Stories in chapters - good or bad?

[SallyJam]

I'd like to hear what people think of stories which are split into chapters. A couple of stories I've written have been in chapters and it's interesting what feedback I've had regarding them.

Some say it's great and they can't wait to see what happens next. Sometimes they offer suggestions on what they would like to happen to the characters.

For others it seems to piss them off. I got this anonymous feedback regarding Last Night of Freedom Ch.1

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=24080

"not good to keep us hanging. had u ended it with a good fucking i would have rated it least a point higher."

The majority of comments are along these lines:

"god i love this story,(please write more parts),it made
me so hard and i shoot a lot of cum on my wife´s face while reading it,(she also loved it)."

When reading stories myself I feel more inclined to agree with the first guy. I don't want to wait around to see what happens. Nevertheless, most readers seem to really enjoy stories in chapters, at least those who send feedback.

I'd like to hear what other authors feel about this, and what kind of feedback they've had themselves.

 

[vgrey]

chapters

I have never had a problem with chapters. I'd leave it up to the author to decide.

VG

 

[cyndiesweet]

I myself like chapter stories although I don't like to wait too long between chapters. For instance, I am still waiting for chapter 3 of The Babysitter. Just in case you are reading LadySherotica!
I am currently worrking on a story too and haven't decided if I should go really long or break it up into chapters., Esp since it would probably start out in one catagory and switch to another.That might make it hard for people to follow along. Anyone else with an opinion would be greatly appreciated......

 

[Guest]

Chapters....or a series

I think the debate on posting stories that have Chapters, basically a series has been discussed and beaten to death both ways.

I have written a series myself..."Masturbation Club". It's interesting to see the ups and downs of the voting (discounting the "one" vote attackers), and seeing how some stories fair reasonably well as evidenced by the amount of feedback emails.

However.....IF you decide to go that route, be careful how you leave a chapter, were you are going with it afterwards. If you end on a low note, or with too much unfinished business, it can drag the story down, (honest low votes) and is hard to recover on the next successive Chapter sometimes.

Another thing....sometimes there's whats called "too" much of a good thing. Sure...we all get a character in mind, or an idea and want to run with it. But after Chapter eleventy-elven....I think it's probably all been pretty much said and done by now.

Time to go on to something else maybe.

Try poetry.

Look at what Nostradamus accomplished in his poems!

To sleep........perchance to dream - William Shakespear

I remain............

 

[TheWriter]

I would take their discontent as a complement. They were looking for some simple whacking material - they got drawn into your story - and got pissed off when they realised that your story was more than what they wanted. It's just frustration. Everybody wants everything now, now, NOW! Don't let it get to you.

 

[Whispersecret]

Here are my thoughts on chapter division:

1. Sometimes dividing into chapters necessary. If you have a story that goes on and on, dividing into chunks is helpful for the reader. Otherwise, reading it just seems like too large a project to undertake. Further, you sometimes have "chapter breaks" within the chapters themselves, not only to facilitate reading, but often to change viewpoints, establish a scene change, or the passage of time.

2. Sometimes writers here divide into chapters, because they're writing as they go. They write one section and send it off to be posted as Chapter One. Once the write the next, they call it Chapter Two, and so on.

There's really nothing wrong with that, per se. However, personally I hate waiting for subsequent installments (Stephen King's fourth Dark Tower book, for example), and so when I posted my novella here, I wrote the entire thing before sending it to Laurel. I got a great many emails thanking me for posting the story one chapter a day over the course of ten days. People really appreciated not having to wait for weeks or even months for the next part.

Not everyone may agree with me. I know how the fire to send a story off the moment it's finished can burn inside you, but I think most readers will appreciate an author posting a longer work without large amounts of down time between installments.

3. Many people seem confused about the difference between a scene and a chapter. While I've often seen chapters composed of one single scene, that is for a certain purpose, usually to draw particular attention to a pivotal event in the plot. The norm is to have several scenes within a chapter.

4. A sex scene does not necessarily a chapter make. Just because someone comes doesn't mean the chapter should end.

5. Leaving the reader hanging is a good way to keep them reading, but I think it's only considerate to do that if the next chapter is forthcoming rather quickly. In books, cliffhanger chapter endings are part of what make a novel a "page-turner." But like most literary devices, you shouldn't overdo it.

6. I think the word "chapter" refers to a section of a long work, like a novella or a novel. Novels and novellas have plots with beginnings, middles, and ends. At the end, all loose ends are tied up and everything reaches a resolution.

A series, on the other hand, is an open-ended number of stories that include the same character(s). (Think James Bond.) Each story has its own individual ending, but the stories don't all link together and end as one. Parts of a series, I think, are more aptly named...well, "parts." (Part One, and so on.)

