One long story or multiple stories per chapter?

[fannyfun]

I have an idea for a story that's going to go over multiple chapters. What would you do:

Publish them by chapter and combine it into a series or have it as one long story going over multiple pages?



What do readers in general like more?



I've only ever gone chapter by chapter and combine them into a series, but for this new idea, I'm not sure if that's the best format or not.

 

[EmilyMiller]

This is a Coke vs Pepsi thing…

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I prefer under 5K per. If I see a 'story' over that, I move on.

 

[RocketGrunt]

There are people who like short fiction, and people who like long fiction. There are people who like chapter divisions and people who like to put in their own bookmarks. The majority of Literotica readers appear to like their stories carved up into Novelette length. That is to say more than 9k words and less than 20k words. From a typical novel, that's generally 2 or 3 chapters.

 

[Paul_Chance]

Break it down into chapters.

 

[Britva415]

What if you were to write all of it and then decide?

 

[ElectricBlue]

I have an idea for a story that's going to go over multiple chapters. What would you do:

Publish them by chapter and combine it into a series or have it as one long story going over multiple pages?

Either option has merit, but keep in mind the story a year later, when every chapter has been published. What will suit the story best for the whole of its life, not just the first month?

What do readers in general like more?

Both. There is no universal "reader".

I've only ever gone chapter by chapter and combine them into a series, but for this new idea, I'm not sure if that's the best format or not.

Think of the future, as well as the first release. There are too many variables to consider.

 

[anthrodisiac]

I mean, how long are we talking? I'm personally of the belief that anything over 25k should probably be chaptered work (most of my one-shots* are around 20k on average, range of 10k - 30k). Chapters over 20k feel excessive to me (my chapters are around 15k, but are high compartimentalized).

But perhaps most importantly, you want to keep the actual chapters and breaks together. Are you looking to do chapters as more compartimentalized pieces, or are we talking you're writing a novel and doing chapters more in that format, where a chapter can end and pick up the action immediately after as long as you have a decent cliffhanger?

It's hard to give advice because stories are such unique things, and what works for one doesn't always work for another. There are certainly authors who will post 500k word stories in one go and have actually decent readership. There are others who have Book 3 Chapter 373, each chapter ~2-5k. Those tend to be Sci-Fi & Fantasy.

Could you share a bit more about your story, what length you're targeting, plot, that sort of thing? It'd help in tailoring advice for you rather than a fairly generic "Chapter vs. Full-Length" debate that has probably existed since Literotica was founded.

*100% typed "one-shits" first time around

 

[Nowackosplease2]

I will pass on a story over three pages.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Would you rather sit through an 8 hour movie, 4 2 hour movies, or 8 1 hour episodes?

 

[ElectricBlue]

Would you rather sit through an 8 hour movie, 4 2 hour movies, or 8 1 hour episodes?

Having done all three, yes.

 

[Cacatua_Galerita]

Break it down into chapters.

Break those chapters into paragraphs.

 

[IWroteThis]

Would you rather sit through an 8 hour movie, 4 2 hour movies, or 8 1 hour episodes?

If seeing a complete story means I have to sit through 8 hours no matter which breakdown I choose, the choice doesn't really matter.

Personally, I would opt for the 8 hour movie, as I control the pause button for the entire 8 hours and there is no fear of it getting dropped after 3 episodes. That's not as relevant once all 8 episodes are posted, and I read both types, but that's my preference.

 

[OddLove]

If someone is adding new entries to their ongoing stories over time whenever they come up with a new fun adventure riddled with sex, then it's fun seeing where it goes. I currently follow two people who have ongoing stories and it's clearly not a chopped up story, they're actually writing new 'sequels' to it whenever they find time to enjoy some writing.

But sometimes I'll see a story "Something Something Part 3" and by the time I get to part 2 or 3, I'll realize it's because someone literally just chopped their already finished 50k-80k wordcount story into small chapters. Which I would guess is probably because they are either worried people won't read a long story, or maybe they want to stay on the 'new stories' page as much as possible to maximize visibility, engagement, follower count, ect. And in those situations, I don't like it as a reader because it doesn't read like a TV series, it reads like a single move chopped into twenty minute episodes.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Viewership on chapters after the first, falls off by 2/3 across the board. If your complete story will be 25K or less words, I recommend one story. If it will be more than that, then yes, release it in chapters but don't submit it until all chapters are ready to publish, then release them a day or so apart.

 

[Cacatua_Galerita]

Break those chapters into paragraphs.

Disappointing. Where’s the reply-chain breaking it down into sentences > words > letters?

 

[anthrodisiac]

Disappointing. Where’s the reply-chain breaking it down into sentences > words > letters?

View attachment 2594810

I started to reply and then deleted the full thing from sentences > words > letters > bytes > bits, so each chapter was either a 1 or 0, which explains Sci-Fi & Fantasy having book 3 chapter 382, each chapter being a 1 or 0, because I thought it was dumb.

I shall not make that mistake again.

