Short/long stories?

[Ophelia_Coque]

My first stories were quite lengthy, and got good scores. Recently I tried a couple of short ones - only a single Lit page each , and the scores are abysmal, 4.42 and 3.75.
I have read comments here that most people don't like long stories, and skip to the juicy parts. But when the story is almost all juicy, they get bad scores.
I am confused.
Ophelia

 

[Handley_Page]

I'd recommend about 21,000 words (3 Lit pages).

 

[Winter_Fare]

My first stories were quite lengthy, and got good scores. Recently I tried a couple of short ones - only a single Lit page each , and the scores are abysmal, 4.42 and 3.75.
I have read comments here that most people don't like long stories, and skip to the juicy parts. But when the story is almost all juicy, they get bad scores.
I am confused.
Ophelia

I've just had two stories go live this week of similar quality (in my opinion) in the same category. The three page story(Link) is doing marginally better than the two page story (Link). My 750 word offering from earlier in the year (Link) is my lowest scoring submission to date.

 

[oggbashan]

Writing short and long stories requires a variation in technique.

It could be that because you haven't written many short stories that your technique is developing.

I write fifty-word stories and submit them in sets of fifteen to make the Lit minimum of 750 words and some score well. My 750 word story didn't, but I have written other relatively short (one Lit page stories) that have done well. If you are writing a short story you have to make the action, developemt and conclusion short to fit. There is little room for subplots or diversion from the main theme.

A good Lit story is one that is right for its length. That isn't as easy as it might seem.

 

[lovecraft68]

I'd recommend about 21,000 words (3 Lit pages).

A lit page is about 3700 words, three pages would be just under 12k.
But over the years a lot of people have claimed 3 to be the sweet spot.
I don't buy that, I say it can be as long short as you want it to be and don't worry about it

 

[Bramblethorn]

My first stories were quite lengthy, and got good scores. Recently I tried a couple of short ones - only a single Lit page each , and the scores are abysmal, 4.42 and 3.75.
I have read comments here that most people don't like long stories, and skip to the juicy parts. But when the story is almost all juicy, they get bad scores.
I am confused.
Ophelia

The longer a story is, the less likely it is that somebody who dislikes it will stick with it to the end and reach the voting.

I'd recommend about 21,000 words (3 Lit pages).

21k words is more like 5-6 Lit pages.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

My first stories were quite lengthy, and got good scores. Recently I tried a couple of short ones - only a single Lit page each , and the scores are abysmal, 4.42 and 3.75.
I have read comments here that most people don't like long stories, and skip to the juicy parts. But when the story is almost all juicy, they get bad scores.
I am confused.
Ophelia

First of all, the scores that you reference are far from "abysmal".

The opinions on story length here among writers are all over the board. I can only speak from my own experience and tell you that the category that you post in will greatly influence readers' tolerance for the length of your story.

The majority of mine are posted in "Novels and Novellas" and average over 100K words. Some were posted in chapters or parts containing multiple chapters, but readers have overwhelmingly requested that I post the story as a single file, which is all that I do now. All of my longer stories are scored over 4.7 with most being 4.8 or higher.

Once again, I believe that the category and the readers that are attracted to it will be the greatest influence on length tolerance. Second to that will be the story itself. Can the story hold the readers' interest chapter after chapter? Is there enough conflict? Is there enough sex/passion/smut? Is there enough mystery? Is there enough of whatever readers are seeking from the title, description and tags for your story?

The most important advice I can give you is, that no matter the length of your story, never post any part of it until the entire story is complete. You relinquish too much control of your story by impatiently posting a section as soon as you finish it.

 

[SimonDoom]

There's been a fair amount of analysis done on this issue, and it's pretty clear that "short" stories don't do as well at Literotica as longer ones. The sweet spot for getting good scores, if that's what you're after, is probably 3-6 Lit pages (a lit page is 3750 words) or more. One of the reasons, as Bramblethorn mentions, is attrition: people are less likely to read to the end of a long story, and if they do it probably means they like it more and will be more disposed to give it a good score. But I think there's more to it than that. I think there's reason to believe that the "mean" Lit reader likes longer erotic stories, perhaps because they are believed to provide a more satisfying or arousing erotic experience.