To summarize my points:
--chapters help make longer works easier to read
--many readers will appreciate a shorter amount of time between the posting of chapters or parts
--scenes do not equal chapters
--don't use too many cliffhangers
--novels/novellas have chapters
--series have parts

All of the above is my opinion, and much as I'd like to think otherwise, it may not be gospel.

 

[Guest]

Excellent Advise Whisper

I couldn't agree with you more. That is truly excellent advise that anyone writing an extremely long story should adhere to.

And...A series as I've seen here, is more along the line of "Parts", most stories have had a begining, middle, end...within each part.

Even my series did. And so you are correct, it should be established as a Part (Separate story) than can pick up and continue with the same characters in another "part" but that each of these has a begining and an end within themselves as mine did.

So great job making such a clear distinction for everyone and anyone who's considering writing a long story.

Is it a Novel, Novella...or just an ongoing Theme of different stories using the same characters.

Couldn't agree with you more!

To sleep........perchance to dream - William Shakespear

I remain.........

 

[LadySherotica]

I myself like chapter stories although I don't like to wait too long between chapters. For instance, I am still waiting for chapter 3 of The Babysitter. Just in case you are reading LadySherotica!
I am currently worrking on a story too and haven't decided if I should go really long or break it up into chapters., Esp since it would probably start out in one catagory and switch to another.That might make it hard for people to follow along. Anyone else with an opinion would be greatly appreciated......

Ever do a random search on your name using Google and have a surprise like this come up? LOL

Personally, I enjoy following stories in chapters because it means I can enjoy an ongoing story in bite-sized pieces.

To answer cyndiesweet, The Babysitter was never intended to go beyond the two parts. Neither was A Binding Friendship, but it just seemed I should post them that way. Given the same experiences, I would combine them into one part only and post that. I'm currently working on a three-part story ;-)

 

[SavannahMann]

Chapters work for me.

I have one up, and I had intended to post the next two sections until I considered it. The author stops at six right now, badly. I can't make up my mind where I want it to go, I had seven written but I didn't post it. It was, well something was wrong with it, and the more I read and edited, the less I liked it.

Since I am an egocentric son of a bitch, I write what I want to read first and I didn't want to read the seventh section the way I had written it. I feel bad leaving it hanging, but I think I would feel worse not getting it the way I want.

So I cleaned up another story I had ready, Family Tradition of Bondage, and the first section is poasted, and part two should be approved tonight if the date is any indication. Part three is submitted, and awaiting approval. Part four is ready, and on down the line through nine, the end. As I post those, I'm playing around with another idea I have called "The Switch" and trying to write it.

I am also a bad writer, I don't outline my stories, before or after the fact. I just close my eyes and let the story take itself. My imagination works on one scene, and then another scene. When writing I shuffle the scenes around and put them together until it feels right, if that makes any sense.

Lately nothing has been coming to me, so I don't write. I can't force it, and won't waste my time trying.

 

[JamesSD]

In erotica, each major sex scene can warrant its own chapter. Additionally, with the exception of more drawn out romantic stories, you really need a sex scene in each chapter.

If your chapters are less than one "Lit Page" (7 or so MS Word pages for me), don't even think about chapters. Newer authors in particular underestimate how quickly their readers will read what often takes a long time to write.

While there's no firm rules, if your story is 5 Lit Pages or less, you don't have to break it into chapters. Even if it's 7, you can get away with posting it as one entry. Sometimes it depends on the story and its contents.

I've seen people post very long (10+ Lit Pages) stories as one entry. I feel this is a mistake, but at least the reader knows it is a finished story. Readers hate getting into a story and being left hanging.

If you are going to submit a story in chapters, I highly recommend submitting them all at once, completed, and make a note to that extent at the end of chapter 1.

 

[ms.read]

In erotica, each major sex scene can warrant its own chapter. Additionally, with the exception of more drawn out romantic stories, you really need a sex scene in each chapter.

If your chapters are less than one "Lit Page" (7 or so MS Word pages for me), don't even think about chapters. Newer authors in particular underestimate how quickly their readers will read what often takes a long time to write.

While there's no firm rules, if your story is 5 Lit Pages or less, you don't have to break it into chapters. Even if it's 7, you can get away with posting it as one entry. Sometimes it depends on the story and its contents.

I've seen people post very long (10+ Lit Pages) stories as one entry. I feel this is a mistake, but at least the reader knows it is a finished story. Readers hate getting into a story and being left hanging.

If you are going to submit a story in chapters, I highly recommend submitting them all at once, completed, and make a note to that extent at the end of chapter 1.

