Erin

I think this is a question about personal preference. Some people prefer to read quickie, stroke stories. Others prefer the more developed, plot having type of stories. Which do you prefer to write. Obviously, if you're looking to create something somebody can easily stroke to then you might find yourself writing shorter stories. If you're trying to get your readers to feel something for your characters then by developing a plot, and giving your characters depth you'll find your stories are a little longer. Now, that's not the "end-all-be-all" rule of thumb. Several writers skim their stories down on purpose and still have created the depth I was referring to.

Ultimately, its your mind, your words, and your work to do with as you see fit. If the worst comment you received was that the stories are too short you must be doing something right! Good luck and keep on writing!

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Unless a story has a very strong opening, when I scroll down and find it is over six pages long, I won't continue. I really like the 2-3 page length but others get impatient with that. My own, on the other hand, seem to be stretching out to 4.

 

[rgraham666]

I've been all over the map. One story had to be padded a little to fit into the minimum word count. I've had several over six Lit pages in length.

It never seems to affect my feed back.

Seriously, the best thing is to keep writing what you want to write. There will be fans for it. And the more often you post stories the more fans and feedback you'll get.

Good luck and keep writing.

 

[sr71plt]

There are excellent stories that are only 250 words. (Magazines are full of them.) So, if a commenter says your story is too short, either they don't like shorter stories, which is a legitimate comment only for their personal tastes and they might better to have kept it to themselves, or there's something the story isn't achieving and what they really are suggesting, and not able to articulate clearly, is that the story is incomplete somehow (may not even be more than vignette) and if you used more words that problem would be solved (which isn't necessary true).

So, about the only thing you can do is to look at your story and see if it's missing something. Is there a story there at all? Is there a dilemma? Does the dilemma bring about a change of any sort? Is the dilemma resolved? Is there a "hook" (that little something that makes the story interesting/unusual)? Any surprise twist to it? Are story threads introduced but never woven into the fabric of the story?

 

[Liar]

So... is their an ideal length in words that a story should be to make the readers happy?
Erin

Long answer: No.

 

[cheerful_deviant]

Long answer: No.

So what's the short answer?

 

[Guest]

So what's the short answer?

The short answer is "o."

 

[mellowgyrl]

Long answer: No.

Spew soda over my keyboard - laughing! Dammit does anybody have a napkin? LOL

 

[cheerful_deviant]

The short answer is "o."

Ah, a novel then.

 

[cheerful_deviant]

Spew soda over my keyboard - laughing! Dammit does anybody have a napkin? LOL

You'll learn not to drink and read any post from Liar.

 

[Guest]

I have a story that I posted in separate chapters due to its length. One chapter was about 3100 words. A comment I got on it was:

These are good However...
06/04/07 By: Anonymous
Limiting yourself to one page leaves things too rushed and the story breaking in unnatural places.

This may be true... but that chapter is currently #73 on the BDSM Top List.

So, no... there's magic formula. Write 'em like you see 'em.

 

[galaxygoddess]

I find that you can't please everyone. if you think it's good, and other people think the content is good, it's easy to ignore the comments regarding lenght.

However, you might want to add a touch more detail. I'll go read your stuff (yeay I like reading short stuff) and try to give you a better critique once I get a.... feel... hehe... for your stuff.

But in the mean time do things like:

Instead of "she was a blonde"

try "her long silky hair was the color of cornsilk" yeah it sounds slightly cheesy (not to me, but maybe to you) but it adds more words while having the same idea, but also it give you a better picture. Mostly because there's about 40,000 shades of hair color (not really, but you get my point).


Funny enough, I always worry about being too wordy, but ehh people like my stuff any way... so I guess I can't be all bad.


edit: note to self: edit before posting >.>

 

[Weird Harold]

O.k. random question from a newbie. I know that stories have to be at least 750 words to be approved. Most of my stories are around 900-1200 words and the bad feedback I'm getting is in regards to the length.
So... is their an ideal length in words that a story should be to make the readers happy?
Erin

I checked out a random sampling of your stories and I think the feedback regarding length is because I would class the ones I looked at as "Vignettes" rathe than "Stories" -- the problem is more structural than word count.

However, there is also the fact that you're only posting about one third of a Lit page with each submission (a Lit Page averages around 3,767 words) and that makes your stories look shorter than they actually are because people are just used to "full page" stories.

A "perfect" story has exactly the number of words required to tell it and not one word more or less -- it's the same length as a piece of string.

 

[sr71plt]

I have a story that I posted in separate chapters due to its length. One chapter was about 3100 words. A comment I got on it was:

These are good However...
06/04/07 By: Anonymous
Limiting yourself to one page leaves things too rushed and the story breaking in unnatural places.

This may be true... but that chapter is currently #73 on the BDSM Top List.

So, no... there's magic formula. Write 'em like you see 'em.

Seeing as how almost every major short story contest is limiting entries to no more than 3,500 words, I'd say you were doing fine and the one making the comment is flying on self-generated fumes. (And yes I ticked off the contests the last time this came up, so don't bother challenging that without ticking off some national-level short story contests that have maximums a lot higher than that.)

 

[SlickTony]

You can't please everybody, so don't try. On the other hand, that doesn't mean that Weird Harold isn't giving good advice.

Me, I tend to go long. I don't think I've ever submitted anything less than 7,000 words and some have gone into 5 digits. This sounds intimidating, but really, it's no more than three standard Literotica pages, and the third one not even filled up all the way.

 

[oggbashan]

I'm a specialist in 50-word stories but I also write very long stories (by Literotica standards).

The ideal length is the length necessary to tell the story you are trying to write.

50-words can be ample. 300,000 words can be too short.

Og

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Spew soda over my keyboard - laughing! Dammit does anybody have a napkin? LOL

I did, but I used it. I never feel pizza grease as it drips down my chin. I really think that surgeon nicked the nerve, even though he said he didn't. Sometimes it feels the reverse, as if there is pizza grease dripping down my chin, even though it is 100% dry. It is very messed up. Jaw surgery isn't fun, and the recovery isn't any better.

Long story short, you can't have my napkin

 

[Guest]

Ah, a novel then.

Not that novel; it's been done.

 

[Liar]

Spew soda over my keyboard - laughing! Dammit does anybody have a napkin? LOL

You can't type on a napkin, silly.

 

[Lalah]

O.k. random question from a newbie. I know that stories have to be at least 750 words to be approved. Most of my stories are around 900-1200 words and the bad feedback I'm getting is in regards to the length.
So... is their an ideal length in words that a story should be to make the readers happy?
Erin

I'd try aiming at 2k minimum if I were you, but obviously if you just pad it you'll get a different kind of negative feedback...

 

[PrincessErin]

Thank you for all your feedback. Thats good to know how many words fill one page. I do know that my editor has mentioned that I rush through things so thats probably what is missing. Something to improve on which is a good thing.
Oh and don't spit coke on you keyboard - it makes the keys sticky in a bad way.
Erin

 

[Frank Noir]

O.k. random question from a newbie. I know that stories have to be at least 750 words to be approved. Most of my stories are around 900-1200 words and the bad feedback I'm getting is in regards to the length.
So... is their an ideal length in words that a story should be to make the readers happy?
Erin

I don't think so. My stories range between 2000 to 12000 words and the length doesn't seem to affect the feedback.
If readers like a certain idea they ask for more anyway, no matter how long the original story was. "What happens afterwards?" and "do a sequel" keep popping up in my positive feedback.