I write stories from 750 words (extremely short) to about 7 Lit pages, not counting chaptered stories (one of mine was over 100,000 words). The longer ones generally do better but I will continue to publish short stories because I enjoy writing them.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

All I can say is that there is no clear rule when it comes to short/long and ratings. In some categories, longer stories tend to get better ratings and in some categories 1k words stories somehow still manage to get skyhigh ratings.

You need to stop thinking about ratings altogether, otherwise you will soon find yourself adapting your writing style in order to please the readers and get better ratings, no matter what that approach might do to the quality of your stories and to your motivation to write. Once again, ratings aren't a measure of how good your story is, or even how popular your story is. Write in whatever way gives you the most satisfaction and screw everything else. If you start caring about ratings too much, you will find yourself becoming upset over every spiteful 1* some Literotica troll gives you. And there are plenty of those, trust me

 

[Ssbbw4u1974]

I have 9 stories ( 1 erotic poem ) on Lit, I get feedback telling me they could be a bit longer.
Me, personally, I have a short attention span.. so, I prefer to read and write "cut to the chase" stories.

 

[jsmiam]

I'd recommend about 21,000 words (3 Lit pages).

I believe one lit page is 3750 words, so 3 lit pages is roughly 11500 words.

My first stories were quite lengthy, and got good scores. Recently I tried a couple of short ones - only a single Lit page each , and the scores are abysmal, 4.42 and 3.75.
I have read comments here that most people don't like long stories, and skip to the juicy parts. But when the story is almost all juicy, they get bad scores.
I am confused.
Ophelia

One page stories are subject to what I call “drive by” scores, impulse scores rather than the added commitment of navigating to page two or beyond to continue reading and enjoying and giving a more engaged score.

So an accidental click or someone who could hit the back key in one click might give you a lower score because the stars to vote are right there conveniently in front of them.

A person more engaged with the story is more likely to go to page two and keep reading, enjoying, and giving a more well thought out score.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I think there's reason to believe that the "mean" Lit reader likes longer erotic stories, perhaps because they are believed to provide a more satisfying or arousing erotic experience.

This is key, I think. Usually, one needs time for arousal (unless you're mowing the lawn and getting it done with a two stroke), so the longer the story, the better. Somewhere on the third Lit page there's a sweet spot, I reckon, which might be a bit messy, but that's the point.

I agree your comment about short stories more likely to get a vote, because it's been read but there wasn't a sweet spot; so it's cudos for writing, but a slap on the wrist for not delivering.

My A Girl on the Bus series was an experiment to see how tolerant readers would be with a typical EB slow burn, spread over a series of chapters. How long could I bring them along, before they gave up? The stats tell the story.

Ch.1, 750 words, 23k3 views, 4.22/312 (in a 750 Word Anthology)
Ch.2, 1100 words, 12k6 views, 4.26/205 (50% drop in views, as expected)
Ch.3, 830 words, 8k5, 4.18/147 (only one erotic sentence, right at the end)
Ch.4, 1000 words, 9k2, 4.53/165 (now I'm holding on to eyes)
Ch.5, 1900 words, 8k8, 4.48/165 (but only just)
Ch.6, 4200 words, 14k1, 4.78/174 (I deliver the prize - look at the jump in score, also the jump in Views. I reckon most of the increase in views is people reading it twice (how would a random walk-in reader know this chapter was the one?)

I then followed up with another two chapters a little later (one of the first covid stories on Lit), in my mind a sequel story. It's the same block of readers, possibly, but the vote/view ratio has dropped:

Ch.7, 4500 words, 9k1 views, 4.68/90
Ch.8, 7400 words, 11k views, 4.61/78

I write stories from 750 words (extremely short) to about 7 Lit pages, not counting chaptered stories (one of mine was over 100,000 words). The longer ones generally do better but I will continue to publish short stories because I enjoy writing them.