 

[MaxNichts7]

I mean, how long are we talking? I'm personally of the belief that anything over 25k should probably be chaptered work (most of my one-shots* are around 20k on average, range of 10k - 30k). Chapters over 20k feel excessive to me (my chapters are around 15k, but are high compartimentalized).

But perhaps most importantly, you want to keep the actual chapters and breaks together. Are you looking to do chapters as more compartimentalized pieces, or are we talking you're writing a novel and doing chapters more in that format, where a chapter can end and pick up the action immediately after as long as you have a decent cliffhanger?

It's hard to give advice because stories are such unique things, and what works for one doesn't always work for another. There are certainly authors who will post 500k word stories in one go and have actually decent readership. There are others who have Book 3 Chapter 373, each chapter ~2-5k. Those tend to be Sci-Fi & Fantasy.

Could you share a bit more about your story, what length you're targeting, plot, that sort of thing? It'd help in tailoring advice for you rather than a fairly generic "Chapter vs. Full-Length" debate that has probably existed since Literotica was founded.

*100% typed "one-shits" first time around

Thanks, this has been helpful. But to be clear, is it preferable--from a readership pov-- to publish my six-part story as a novella with distinct chapters or as a series in one of the story categories? Which format attracts more readers?

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I prefer under 5K per. If I see a 'story' over that, I move on.

So, I'm curious...

Are you saying that as long as each of the published parts are under 5K, you are fine reading a 100K story a piece at at time, or no story over 5K is your cup of tea?

No judgment, just trying to understand your comment.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

So, I'm curious...

Are you saying that as long as each of the published parts are under 5K, you are fine reading a 100K story a piece at at time, or no story over 5K is your cup of tea?

No judgment, just trying to understand your comment.

I left out my preferred option below ...

Would you rather sit through an 8 hour movie, 4 2 hour movies, or 8 1 hour episodes?

.... 16 half hour episodes that can each be watched in any random order whether or not you watch any of the others.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Thanks, this has been helpful. But to be clear, is it preferable--from a readership pov-- to publish my six-part story as a novella with distinct chapters or as a series in one of the story categories? Which format attracts more readers?

I believe a great deal depends on the category.

My readers, or at least those that follow me and provide feedback (I won't speak for others) have expressed their preference for longer, single-submissions over the individual chapters. These are all posted in the Novels/Novellas category where reader expectations for the length of a story might be vastly different than those in other categories.

Four of my first stories here were originally submitted in chapters. After reader feedback indicated that they referred the single submission, I asked the admin to delete the chapters and replace them with the single story file. The scores on each story increased by at leas 0.10 as a result.

My stories in N/N average 30 Lit pages, with the longest being 81 pages. I have seen no adverse comments or ratings related to the length of these stories. Make it a "page-turner", and you'll do just fine with longer stories.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I left out my preferred option below ...

.... 16 half hour episodes that can each be watched in any random order whether or not you watch any of the others.

I can somewhat understand that from a video perspective.

When a show such as "Reacher" comes out, I prefer to wait for all the episodes to air before starting on it so that I can maintain the flow, even if I don't "binge" on them. That series is comparable to a chapter book, where each episode feeds the next one and watching them out of order is tough.

Can you relate your preference to literature instead?

 

[Writer61]

Personally, I prefer a long story to be broken into sections, each 3-5 pages (10-15k words). That means I can read one part, set it aside, and easily find my place when I come back to it.

 

[anthrodisiac]

Thanks, this has been helpful. But to be clear, is it preferable--from a readership pov-- to publish my six-part story as a novella with distinct chapters or as a series in one of the story categories? Which format attracts more readers?

Readers are fickle beasts. Just as in this post, where a handful of writers have given you a few different opinions, readers, too, have their own preference. Some prefer long-form, some like short novella-length chapters, some like shorter chapters, some like super short chapters.

If your goal is to attract the most readers overall? Probably chaptered work, because it's easier to jump into chapter 1, and if you like it you're all in for the rest and will keep reading subsequent chapters, vs. someone bumping up against a 150k-word story, which will turn away a lot of people who have neither the time nor inclinication to read something that long in one go.

That said, as @Rob_Royale mentioned, chaptered work tends to see a drop-off of readers after the first couple chapters, due to people realizing they aren't that interested, or don't want to invest time in a longer read, or they see "Chapter 5" published and go, "Damn, I have to read all the other chapters first, seems like a hassle." But the subsequent chapters will have people who are very much on-board with your story, so you cultivate people who are invested.

Which of course then begs the question "How long should my chapters be?" And the answer is, of course, as long as they need to be. Which is useless advice in this context, so probably no more than 15k, closer to 7k if you can manage it without breaking up the narrative in a jarring way, if your goal is to maximize the number of people willing to give it a shot.

This is more opinion and conjecture than solid truth about what will work best. Only way to find out is to pick one and go for it.

 

[Britva415]

I will pass on a story over three pages.

Do you also pass on anything serialized/chapterized at all?