Story Length - Writers Forum

admiral_ben · 01-24-2007, 05:37 PM

Most of my stories range in length from 3000 to 7000 words. Where should I post these? Should I divide them up or just make a really long post? Thanks for the help.

crankgear · 01-25-2007, 08:16 AM

I've wanted to know this too. It seems like the longer your post is the fewer replies you get.

Raging_Hopeful · 01-25-2007, 11:20 AM

Break it up. I'd say never post more than 1500 at a time. That's been the max for me... longer ones are tedious and readers lose interest (reading long pieces on a computer screen is painful!) so be nice to them. Though its hard to hold back when you've just completed a piece you're particularly proud of, to get feedback, start chopping them into pieces. Course that's just based on my experience here at WF!

Cheers,
Linz

writer wanna B · 01-26-2007, 07:44 PM

I understand that reading a long amount of anything on a computer screan gets annoying. I will soon be posting some of my work on this site so I can get advice and make it better. I have been working on a Novella for a few months now. I origonally was going to just post a chapter at a time to see if any of you liked it and to get advice. But since each chapter is about 2000-2500 words and that will not be nice to you. Should I just break the chapters in half?

pgoroncy · 01-26-2007, 10:01 PM

Yes, if you break them in half more people are likely to read and comment on them.

Rob · 01-27-2007, 09:09 AM

I would suggest posting the whole story. I say this because 3000-7000 words is just fine for a story, reading half of a story is of seriously limited value, and you don't need to restrict what you post to suit those who prefer shorter lengths. But, accept that perhaps many people here won't read anything of that length. That's fine, pitch at the people who will. Make it clear that your story is 3000+ words, and look for posts by others of a similar length and see whether they'll exchange critiques. If you don't get any joy at all, consider other forums.

I do think you'd probably be better off with 2 or 3 critiques from people who read the whole of your story than half a dozen critiques of the first 1500 words from people who prefer shorter stuff.

Cheers,
Omni

eggo · 01-27-2007, 09:52 AM

It really depends on how good a writer you are. When I started here, I posted stories in excess of 2000 words. They got little to no feedback.

I came to realize that people didn't want to respond and tell me I had written two thousand words of garbage, lol.

I started writing small peices specifically for here to hone my craft. (Keeping them at 1000 words is just about the magic number) I started to get better and at the same time build a network of peers and friends whose judgement I trusted and whose advice was excellent.

Smaller works are your tool to network and gain a circle.

writer wanna B · 01-27-2007, 02:49 PM

[quote=Omnius]I would suggest posting the whole story. I say this because 3000-7000 words is just fine for a story, reading half of a story is of seriously limited value, and you don't need to restrict what you post to suit those who prefer shorter lengths.

Well whole story itself is a novella (23000 words at the moment), so I will not be posting the whole story at a time for sure. But I think that I will post the whole first chapter (about 3000 words) If anyone likes it then I will post part of the second chapter. Since the first part of a book is supposed to drawl a reader into wanting more, then if I wrote it good enough you will want to read on

Sorry about all of the questions. I have not shown my writing to anyone and I don't want it to be ignored for being too long.

cmorris · 01-28-2007, 03:13 PM

I think you will find that most critiques here will be about the craft of your work. Puncuation, grammer, comma placement. But don't let that discourage you. Some of us read for content and flow. We want to be swept away, we want to feel enlightened, happy, angry, astounded, ect... ect... We want you to paint us a picture that is easy to see.

But I do agree with eggo that you should keep your posts small. People can always go to your website or ask for more.

vleigh07 · 01-29-2007, 06:45 AM

Getting a website I think is a great idea (need to do this). I just went to Curts Soul Pool site and have to say that I enjoyed Bobby's story so far. It could be that I'm very interested in the subject matter, Curt is putting a new spin into the unkown as I refere to it.

To Wanna be writer, I think your first chapter is fine to post, if your story flows and catches the readers attention in the first page or so, your right we will keep reading and want to see more

cmorris · 01-29-2007, 11:19 PM

Thanks vleigh, you can create a free website at microsoft office live. And you gotta check out lulu.com for self publishing. It, too, is free and easy.

gohn67 · 01-30-2007, 12:43 AM

Quote:

I think you will find that most critiques here will be about the craft of your work. Puncuation, grammer, comma placement. But don't let that discourage you. Some of us read for content and flow. We want to be swept away, we want to feel enlightened, happy, angry, astounded, ect... ect... We want you to paint us a picture that is easy to see.

That's not because the reader does not want to feel those emotions you mentioned. It's not that the reader does not want be engaged in a story. In most cases the reader feels these things but does not know how to express it. It's really hard to do. It's easy to say "this sucks" or "this is great", but not easy to say why.