How long is too long?

[Hypoxia]

You need to chop things up into something called chapters. Small pieces of the story that are focused on one situation or event. The serials/one reel shorts of the early days of cinema used that chapter format to save money on filming.

LIT contest entries can't be chapters. Small pieces of a story can be stuffed into a bigger package -- but an author can choose the length -- no, they're obliged to. Or driven to. I wrote a one-pager that reader demand blew into three. I wrote an eight-pager needing the length. I wrote pieces with many episodes framed by one device, total ranging from three to seven pages.

Every submission has its own requirements. Listen to the story as you write it.

 

[SamScribble]

Listen to the story as you write it.

From an author's point of view, Hypoxia is spot on. If you listen carefully, you'll hear when a story has reached a conclusion. But readers don't always agree. The most common comment I get from readers is some variation on: 'Please, sir, can I have some more?'

 

[ttvttp]

There is no such thing as too long. I've seen a 240,000 single submission - it was being read by the tens-of-thousands.

Having said that, 3 - 4 Lit pages (10k - 15k words) seems to be a comfortable chapter length or single story length. But I've had 10 Lit pages do just as well.

You'll find as many people in the "I don't read long stories" camp as there are in the "Ohmigod give me more" coterie, so I wouldn't worry too much about an "ideal length" because, like cocks, there isn't one.

Do you remember the story?

 

[Pocketshaver]

LIT contest entries can't be chapters. Small pieces of a story can be stuffed into a bigger package -- but an author can choose the length -- no, they're obliged to. Or driven to. I wrote a one-pager that reader demand blew into three. I wrote an eight-pager needing the length. I wrote pieces with many episodes framed by one device, total ranging from three to seven pages.

Every submission has its own requirements. Listen to the story as you write it.

If long story submissions are fine, they why did you bother chopping up your stories into 3-5 submissions/parts? Most of them seem to have the ability to run as a single 10-12 page submission entry.

Or is it merely the desire to have more submitted entries on your submissions page?

 

[ElectricBlue]

Do you remember the story?

Something by Lien Geller.

He's taken it down and published it, I think. His story list is much shorter than it used to be - he was very, very prolific. Here's his current Story Page:

https://www.literotica.com/stories/memberpage.php?uid=1040410&page=submissions

 

[ElectricBlue]

If long story submissions are fine, they why did you bother chopping up your stories into 3-5 submissions/parts? Most of them seem to have the ability to run as a single 10-12 page submission entry.

Or is it merely the desire to have more submitted entries on your submissions page?

Some stories are fully finished before an author puts it up, and they might have completely valid reasons to put them out in chapters or in one big file (managing the chapter drafts, for example - have you ever tried to do a raw draft that ends up as a single 100k Word file? That's not something I'd contemplate doing).

Other writers write and submit, write and submit. Melissa, for example. It's how she writes, and you can't knock it, not when you read her material. But it's not a technique for everyone.

I've done both, and there are pros and cons with every method of presentation. But it's a cheap shot to accuse someone of list padding. Looking at Hypoxia's story list, he applies chapters to help readers navigate long stories, I'd say.

 

[ttvttp]

This might be the chapter you are thinking of Electric https://www.literotica.com/s/the-missing-dragon-ch-05

 

[Hypoxia]

If long story submissions are fine, they why did you bother chopping up your stories into 3-5 submissions/parts? Most of them seem to have the ability to run as a single 10-12 page submission entry.

Because some episodes are standalone units, sometimes in planned limited arcs that grow into series if/as I feel impelled to write more. Stories just come. I transcribe my voices when they whisper. I have no choice. Do you?

Or is it merely the desire to have more submitted entries on your submissions page?

I needn't keep count.

 

[KeithD]

If you want to submit it to a themed contest on Literotica, it has to be submitted in one piece.

 

[LupusDei]

This might be the chapter you are thinking of Electric https://www.literotica.com/s/the-missing-dragon-ch-05

That's great, but only 60 Lit pages. Longest I have seen (and read) here, possibly the longest on the whole site is this thing https://www.literotica.com/s/its-my-party-2 it goes on for 110 Lit pages.

 

[ElectricBlue]

This might be the chapter you are thinking of Electric https://www.literotica.com/s/the-missing-dragon-ch-05

That's the one!

 

[ElectricBlue]

That's great, but only 60 Lit pages. Longest I have seen (and read) here, possibly the longest on the whole site is this thing https://www.literotica.com/s/its-my-party-2 it goes on for 110 Lit pages.

Bloody hell! That's massive. Any good?

 

[KeithD]

That's great, but only 60 Lit pages. Longest I have seen (and read) here, possibly the longest on the whole site is this thing https://www.literotica.com/s/its-my-party-2 it goes on for 110 Lit pages.

there are 153 comments on this story, many of them dealing with the length. The OP probably would benefit in reading the those comments in deciding what would be too long to post. Obviously there's nothing to limit what length would be posted. A book this length probably couldn't be bound in one print book but it could be handled as an e-book..

 

[LupusDei]

Bloody hell! That's massive. Any good?

Not bad. It's a solid science fiction book dropped in Illustrated for having few floor plans and diagrams. Well build and a bit crazy world is the central thing even if it feels left somewhat underutilized, but perhaps on purpose. Ironically for the length, the ending felt a bit rushed. Vanilla sex is mostly decorative; rape isn't. A bit disappointingly some great opportunities for kinks and deviations aren't really explored. Can't comment on writing as such (for not speaking English), but it wasn't until after well over thirty pages before I paused to wonder how long the whole thing will be, as it felt still just starting.