Albeit with a reminder, "Gotta be 750 word minimum, Simon," but getting the job done, getting the job done!

So, to answer the OP's question, there's a (minimum?) sweet spot for erotica of 2 - 3 Lit pages (7500 - 10,000 words), if you want a satisfactory result, so to speak.

 

[ofbuttons]

Still trying to get past 4.42 as an "abysmal" rating. 4.42 means a good amount of people hit a perfect 5 out of 5 score! We who have settled comfortably in the lower 4s salute you.

But to be a little more helpful, I agree about attrition. The first part of my first series is one page and has a 4.26 rating (which is pretty okay for gay males not in the gay male category, definitely got some harsh 1s for that). The last chapter is 4.56 with parts two and three slowly climbing towards That Red H. Those that cared to read stayed til the end.

The same is probably true of longer stories that are only one chapter. I would angle more for those but as much as I like high numbers, I find writing and publishing in small chapters fun and makes for interesting pacing. Still, something to work on and experiment with.

 

[Phantom300]

The definition of that is a Long vs a Short story varies wildly.

If we accept that 3 Lit Pages is the sweet spot, we can call that average length.

I glanced through your story link. None of your stories are longer than 4 pages, so just a bit over average.

I have read comments here that most people don't like long stories, and skip to the juicy parts. But when the story is almost all juicy, they get bad scores.

I have never read such comments. Obviously, YMMV. My experience is that the longer stories do better.

I want to be invested in the characters before they get busy with each other. You can have sex scenes early on, but if I don't care about the main characters sooner rather than later, my interest definitely wanes.

Perhaps your shorter submissions don't give the reader time enough to become engaged. Not a criticism, just a question.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Never say never. Some writers just work that way, writing (and submitting) one part at the time; it's the way they get inspired. Maybe they adjust their story based on the comments, or maybe they just don't have the time and/or patience to finish a complete story first. Some series are long!!! One of my favorite writers works that way, and I won't complain (although I would love them to hurry up and publish something new). Even if YOU don't like it, they are free to do so.

This is how I work. All respect (and some envy) to writers who finish an entire long story before posting it, but I can't write that way, and I've come to peace with that. Plenty of professionals work on a "publish as you go" model.

There's been a fair amount of analysis done on this issue, and it's pretty clear that "short" stories don't do as well at Literotica as longer ones. The sweet spot for getting good scores, if that's what you're after, is probably 3-6 Lit pages (a lit page is 3750 words) or more. One of the reasons, as Bramblethorn mentions, is attrition: people are less likely to read to the end of a long story, and if they do it probably means they like it more and will be more disposed to give it a good score. But I think there's more to it than that. I think there's reason to believe that the "mean" Lit reader likes longer erotic stories, perhaps because they are believed to provide a more satisfying or arousing erotic experience.

I suspect part of this is that most of us are amateurs, and short stories are an unforgiving medium. A longer one offers a bit more room for error, a single-page story has to be practically perfect.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I suspect part of this is that most of us are amateurs, and short stories are an unforgiving medium. A longer one offers a bit more room for error, a single-page story has to be practically perfect.

There's a thought - a Mary Poppins anthology; or a stand-off: Julie Andrews or Emily Blunt, Who Does it Better?

 

[MillieDynamite]

I prefer to do short stories here. My Longest works at Lit are 25,000+ and 32,000+. But from 900 to 10,000 or so is what I like to write best.

 

[alohadave]

I suspect part of this is that most of us are amateurs, and short stories are an unforgiving medium. A longer one offers a bit more room for error, a single-page story has to be practically perfect.

I'm brand new, and my longest story is 5.1K words. It's a struggle for me to write more description and get the word count higher (not that I'm trying to write to a word count). Mine are mostly stroke stories, so perhaps the expectation is a little different.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Never say never. Some writers just work that way, writing (and submitting) one part at the time; it's the way they get inspired. Maybe they adjust their story based on the comments, or maybe they just don't have the time and/or patience to finish a complete story first. Some series are long!!! One of my favorite writers works that way, and I won't complain (although I would love them to hurry up and publish something new). Even if YOU don't like it, they are free to do so.