Hmmm Good Idea.

 

[SavannahMann]

I tend to post in sequence

The reason behind that is simple. Let's say I post all nine sections, and to my surprise section four is rejected for any reason, gramatical error for example. The story is thus online, with a major hole right in the middle. It's hard not to look stupid in that situation, and I can't fault the folks who run the site having standards.

This way when one section, say part three is accepted and posted, then I can post section four quickly and the readers get to it in the next few days.

 

[Guest]

My work, or most of it anyway, is all novel length. I post as I go but I also write six to ten hours a day since I can't work. I just asked my readers this very same question and every single one who's replied has said that they love my chapters because I do update regularly.

 

[MarshAlien]

I think it depends on the relationship you have with your readers. I got a lot of complaints when I posted my first multi-chapter story that the chapters were too short (sometimes just a little over one Lit-page). So now I've started to post them in "parts," two, three or even four chapters at a time. My readers seem to be happy with that, even when there's not any sex in a particular part.

The longest story I posted without chapters is seven Lit-pages long, and I agree with James that going above that might be a little bit much for some people to read in a single sitting.

 

[mjl2010]

I am a voracious reader and love to read damn near anything including the backs of cereal boxes and the required three published ads for divorces and other stuff in the newspaper want ads. No biographies please.

I find nothing so irritating as an unfinished story. Steven King, once one of my favorite authors fell into disfavor with me with that tower series. Did he ever finish that? Damn if I know. Waited too long to feed me more stuff. Same with that Jordon guy and the Wheel of Time. Did that story ever get finished. I've long gone on to other things if they have.

So in my not so humble opinion (I am rarely humble, I know everything didn't you know that? ) I think that...

A.) Write a complete story with a conclusion. If you want to write more with the same characters, go ahead. But don't post a chapter and then sometime next year post another. I keep a list next to my computer.. read this guy, don't read her, she never finishes anything. Well not really but almost.

B.) Write a scene for people to stroke to. That way when they both cum, you have your conclusion and so does nearly everyone else.

C.)Write books and have them published. If they're any good, chances are I'll read them.

D.)Why bother posting in chapters, even if only a day or week apart. Why not write the whole thing, have it edited and ready to go, then post them together. Why the hell would you want to stretch it out? If you're writing pure stroke it doesn't matter, no one will care. if you're trying to write something good, put it all out there together and keep me up until five in the morning reading it.

MJL

 

[evanslily]

Post as you go?

I agree--to a point--that it would be better to write the whole thing and then post it all, rather than a chapter at a time. Though personally, I find reading stories that are longer than 3 pages a bit of a stretch. Really not sure why. Lazy, I guess...

And this wonderful site serves both readers and writers, doesn't it?

I guess there must be many, many more readers than writers logging in. And as a reader, yes, I'll admit I get terribly frustrated when the author I'm loving stops posting for weeks--or even worse, stops altogether, right in the middle of a story (though it has to be said, my favourite authors don't tend to leave me hanging for long--thanks guys ).

But having had a stab at writing myself now--whoo, it really isn't easy, is it? To get something in a fit state to post seems to take for ever. Well, it takes me quite a while anyway. And I find that knowing I need to get the next chapter out before those that were kind enough to read me lose interest spurs me on. Keeps me writing every night, when before I might have given it up as a bad job. Because writing has to be like every other skill, right? The more you do it, the better you get. At least, I'm hoping that's what will happen...

So in the meantime, until I've built up my writing muscles, I guess I'll keep posting in chapters.

 

[sr71plt]

In keeping with some of the above, I don't start posting the parts of a serialized novel (I've posted two on Lit. this year) until the whole manuscript is finished. And I try to time the posting by submitting a chapter right after the previous one has posted. This keeps them in order and close enough in release so anyone following the novel doesn't have to wait too long for the next segment. It also ensures against one segment not posting, for whatever reason, and being overtaken by the next segment. I don't think I've had any segment of a novel go over two Lit. pages. I think a lot of readers will just not read something that they know is going to take a lot of time before they begin.

 

[yukonnights]

As a reader, I agree with "sr71plt" about the length of story I want to bite into here on Lit. I think it has more to do with the fact that I'm reading on a computer screen than anything else because I can read a book for hours. I have read some really well written stuff that were 6 or 7 pages, but usually I prefer 2 or 3.

I don't usually even start stories with chapters, mostly because I feel like I will get started and then fade away due to not liking to read on the computer.

 

[NDorado]

My thoughts on chapter stories

I'd like to hear what people think of stories which are split into chapters.

Serialized storytelling has been around for a long time, so I think it's legitimate. But I think it needs to be satisfying in and of itself.

