What's a nice story length?

[Pabiporffor]

I'm new here and have only written a few tester stories to get the hang of the site. I was wondering how much the length of a story affects how many people will read it and if there's a sweet spot I should be aiming for.

 

[8letters]

Based on analysis I've done, there is no sweet spot. The longer a story, the better it does on average in terms of rating, views and comments. I recommend writing a stand-alone story with at least 10K words.

 

[shewantsmore]

Personally if its a single page i dont read them,has to be least 2/3 pages for me to get into them,putting myself into the story

 

[KeithD]

The top number of a single Lit. page is more wordage than most mainstream contest entries are permitted. (Give that a bit of thought.)

The best length of a short story is the number of words to do the job the best, no more, no less.

 

[Imstillfun]

I usually won’t submit anything less than 7500 words. I like them to be at least 2 pages. I do have 2 exceptions. The story was told in less. Both have higher than 4.5 ratings.

 

[oggbashan]

There is no correct answer. Whatever it takes to tell the story.

My stories range from 50-words (in sets of 15 to meet the 750-word minimum) to chapter stories of 50,000 words or more.

 

[SimonDoom]

What KeithD said is correct, but Literotica readers seem to have their own peculiar standards, so IF you are trying to maximize the reception you get here, it's good to know.

Very short stories (under 1 Lit page, or 3750 words) tend not to do as well.

Stories tend to do better in terms of views and scores beyond 1 Lit page and up to 5 or 6, and then things level off, although if you want to win a contest it's generally better to write long stories.

I personally most enjoy writing stories that are around 3-6 pages (10,000 to 20,000 words). That length gives me plenty of time for a fun, lengthy buildup and a satisfying erotic conclusion. I find that as a reader that's what I tend to enjoy, as well.

 

[Trionyx]

11,423 words. No more, no less.

 

[KeithD]

Whew. The one I just now finished reviewing is 11,539 words.

 

[burgwad]

I get a certain minimum of grief every time I post a long story (80k+ words). But I love reading long stories. Does that help?

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

I can't say what my average story is yet. I don't have enough stories to know. So far, my stories are pretty short. I'm not doing much backstory, have it start where the action will get going. I'm new to others reading my work, so I hope to develop some unique styles as I go. For the most part, I write interracial and pretty much cuckold tales. I don't plan to move out of those until I've explored this type of story. I deviate from reality as it is a long journey from when interests first such desires develop to a time when a couple is ready for such things actually to happen.

 

[TheRedChamber]

What KeithD said is correct, but Literotica readers seem to have their own peculiar standards, so IF you are trying to maximize the reception you get here, it's good to know.

Very short stories (under 1 Lit page, or 3750 words) tend not to do as well.

Stories tend to do better in terms of views and scores beyond 1 Lit page and up to 5 or 6, and then things level off, although if you want to win a contest it's generally better to write long stories.

I personally most enjoy writing stories that are around 3-6 pages (10,000 to 20,000 words). That length gives me plenty of time for a fun, lengthy buildup and a satisfying erotic conclusion. I find that as a reader that's what I tend to enjoy, as well.

I agree with all of this (including personally enjoying writing 3-6 pages). The only thing I'd add its that the score drop for 1-page stories, while statistically real, may be partly due to the fact that people don't vote on stories they don't finish and people are more likely to finish 1-page stories even if they find them lacking in some way. In comparison, when I've written 6 page stories, I've gotten high scores but a much lower viewers to voters ratio. So it's not necessarily the case that writing longer stories will make people happier. The counter-point to this counter-point is that a lot of people on this forum (myself and Simon) included, do indeed injoy longer stories more.

The top number of a single Lit. page is more wordage than most mainstream contest entries are permitted. (Give that a bit of thought.)

Readers, by and large, want long lurid descriptions of sexual acts. In addition to this, some of them also demand some kind of context or build-up to the sexual act. The really perverted also want some kind of emotional resolution to the story.

 

[KeithD]

Readers, by and large, want long lurid descriptions of sexual acts. In addition to this, some of them also demand some kind of context or build-up to the sexual act. The really perverted also want some kind of emotional resolution to the story.

I have no idea what the huge number of readers here based on a very wide variety of offerings "by and large" want. I don't think anyone else has good idea of that either.

 

[TheRedChamber]

I have no idea what the huge number of readers here based on a very wide variety of offerings "by and large" want. I don't think anyone else has good idea of that either.

And yet, somehow, 'readers of sex-story website visit website for stories involving sex' is a generalization I'm fairly confident in making - especially as I'm frequently critized for not providing enough of it. Certainly I get more comments to that effect rather than 'Story does not confirm to recommended competition lengths'.

 

[KeithD]

And yet, somehow, 'readers of sex-story website visit website for stories involving sex' is a generalization I'm fairly confident in making - especially as I'm frequently critized for not providing enough of it. Certainly I get more comments to that effect rather than 'Story does not confirm to recommended competition lengths'.

You could always join the bunch of discussion board posters who frequently show up and pooh pooh the idea that most readers come here for the sex scenes. They think (or they often say they think) everyone here comes here to develop their writing skills (which is probably why I post as I did in this thread what seem to be some of the differences in getting high ratings skills here at Literotica and showing developed writing skills in the mainstream).

 

[lovecraft68]

The really perverted also want some kind of emotional resolution to the story.

I know, talk about extreme, damn weirdos.

 

[SebastianApollo]

I have a story in pending that's a lil' over 10,000 words and I thought that was a lot! But I had a lot of fun writing it and the dialogue back-and-forth between the two main characters. But I've always believed that if it's fun for me to write, then it'll be fun to read.

I still consider myself an amateur, so I really couldn't pinpoint the range of where the word count is best. For myself, I try to get the best of both worlds - proper set up and background with steamy sex scene as a satisfying conclusion. But along the way, sprinkled throughout the story, I like to add an almost laissez-faire attitude towards sex and sexuality, kind of teasing the viewer as a means to keep reading until things get really good.

 

[Amy_66]

Q: What is a good story length?

A: Ten inches, maybe eleven.


(In two point type on my Kindle.)