Got it. All absolutes are wrong.

Understanding that this is predominantly an amateur site, I still encourage patience. True, there are some writers who have their whole story outlined, and planned to the "nth" degree and can write and post portions of it responsibly, but there are far more who lack the discipline to maintain the continuity of their story from the first posted chapter or part to the end. Character name changes, switching perspectives, and "how did we get here from there" scenarios are all the result of posting as you write rather than allowing yourself to finish and then review a completed work.

I am not unique as a reader in my refusal to begin reading a story that is obviously incomplete. There are too many good stories where I can obtain the satisfaction of finishing the story in its entirety for me to waste my time wondering if another writer will ever post again. Some writers have success with piecemeal work and kudos to them. If they let me know when they're done with their story, I'll check it out. Not until.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Got it. All absolutes are wrong.

Understanding that this is predominantly an amateur site, I still encourage patience. True, there are some writers who have their whole story outlined, and planned to the "nth" degree and can write and post portions of it responsibly, but there are far more who lack the discipline to maintain the continuity of their story from the first posted chapter or part to the end. Character name changes, switching perspectives, and "how did we get here from there" scenarios are all the result of posting as you write rather than allowing yourself to finish and then review a completed work.

No, they're not. I've seen plenty of one-part stories which committed those sins, despite having been completed before posting. Under either method of writing, thorough reviewing can catch them and sloppy reviewing can miss them.

If anything, "post as you go" can perhaps reduce the risk of such continuity glitches. One of the biggest risks for that kind of problem is going back to change earlier sections and doing it imperfectly: I decide to rename "Bob" to "Jim", but I forget the bit where his mother calls him "Robert", yada yada. Under PAYG, I'm not going to be renaming him because I already posted chapters where he's called "Bob".

AFAICT, the most common cause of switching perspectives is that the writer isn't even aware that this is something they should be watching out for. When they don't know that, the details of how they approach their writing aren't going to help.

 

[Ophelia_Coque]

Thanks for the many replies. I can see that a single page story leads the reader to the voting and comment section very quickly, whereas a long story requires some commitment to get to the end, hence a '1' vote is much less likely.
Regarding voting - I only vote if I like the story, and I don't think if I have ever hit anything other than a '5'. If I am not impressed - I just move on.
O

 

[WillyBoyIsHere]

I also started on Lit a short while ago. I tried some one page stories and they scored about the same as the longer ones.
So far I have been lucky - all have scored above the magic 4.5
So it looks like there are no hard and fast rules...

 

[Duleigh]

My first stories were quite lengthy, and got good scores. Recently I tried a couple of short ones - only a single Lit page each , and the scores are abysmal, 4.42 and 3.75.
I have read comments here that most people don't like long stories, and skip to the juicy parts. But when the story is almost all juicy, they get bad scores.
I am confused.
Ophelia

I have found my highest scores are coming from higher page counts, but the longer stories get lower number of views

My advice is to write until the story is done. If you have more story, add another chapter.

 

[alohadave]

And on a human level, I can start reading a long story that I enjoy, but because it's the end of the day, I get tired and stop reading. I wake the next day, and forget what I've been reading, and that next evening I'll read another story.

I open a new tab for each story that looks interesting enough to read. I'll read, and when I finish it, close out the tab. If I don't finish it, I leave the tab open. I just checked, and I have 90 tabs open with stories. It works for me, but I know most people don't operate like this.

 

[Euphony]

I open a new tab for each story that looks interesting enough to read. I'll read, and when I finish it, close out the tab. If I don't finish it, I leave the tab open. I just checked, and I have 90 tabs open with stories. It works for me, but I know most people don't operate like this.

I've no idea how your device doesn't slow to a crawl but mad respect for sticking to what works for you.

If you haven't stumbled on it or similar, I would mention the OneTab extension (or whatever clone works for your device) to manage those tabs in a less resource hungry manner. You get all the "I don't have to remember them" benefits of a tab and some modest organization which has helped me in other tab heavy work/research I do.