 

[FEELINGLUCKYPUNK]

It sounds so bad and arrogant to say that...

...er, but I happen to agree. Sure it's a soundbite kind of statement and maybe it's a flashing neon sign rather than meant to be a mathematically PERFECTLY correct analysis, but yeah; point. And yes some people have styles that set out to be wordy or to meander for some purpose of effect they are seeking.

If you are doing PURE erotica without letting (IE warning) everyone know beforehand 'hey this is A STORY' being posted here, then a lot of stuff loses me in about five paragraphs, and mainly because the words in those paragraphs are pretty mediocre writing.

But I would not claim to be representative of ALL the zillions of readers who apparently High Five Jesus-Only-Knows how many Jeremy Fragluminati bot stories by the thousand here.

I sure as hell ain't the world's best writer, not even close. Whoever wrote the Captain Marvel film script is that. Wow. What a great story. What a great movie. Gee Hollywood packs 'em in and makes so much cash compared to lowly lowly cooks like me.

When I did my genealogy and discovered I come from the crew who brought the world Shakespeare, the Oxford English Dictionary, the Glorious Revoltion, opioids, the modern medical ststem and oodles more I knew pur contributioons casn never match the anal sex OGs people contributed or SAMS blow jobs, but wer'ee all in it together. The Shakespeare thing seriously pisses off lotsa folks. Especially when all they got is a White C hapel whore Jack carved up. I'm a victim too.

 

[FEELINGLUCKYPUNK]

Most here simply love the dulcet tones of our words.

 

[oggbashan]

When I did my genealogy and discovered I come from the crew who brought the world Shakespeare, the Oxford English Dictionary, the Glorious Revoltion, opioids, the modern medical ststem and oodles more I knew pur contributioons casn never match the anal sex OGs people contributed or SAMS blow jobs, but wer'ee all in it together. The Shakespeare thing seriously pisses off lotsa folks. Especially when all they got is a White C hapel whore Jack carved up. I'm a victim too.

UK genealogy for English people who have been here for many generations is likely to include royalty and commoners. Many minor royals had bastards by ladies-in-waiting or servant women. English nobility was infamous for affairs.

I'm descended from some village blacksmiths who were called 'John Smith' for several generations; a younger daughter of a dispossessed nobleman at the time of Queen Mary, and through her back to King Henry II and the Plantagents (that line apparently includes the Norse God Odin or Woden; the Greek Goddess Aphrodite and the Egyptian Goddess Isis with Julius Caesar and Cleopatra); and a Spanish Knight who came to England after being disabled fighting the Moors during the Reconquista.

My family's court appearances have been as witnesses, Jurors and Lawyers. One family baby had his pearl necklace snatched by a thief. His nursemaid grabbed the thief, beat him up and hauled him to the nearest Police station. She was one of the poor relations but married a distant cousin and prospered with a compliant husband perhaps because he was afraid of her. For the mid 19th Century she was a giantess at six feet two inches.

Back to the topic: 51 words is too long for my 50-word stories.

 

[Peach102]

Different authors have different styles. Hell, the length of a novel, as well as the chapters within, can vary from one book to the next. I just grabbed 2 books from the nightstand. The first, a Thomas Wolfe work, contains chapters 20 to 40 pages long. The second, by Roselund & Hellstrom, has chapters 2 to 10 pages in length.

And you can't compare textbooks to fiction, as one simply requires you to follow the story, while the other is a tool of learning with which you must develop skills/expand your knowledge in a specific area.

As far as Lit goes, most of the longer tales I have enjoyed have clear breaks between scenes. They essentially are chapter breaks. I have had no problem stopping at one of those points coming back at a later date. I also generally have no problem reading longer works in a single sitting, I have read entire novels in a single day.

 

[Hypoxia]

My genealogy reveals links to several noted Western bandits. Yippie ky yay, motherfucker. I mostly don't include them in my stories. Heinlein wrote of an iguana that bragged its grandpa was a T.Rex. I try to avoid that. But I digress.

A story's correct length is 1) whatever the author writes and 2) whatever will be read.

 

[blozo]

What would Charles Dickens do?

Great Expectations: 500 plus pages of utter boredom.

A Christmas Carol: 90 pages or so of timeless classic.

I think the key is to stop writing as soon as you feel yourself searching for filler.

 

[TriadWriter]

I'm talking about stories here, lol.

I've been catching up on some threads and have noticed some talk of people saying that 4-5-6 page lit stories are too long and they lose interest after 2.

Have any of you an opinion on this? How much is too much?

Do long stories hurt reads?

I personally won't read stories longer than a few lit pages. I can't say for the rest of the site.

 

[WoolyWorm]

Great Expectations: 500 plus pages of utter boredom.

I couldn't disagree more. I wish it had gone on for a few hundred pages more, because I thought the ending was too rushed.

 

[KeithD]

I think perhaps that this thread qualifies as too long.

 

[Hypoxia]

I think perhaps that this thread qualifies as too long.

Nobody forced you to post, hey? You did so of your own volition?

 

[KeithD]

Nobody forced you to post, hey? You did so of your own volition?

And I jolly well said what I wanted in my post, just as you have--frequently. OK?

I think everyone gets it. A long story isn't going to break the Lit. functions and everyone has their own preferences on what might be too long or too short.