Curious about story structure and length for my genre... Advice needed :)

[happyyy_]

Hello all, and thank you in advance for your advice/feedback!

I came writing from Wattpad and reading from AO3. I recently posted the chapter 1 of my story for the first time. I am super excited- none of my stories have ever been viewed before so it was a scary/big jump.
My questions have to do with my genre/smut requirements. I have read a couple of longer stories on here, but I was curious what the consensus was on expectations of on how smutty each chapter will be. My first chapter was 13 pages (in a Word doc, roughly 2 pages on here) and 3/4 of that was a sex scene. I am just curious if my chapter 2 is shorter and has only a brief sex scene, are readers going to loose interest quickly?
I like varying levels of smut throughout the story as I read it. Long, drawn-out sex scenes every chapter for me personally can get boring.. but I also really enjoy full length novels and a lot of plot with my porn too. As a newcomer, I am just curious what expectations may be like and how I can help cater to them better.

Thanks!

 

[StillStunned]

As a rule here on Lit, longer stories score better than shorter ones. In SF&F, I think this is amplified. The readers there tend to want worldbuilding, plot, adventure. The sex is usually an added bonus.

Personally, I feel that sex scenes should be intrinsic to the story, not added on "just because it's Lit". Create a world where people have sex, create characters that want to have sex, and create a story where it's plausible that they're going to have sex.

If you can do that, your readers will reward you. Just don't try to rush anything. Like I said, longer is better. If you're posting short chapters, churn them out at a decent pace. Don't make your readers wait two months for half a Lit page.

I recommend shooting for around the 8000-word mark per chapter, if not more.

 

[happyyy_]

As a rule here on Lit, longer stories score better than shorter ones. In SF&F, I think this is amplified. The readers there tend to want worldbuilding, plot, adventure. The sex is usually an added bonus.

Personally, I feel that sex scenes should be intrinsic to the story, not added on "just because it's Lit". Create a world where people have sex, create characters that want to have sex, and create a story where it's plausible that they're going to have sex.

If you can do that, your readers will reward you. Just don't try to rush anything. Like I said, longer is better. If you're posting short chapters, churn them out at a decent pace. Don't make your readers wait two months for half a Lit page.

I recommend shooting for around the 8000-word mark per chapter, if not more.

Thank you for the advice! `sex scenes should be intrinsic to the story` this is really important advice I am going to think on some more. There are important themes within my story I think I could use sex to better explore and expand upon. Outside of lit I am working on a full fantasy novel without any explicit romance, so it is a different head space and set of expectations to meet here. It is a fun challenge for sure.
Thank you again for your insight!

 

[ElectricBlue]

My questions moreso have to do with my genre/smut requirements, I guess? I have read a couple longer stories on here, but I was curious what the general consensus was on expectations of on how smutty each chapter will be. My first chapter was 13 pages (in a word doc, roughly 2 pages on here) and 3/4 of that was a sex scene. I am just curious if my chapter 2 is shorter and has only a brief sex scene, are readers going to loose interest quickly?

Yep, what @StillStunned says.

Your chapters are shortish by Lit standards. 2 - 3 Lit pages (7k - 10k words) seems to be sweet spot for a good chapter length. Time for arousal, if that's what the chapter's got.

I wouldn't worry too much about the "is there enough sex in the chapter?" though - I reckon readers follow good writing, and if there's good sex, that's a bonus. Particularly so, in your genre.

 

[CarmineBlancheJr]

I think the length rule can depend on the "punch" of the story or the chapter. In my first installment of Chambers House, the story was only about 4,100 words long, but it set up the plan for the proposed next 13 or 14 chapters.

Shorter chapters are fine if you set them up right and can use them as bait to draw people in.

I say this because I have spoken to people who say that they do not want to get into a long, drawn-out story without some enticement. That is what I am hoping for with this series. Each subsequent chapter will be about 5,500-7,500 words, but all woven together to tell a tale that will come together in the 13th or 14th chapter.

In the parlance of our craft here, I like to edge my readers some, get them worked up, and make the climax that much better. ;-)

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I recommend shooting for around the 8000-word mark per chapter, if not more.

I have a story that I think is just about ready to publish, but it's 21,000 words. Too long?

I don't see a natural place to break it into two parts. It would require a really major rewrite, almost just writing two different stories instead of this one.

-Annie

 

[ElectricBlue]

I have a story that I think is just about ready to publish, but it's 21,000 words. Too long?

I don't see a natural place to break it into two parts. It would require a really major rewrite, almost just writing two different stories instead of this one.

-Annie

No, not too long. The longest single story I've seen here on Lit was eighty plus pages, about 300,000 words.

I've got a 37k novella as a standalone story, although it does have internal chapters; and a 104k novel with twelve chapters.

There are untold endless long stories on Lit - don't worry about being "too long".

 

[AlinaX]

1000 words make a decent scene.
Three scenes can make a decent short story or chapter.
Once you start diving into the story to add depth, then 10k-20k words is a good length.
Anything beyond that is getting into novella territory.

With Sci-Fi, it’s great to include sex and eroticism, but plenty of readers will delight in finding a story they love to the point of skipping the sex scenes.