I'm a little biased because I've posted a first chapter of a longer story. I debated with myself about whether to post that first chapter or wait and write the entire story and post it as one longer novella or a full-length novel. I decided to go with posting the chapter because I thought it could stand on its own as a short story and because I wanted to get feedback from readers as I continued writing the rest of it.

So I can understand the frustrations, but I think chapter storytelling has a place and can work. But that's just my humble opinion.

 

[sr71plt]

Serialized storytelling has been around for a long time, so I think it's legitimate. But I think it needs to be satisfying in and of itself.

I'm a little biased because I've posted a first chapter of a longer story. I debated with myself about whether to post that first chapter or wait and write the entire story and post it as one longer novella or a full-length novel. I decided to go with posting the chapter because I thought it could stand on its own as a short story and because I wanted to get feedback from readers as I continued writing the rest of it.

So I can understand the frustrations, but I think chapter storytelling has a place and can work. But that's just my humble opinion.

There are novels published (and probably written) chapter by chapter over a span of years here that have done extremely well in votes/readers, so there's no reason not to do it that way if you want to.

I probably only do it the other way because I write novels and once I start they get a mind of their own on where they are going to go and I have to backtrack and redo earlier parts to serve where the novel actually went. If I'd already been locked into earlier chapters because they already were posted, I think I'd find that too limiting to the creative process.

(I'll admit I added some chapters to one of the novels I have posted here after I'd started posting chapters and after I thought I had finished)

 

[SavannahMann]

On a Family Tradition story

My current story, which isn't entirely accurate. However the one I am currently posting is a Family Tradition of Bondage. It is over 100,000 words. Each section is broken down to less than 30 pages of word, which comes in at about 5 pages or less on Lit. With nearly ten sections, if I posted it all in one big post, it would be something along the lines of 50 pages on lit. That is way too fucking big to be read in one sitting. It's too big to be read in a day really.

Posting it in sections every three to five days is much easier, and much more entertaining to the reader, or so I hope.

The first section posted just under a week ago has had something like 10,000 reads, while the second and third parts which were posted a couple days ago have had just about 3,000 reads. I've gotten a couple of e-mail's from readers who have commented about the story, all positive, which I am appreciative.

How positive would those messages be if I had tried to post some fifty pages of story to them? I doubt that any of them would be positive, most would decry me as a long winded ass. Rightly so in my opinion.

All of this is of course my opinion, humble or otherwise.

 

[sr71plt]

My current story, which isn't entirely accurate. However the one I am currently posting is a Family Tradition of Bondage. It is over 100,000 words. Each section is broken down to less than 30 pages of word, which comes in at about 5 pages or less on Lit. With nearly ten sections, if I posted it all in one big post, it would be something along the lines of 50 pages on lit. That is way too fucking big to be read in one sitting. It's too big to be read in a day really.

Posting it in sections every three to five days is much easier, and much more entertaining to the reader, or so I hope.

The first section posted just under a week ago has had something like 10,000 reads, while the second and third parts which were posted a couple days ago have had just about 3,000 reads. I've gotten a couple of e-mail's from readers who have commented about the story, all positive, which I am appreciative.

How positive would those messages be if I had tried to post some fifty pages of story to them? I doubt that any of them would be positive, most would decry me as a long winded ass. Rightly so in my opinion.

All of this is of course my opinion, humble or otherwise.

Yep, I think that makes sense. I wouldn't open anything over three Lit. pages myself.

 

[cloudy]

Yep, I think that makes sense. I wouldn't open anything over three Lit. pages myself.

On the other hand, there have been some very successful, very long stories here on Lit. Several of Colleen Thomas' stories come to mind, specifically The Furies, a contest winner at 15 Lit pages, and The Spy Wore Petticoats, another contest winner and Editor's Choice at 11 pages.

I think it just depends on the story itself.

 

[JamesSD]

Yep, I think that makes sense. I wouldn't open anything over three Lit. pages myself.

See, for me it's more a matter of if it's longer than 3 lit pages or so, the first page really needs to grab me. I'll finish a short so-so story, but not a long one.

 

[RomanCEisdead]

Writing in Chapters?

I'm surprised that anybody can actually write and then submit individual chapters. Personally, I prefer to write the entire story and then go back through it to correct mistakes and inconsistencies before submitting it in its complete form. After all, if you've already submitted part of a tale, then you have to follow the lines that you have already laid down, rather than being able to make a small adjustment and thus allow you to be able to open up a whole new scenario.

I do write sequels and connected stories, but I avoid calling anything "Chapter 2". The only time this happened was without my consent. I feel that any of my stories should be able to stand on their own, without the need to read a prequel.

RomaCEisdead