Question:

[Guest]

If there was a collection of stories, and each was sent in as one sumbission (instead of a novella), would it be bad if one (or all) of the stories were roughly only a page long? Would it be alright and still flow with the group of stories, or would it be a borrish waste of time to be so small?

I'm wishing to get several opinions on this question. I'm debating if I can submit some writings as is, or if I should thicken one story.

Thanks for your time.


~Tiggs

 

[Weird Harold]

If there was a collection of stories, and each was sent in as one sumbission (instead of a novella), would it be bad if one (or all) of the stories were roughly only a page long? Would it be alright and still flow with the group of stories, or would it be a borrish waste of time to be so small?

One page as in "one webpage" or "one page in of 12 pt Courier New Font in MS Word"?

One web-page is about 3750 words the way the scripts break up a story. That's a decent length for a stand-alone episode of a series.

One page in MS Word (or WordPerfect, or other word processer) varies depending on the font, font size, margin settings, header and footers, etc. An average "page" in that context is about 750 words, which is a very difficult length to write a stand-alone story, although it might be a useful length for an occasional chapter.

"One Web-page" is a suitable length for what you are suggesting, but "one page in MS Word" would take more time to load than it would to read for some people.

 

[Guest]

A story should be as long as the story needs to be, regardless of whether you think it should be a certain length. Let the needs of the plot and characters determine how long the stories are, and nothing else.

 

[Guest]

WH...

Currectly it is one MSWord...font size 11pt...page. Since I do not wish to treat my story as a classroom paper (and try to thicken it up some with filler), I think I am going to try to think of a way to mix several stories together. The idea in my head, so far, is a collection of fantasies of sort.

 

[Weird Harold]

Re: WH...

Currectly it is one MSWord...font size 11pt...page. Since I do not wish to treat my story as a classroom paper (and try to thicken it up some with filler), I think I am going to try to think of a way to mix several stories together. The idea in my head, so far, is a collection of fantasies of sort.

Frame them as "bar stories" or "campfire stories" a la Canterbury Tales?

 

[Guest]

Frame them as "bar stories" or "campfire stories" a la Canterbury Tales?

What? I was thinking of the group title name being Erotic Fantasies. I was told that the diary entries kinda thing has been done to death here, so I need a different idea than that one, though.

 

[Weird Harold]

What? I was thinking of the group title name being Erotic Fantasies. I was told that the diary entries kinda thing has been done to death here, so I need a different idea than that one, though.

Check out my story "How I met My Wife." It is framed as a "bar story." Any time I need to flesh out a story with some sort of frame, I can set it in Clancy's bar and have someone confide in Kaitlin, Clancy, or just one of the patrons.

You can do something similar with a summer camp or group of friends around a campfire playing "truth or Dare" or just sharing confidences about their sex lives.

The current story discussion story is framed as a "confessional" story where the author can return time after time to the same frame and insert a new incident in someone's sex life as a tale told to another person.

Canterbury Tales is framed as a series of campfire stories told by travelers to pass the time at each night's camp.

Framing stories is a good way to use vignettes without having to write more plot and setup, because the setup is sort of built into the setting.