Long Stories

[CPerryM]

I have noticed that most of the posted stories are quite lengthy. I have a few stories to share but mine tend to be focused (i.e. relatively short). Is there a reason or preference for long (perhaps event drawn out) stories?

 

[WittyUserName]

I have noticed that most of the posted stories are quite lengthy. I have a few stories to share but mine tend to be focused (i.e. relatively short). Is there a reason or preference for long (perhaps event drawn out) stories?

Are they? I've seen plenty of stories that are only one page on Lit. Some people like shorter reads. I've actually had complaints about my longest stories, people suggesting I should have released them as chapters. Write the story you want to tell, don't worry too much about the length. If it is long, you could consider making it a chaptered story, but other than that, it's not a big deal. The story should be as long as it needs to be, and only you can answer how long yours needs to be.

 

[PapaRomantic]

I have noticed that most of the posted stories are quite lengthy. I have a few stories to share but mine tend to be focused (i.e. relatively short). Is there a reason or preference for long (perhaps event drawn out) stories?

It's all part of 'there's something for everyone' on Lit. I tend to write longer stories because I really want to try to develop my characters. But MANY authors thrive here with shorter stories.

Do what works best for you!

 

[NotWise]

Statistically, readers' ratings increase with the length of the story. The common explanation is that longer stories let the readers get more involved.

What do you consider to be a long story?

 

[Nynah]

Statistically, readers' ratings increase with the length of the story. The common explanation is that longer stories let the readers get more involved.

Longer stories require a significant time investment; many Lit users aren't willing to do that so they will skip works over a certain word/page count. But those who stick around with longer stories tend to rate them very well.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Are they? I've seen plenty of stories that are only one page on Lit. Some people like shorter reads. I've actually had complaints about my longest stories, people suggesting I should have released them as chapters. Write the story you want to tell, don't worry too much about the length. If it is long, you could consider making it a chaptered story, but other than that, it's not a big deal. The story should be as long as it needs to be, and only you can answer how long yours needs to be.

My experience has been just the opposite.

I originally posted four of my novel-length stories here in chapters, or parts containing multiple chapters. The overwhelming response from readers was that they preferred them in a single, longer submission. I asked Laurel to replace each story with the single file and to delete the chapters. In every case, the score increased at least .01 point and the feedback has been more positive.

The other issue with publishing chapters is making certain that readers know when the story is complete since many will not start on a story that they think isn't done yet. There are too many incomplete stories on this site.

 

[WittyUserName]

My experience has been just the opposite.

I originally posted four of my novel-length stories here in chapters, or parts containing multiple chapters. The overwhelming response from readers was that they preferred them in a single, longer submission. I asked Laurel to replace each story with the single file and to delete the chapters. In every case, the score increased at least .01 point and the feedback has been more positive.

The other issue with publishing chapters is making certain that readers know when the story is complete since many will not start on a story that they think isn't done yet. There are too many incomplete stories on this site.

Huh. Interesting. I've never had someone make a request like that of me. I agree, there should be an easier way to indicate the story is complete, and there are definitely a lot of incomplete stories. I just know I've had a lot of comments on my longest stories, a few telling me they didn't even read it after seeing the number of pages.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

Are they? I've seen plenty of stories that are only one page on Lit. Some people like shorter reads. I've actually had complaints about my longest stories, people suggesting I should have released them as chapters. Write the story you want to tell, don't worry too much about the length. If it is long, you could consider making it a chaptered story, but other than that, it's not a big deal. The story should be as long as it needs to be, and only you can answer how long yours needs to be.

Absolutely. 100%.

I, however have never had anyone tell me my stories should have been shorter and I've published one or two short novels +/- 40K words. Even my longer ones have comments asking for more. YMMV...

 

[TheLobster]

If you publish your long story in chapters instead of one long submission:

• you have a rough idea about the actual number of people who read the entire story
• you give readers more opportunities to comment, and to discuss particular plot points rather than just the story as a whole
• your ratings are more granular, pointing to strong and weaker parts
• you get more exposure on various lists on the site (at least until the admins do something about it, and I wouldn't hold my breath)

Long submission might net you a slightly higher (inflated?) ranking, but it also means higher barrier for the readers to provide feedback (which is why it's more positive when they do).

 

[BobbyBrandt]

If you publish your long story in chapters instead of one long submission:

• you have a rough idea about the actual number of people who read the entire story
• you give readers more opportunities to comment, and to discuss particular plot points rather than just the story as a whole
• your ratings are more granular, pointing to strong and weaker parts
• you get more exposure on various lists on the site (at least until the admins do something about it, and I wouldn't hold my breath)

Long submission might net you a slightly higher (inflated?) ranking, but it also means higher barrier for the readers to provide feedback (which is why it's more positive when they do).

I respectfully disagree with most of your points.

• The votes-per-view ratio is higher for longer stories. Which means that those readers who stick through a well written tale are more likely to vote. In contrast, with chapters, many readers don't vote on the individual chapters as frequently, as they hold their vote until the end.
• Comments are left after the entire tale has been told, providing greater overall feedback on the entire story. Comments on the appetizer during a meal mean little when time comes to rate the dessert.
• Same as above. Rating parts of a story is like rating part of a meal. Readers typically prefer to rate the total experience.
• Exposure is a long-term result of a story's success. Short-term exposure on "new" lists is fleeting at best.

There is also the continued confusion among many here on the difference between an episodic series and a story comprised of multiple chapters. The site treats them the same, but they are entirely different animals.

 

[OddLove]

I've read stories as short as 500 words, no joke. And some of them have been fun and worthwhile. They're usually just scenes/actions with no character development or story outside of sex, but lots of people enjoy a creative scene.

The pressure to write long or short is just a distraction IMO. But I get it, cause sometimes I still get caught up on it when I'm passing like 25k words and I'll already be wondering to myself if I should cut things out and wrap it up. Then I've gotten distracted by the opposite, where I want the story to surpass a certain amount of words. From my own experience, I've gotten the best results by pushing those distractions out and just writing until the story feels done, regardless of whether how short or long it is.