What do you like?

[Hypoxia]

I never have been able to work with a laptop on my lap. Haven't even been weaned away from using a mouse with the laptop. Sometimes that's inconvenient, yes.

Haven't used a mouse for years. I still treasure the personally-engraved silver-plated mouse my rich sis-in-law gave me one Xmas. It now hangs framed in a shadowbox. As for laptop-in-the-lap: I need to keep my feet elevated. The recliner couch allows that. It's hard to work with a desktop system in my lap, yes?

 

[sr71plt]

Haven't used a mouse for years. I still treasure the personally-engraved silver-plated mouse my rich sis-in-law gave me one Xmas. It now hangs framed in a shadowbox. As for laptop-in-the-lap: I need to keep my feet elevated. The recliner couch allows that. It's hard to work with a desktop system in my lap, yes?

Yes

(And here, probably, we go again. )

 

[Bramblethorn]

Do you enjoy reading stories more that get to the sex or are longer?

Either, if done well (and it's possible to do both, or neither).

But I think it's harder to do short stories well (for "Bramble will like it" values of "well"). I prefer stories with character development and achieving that in a short story takes a lot of skill.

 

[Hypoxia]

But I think it's harder to do short stories well (for "Bramble will like it" values of "well"). I prefer stories with character development and achieving that in a short story takes a lot of skill.

Anecdotes aside, I can think of very very few <1000-word vignettes in any genre that are complete entertaining stories, especially containing any realistic dialogue. Such a short piece seems more a technical challenge for the author than a satisfying read for an audience. Fifty- or 100-word stories are even worse. Sexual vignettes are in that league -- it's HARD to fit a satisfying erotic experience into minimal verbiage. Foreplay is necessarily lacking; climax is elusive. If I'm going to be fucked, I usually want to be played with first. That takes time, and strokes. More than a few strokes, please.

Some here may have noticed that big fat novels tend to sell better than the best-crafted short story collections. I suspect audiences for fat fiction want to fill their hours with engrossing fluff, not to decode little mental puzzles. Alas, those of use who LIKE building those little puzzles probably won't make our livings writing fiction. At least, not in that style.

And where do one-LIT-page strokers fit in? A change of pace, hopefully. Can't spend all day and night reading strokers, right?

I wonder how personal preferences for story lengths correlate with the medium of consumption? With paper publications, a thin book is easily stuck into a pocket for casual access; a big fat book takes more commitment. A short stroker may be most suitable for reading on a smartfone or small tablet, with longer e-tales and serials and novels relegated to laptops and (gasp!) desktop systems. (Note: I went all-laptop in 1995 and haven't turned back.) As tiny reading screens become ubiquitous, will popular fiction get shorter?

 

[Swilly]

I like stories that are moderate in length. If they are too short, they don't accomplish much, even as stroke stories. I mean, I don't know about you, but I don't finish in thirty seconds. A story that builds up, both from a plot and an excitement level, work better, no matter what mood I'm in.

Really long stories can be fine, but reading them is a pain in the ass on my available devices. I wish I could put them on my Nook. If they are longer, they really need to be about the story first, with sex added in relevant places. If the sex overpowers the story line...eh. I know that sounds silly on this site, but it's how I feel. The sex should complement the story, not drown it.

 

[Acktion]

Anecdotes aside, I can think of very very few <1000-word vignettes in any genre that are complete entertaining stories, especially containing any realistic dialogue. Such a short piece seems more a technical challenge for the author than a satisfying read for an audience. Fifty- or 100-word stories are even worse. Sexual vignettes are in that league -- it's HARD to fit a satisfying erotic experience into minimal verbiage. Foreplay is necessarily lacking; climax is elusive. If I'm going to be fucked, I usually want to be played with first. That takes time, and strokes. More than a few strokes, please.

Some here may have noticed that big fat novels tend to sell better than the best-crafted short story collections. I suspect audiences for fat fiction want to fill their hours with engrossing fluff, not to decode little mental puzzles. Alas, those of use who LIKE building those little puzzles probably won't make our livings writing fiction. At least, not in that style.

And where do one-LIT-page strokers fit in? A change of pace, hopefully. Can't spend all day and night reading strokers, right?

I wonder how personal preferences for story lengths correlate with the medium of consumption? With paper publications, a thin book is easily stuck into a pocket for casual access; a big fat book takes more commitment. A short stroker may be most suitable for reading on a smartfone or small tablet, with longer e-tales and serials and novels relegated to laptops and (gasp!) desktop systems. (Note: I went all-laptop in 1995 and haven't turned back.) As tiny reading screens become ubiquitous, will popular fiction get shorter?

heh. "...it's Hard..." heh "... HARD to FIT..." *snickers helplessly*

Sorry. Thirteen year old Beavis living in the back of my head got carried away for a moment.

Seriously, though, all very valid points.

I admit to being still a bit of a bibliophile as far as a reader. There just always seems to be something missing from the experience when I read it on a flat screen instead of pages that I can turn and feel and smell.

Which isn't to say I don't read on screens, whether desktop or Kindle. My electronic library finally caught up with my "real library".

However, as I look at my shelves, I see very few bindings facing me that aren't nice and thick juicy novels. But, many of the electronic ones are below 1k ... er... what do they call it again? Not pages or screens, but something else.

However, I hadn't made the correlation until you pointed it out.

But... um... doesn't a "laptop" sort of get in the way when reading a stroker? *snort*

Sorry. I'll shove Beavis back in his cage behind my left ear. Carry on.

Why yes, as a matter of fact, I am overmedicated and undercaffinated. Why do you ask?

 

[Hypoxia]

However, as I look at my shelves, I see very few bindings facing me that aren't nice and thick juicy novels. But, many of the electronic ones are below 1k ... er... what do they call it again? Not pages or screens, but something else.

I've been donating my fat books to Mission Thrift and Friends of the Library. Soon, only pamphlets will remain. (And atlases, and art books, and music books, and ancient books, But I digress.) One of my job titles was LIBRARIAN and my heart breaks to let paper escape my clutches. But I know realistically that I'm more likely to read many texts on notebook or tablet, with tens of thousands of titles stored therein, than to carry around heavy volumes. (And of course there's lots I'll just never re-read.)

Let's see, what <1k files are on hand? [/me investigates] Mostly lyrics I've written. And correspondence I've saved. And stuff I DLd from ASS pre-2000. Oops...

But... um... doesn't a "laptop" sort of get in the way when reading a stroker? *snort*

OK, so it becomes a kneetop.