The 2026 [lit] 750 Word Project Support Thread

[millamomud]

I did a first test, to see if I can come up with something good and handle the pressure to keep it short, and came up with about 860 Words, which I find pretty neat for a first try.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

When he woke up, the dinosaur was still there.

To all the people in the previous pages wondering if it's possible to write a story that's less than 750 words, look at the quote. That's my translation of "El Dinosaurio," a short story written by Augusto Monterroso, and also one of the shortest pieces of fiction in Spanish.

I've also done a few, and I think I shared them on Xitter before my ISP blocked it. I've also seen some erotic flash fiction bouncing online, so yes, it is possible without making it sound like poetry. I mean, the whole challenge of Writing About the Same Thing for a Year that I'm doing is me writing stories that are 500 words long, which is just a leaf of A4. One of my published works here is actually a tryptich made out of three 250 words stories crunched into a single 750 word story.

Keep practicing. Trust me: your prose will improve with this restraint.

Anyway, I picked up an old story I wrote earlier this year and didn't know it was 809 words long. I managed to cut it to 704 words. I believe I'll be done long before the submissions open up because it's only editing that I'm doing.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I did four or five last year.

Okay I am asking a serious question here @Duleigh or @EmilyMiller maybe you can chime in.

I have two stories done and an idea for a thrid.

Is that like snarky of me to submit more than one?

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Maybe I should publish my novel as 120 x 750 word stories

About ten years ago I went into a contest in which the goal was to write a novel of 20 chapters; each chapter had to have between 350 and 500 words. My entry happened to be a sci-fi episodic novel, each chapter between 470 and 500 words, and won first place.

It is possible.

 

[EmilyMiller]

About ten years ago I went into a contest in which the goal was to write a novel of 20 chapters; each chapter had to have between 350 and 500 words. My entry happened to be a sci-fi episodic novel, each chapter between 470 and 500 words, and won first place.

It is possible.

10,000 words is a short novel

 

[EmilyMiller]

This is a complete erotic story in just 750 words:

https://www.literotica.com/s/edens-park-bench

 

[KittyOfSteele]

10,000 words is a short novel

Shut up! You know what I mean!

If an episodic novel can have chapters that are 350 to 500 words long, you can definitely do 120 chapters of 750 words. I was thinking about writing a steamy like that as well on a daily basis to see where does it lead to, but I'm drowning myself with ideas at the moment.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Shut up! You know what I mean!

If an episodic novel can have chapters that are 350 to 500 words long, you can definitely do 120 chapters of 750 words. I was thinking about writing a steamy like that as well on a daily basis to see where does it lead to, but I'm drowning myself with ideas at the moment.

Having it in six parts was enough complexity for me

 

[iwatchus]

Having it in six parts was enough complexity for me

I'm sorry to derail this a bit. Did you write yours in 6 pieces or write it in one and slice it at the end? For my novel this summer, I wrote as one piece (all one word processor document) At the very end I decided which chapter to group together and made my final editing pass over those segments, once split. But my master copy stayed one document. That worked well for me.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I'm sorry to derail this a bit. Did you write yours in 6 pieces or write it in one and slice it at the end? For my novel this summer, I wrote as one piece (all one word processor document) At the very end I decided which chapter to group together and made my final editing pass over those segments, once split. But my master copy stayed one document. That worked well for me.

I wrote it in six pieces. Each (with the exception of Part IV) is based in a different location. I’d always seen myself publishing it as a series of six parts. Plus Google Docs on iOS crashes regularly around the 17 - 20,000 word mark. Even for shorter stories (e.g. WhoreBNB at 30,000 words) I’ve had to split up the master files, before finally consolidating the text on Lit.

 

[iwatchus]

I wrote it in six pieces. Each (with the exception of Part IV) is based in a different location. I’d always seen myself publishing it as a series of six parts. Plus Google Docs on iOS crashes regularly around the 17 - 20,000 word mark. Even for shorter stories (e.g. WhoreBNB at 30,000 words) I’ve had to split up the master files, before finally consolidating the text on Lit.

I would hate to write a novel like that. On my first pass of Blunt Force Drama, I hadn't even figured out chapter breaks. It was one long piece. I added chapters when I went through and adjusted the story. And I am working on three new novels (expecting 60K each instead of the earlier 120K) the same way. I would hate to break that early. But I mostly a panther, so I mostly have no idea what is going to happen 5K later, so I can't plan chapters.

 

[Aoife_from_Ulster]

I wrote it in six pieces. Each (with the exception of Part IV) is based in a different location. I’d always seen myself publishing it as a series of six parts. Plus Google Docs on iOS crashes regularly around the 17 - 20,000 word mark. Even for shorter stories (e.g. WhoreBNB at 30,000 words) I’ve had to split up the master files, before finally consolidating the text on Lit.

A truly interesting concept. I am really tempted to try this … if there is enough time remaining

 

[EmilyMiller]

I would hate to write a novel like that. On my first pass of Blunt Force Drama, I hadn't even figured out chapter breaks. It was one long piece. I added chapters when I went through and adjusted the story. And I am working on three new novels (expecting 60K each instead of the earlier 120K) the same way. I would hate to break that early. But I mostly a panther, so I mostly have no idea what is going to happen 5K later, so I can't plan chapters.

Yeah - as I’ve said many times I’m a hybrid writer.