The 2026 [lit] 750 Word Project Support Thread

[IWroteThis]

I tested different online word counters just for shits and giggles and found that they varied from 1 to 5 words with some word counters counting ... as a word. I also take a screenshot showing the 750 word count in literotica's editor in case my vignette get rejected for being too short or too long.

MS Word appears to count any non-white space surrounded by white space as a word. ... is one word, but . . . is three words. The common scene separator of * * * * * is five words.

You can get around the ellipsis issue by touching one of the words with it, so using "oh..." instead of "oh ..." gets you one word instead of two. You can also cheat and touch both words. So, "um...no" counts as only one word. That's also why <em>I</em> still counts as one word.

 

[Rob_Royale]

You know there is something heady and so cool about getting an idea, writing, editing and submitting a story in 90 minutes. Submitted is my second, and probably last 750-word story for this year. I know I'm silly to put a 750 in LW again, but it's always worth it to witness the denizens that hide beneath the bridges of Loving Wives gnash their teeth and howl in rage.

 

[BrightShinyGirl]

I just resubmitted both stories with longer prefaces. The Lit editor shows them over 780 now. (The stories themselves are still exactly 750.) Fingers crossed!

Both stories were rejected again for being too short, despite Lit’s own word counter saying they were well over 750 before I hit submit. I’m going to rewrite them both to be exactly 755 words before I resubmit them.

It’s a pity the process is so broken because otherwise it’s a fun challenge.

 

[Erozetta]

Both stories were rejected again for being too short, despite Lit’s own word counter saying they were well over 750 before I hit submit. I’m going to rewrite them both to be exactly 755 words before I resubmit them.

It’s a pity the process is so broken because otherwise it’s a fun challenge.

The only count that matters is Lit's count without the author's notes. A friend recently had hers rejected for the same reason, removed the note and found her word count was about 8 words shy of 750 because it was counting em dash connected words as a single word.

Lit's counter is fucked, basically.

 

[Erozetta]

I decided to do one. It goes live tomorrow.

 

[k_east]

Really nice concept! I hadn't planned at all to write anything today, but found this exactly 1 hour ago and now I've submitted a story. Totally agree with @Rob_Royale that there's something quite cool about an idea going from conception to a finished work in such a short amount of time.

 

[Fluftixxx]

My first attempt is out now: Leaking in Public.

 

[BrightShinyGirl]

The only count that matters is Lit's count without the author's notes. A friend recently had hers rejected for the same reason, removed the note and found her word count was about 8 words shy of 750 because it was counting em dash connected words as a single word.

Lit's counter is fucked, basically.

The em dashes did seem to be the problem. I fixed it by putting spaces around the em dashes, which had the bad side effect of counting the dash as a word as well! But I found a few adjectives to cut to cancel out the extra words from the dashes. Back to 750 and both stories resubmitted!

 

[MillieDynamite]

The em dash is a problem, but the counter doesn't exactly show 750 words on there's. You need that amount of words; despite hyphenated words or em dashes messing up your count, the number of words is what matters. I avoid em dashes or ellipses in the 750-word stories. And it's only what's below the line, the pre-matter, title disclaimer, and the declarations below this line.

The em dashes did seem to be the problem. I fixed it by putting spaces around the em dashes, which had the bad side effect of counting the dash as a word as well! But I found a few adjectives to cut to cancel out the extra words from the dashes. Back to 750 and both stories resubmitted!

 

[MillieDynamite]

Odd thing, some words that were once hyphenated words are now single words. Most of the 19th century, today was written as to-day, tomorrow was to-morrow. In 1910, to-day offically become today, and tomorrow was officaly change in 1898.

 

[IWroteThis]

The em dash is a problem, but the counter doesn't exactly show 750 words on there's. You need that amount of words; despite hyphenated words or em dashes messing up your count, the number of words is what matters. I avoid em dashes or ellipses in the 750-word stories. And it's only what's below the line, the pre-matter, title disclaimer, and the declarations below this line.

The key to using ellipses without changing the word count is to have them touch the word they trail, but not the word after them. Of course, they do allow you to cheat a bit, as you can count two words as one, two, or three words with one.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Yes, yes, you can. But then, it isn't really a 750-word story, is it? (I've done that a time or two, but don't tell anyone.)

The key to using ellipses without changing the word count is to have them touch the word they trail, but not the word after them. Of course, they do allow you to cheat a bit, as you can count two words as one, two, or three words with one.