How long are your stories?

[Bay]

So, chapter lengths. For the writers, you have an average wordcount/page count for your chapters? Do you try to hit a wordcount/page goal, or you keep writing until you feel satisfied what that chapter is meant to tell?

For the readers, is there a limit on the number of pages/etc you can read in one sitting, or you don?t mind at all as long as you finish reading that chapter?

(Inspired by discussions from another forum!)

 

[Vragon2.0]

It depends on the chapter, but I try to aim for around 3000. It seems reasonable for my fic in content and not too long or short. A sort of healthy balance heh.

 

[Venia Silente]

I've been as of late only mostly writing oneshots. They tend to go into the 6k-8k words range. My ideas tend to grow enough that I can almost never do under 4k for a oneshot to feel "complete".

As for what I can comfortably read in one sitting it depends more on the style and formatting than on word count. If the lines are well spaced, the font is readable and there is an accessible print version that takes advantage of classical typographical formatting (such as initials, lined section breaks and semantic paragraph alignment) I can easily allow myself to be consumed by a story and end up gobbing ~65k words in ~10-12 chapters in one go. Most oftentimes tho, I can read about 8k of forum formatting before I physically tire out.

re "keep writing until satisfied": I'd rather do that where I'm able, but since I mostly write for contests, requirements and deadlines mean I have to end up pretty much always dropping or cutting content, so not everything gets actually "written".

 

[pastelspectre]

honestly i hardly write anymore unfortunately, but whenever i do they're typically oneshots. they're not very long but i am just glad i manage to get something out whenever i have the motivation. lately they've been varying from 900 words to even 2000 words. that's usually the maximum word count from what i remember.

 

[gimmepie]

I rarely write chaptered work these days but I probably should do so more often. In recent memory the majority of my writing has been RP posts, one-shot short stories and poetry.

 

[Misheard Whisper]

Hrrmmmm, I shoot for 2500 at absolute minimum, but I more comfortably aim for 3000+. Other than that, my chapters are as long as they need to be to convey what I decided would need to be covered in that chapter. I'd probably draw the line at about 8k, but I rarely get that high, and most of mine wind up between 3000-5000.

 

[bobandbill]

Haha, I've gone a big range. Done drabbles (100 words) and also a long chaptered fic (~30 parts, a couple requiring two pages thanks to character limits).

Other than that, my chapters are as long as they need to be to convey what I decided would need to be covered in that chapter.

That's my favourite policy. =) Whether I achieve that is another matter, haha.

 

[Sheep]

I tend to average from 4 to 8k words or so per chapter. Anything lower is just a little too low for me and feels incomplete to scroll through. Once I get started with a chapter it's hard to get me to stop though lol, so it tends to always be on the longer side and closer to 6-8k words. \o/

 

[Enpatsu Shakugan]

Long. Given my usual emails, this is to be expected. I like detail and I don't limit or stretch myself to certain limits. If it's a longer chapter or whatever, I write it until I feel a good cutoff point. They tend to always be longer than shorter though.

 

[Homeskulled Kid]

My chapter separations are sporadic, at best, and I'm a lazy writer - as in I never really write as much as I want to.

If things go unusually well, I usually hit forty pages. That's twenty thousand words. Otherwise it's usually seventeen or twenty five. I always head in with the intention to make it a three hundred page novel or something, and on the internet I talk waaaay too much. Every post is a mountain. I doubt anyone climbs them.

I have no goals, unless I'm about to hit a solid 20, or 30 or 40 or something.

I can read about thirty pages before I get tired. For most books, anyway. Online I am far less patient, though I did read the entire Schizoid Personality Disorder Wikipedia page in a single sitting. I have to be fascinated or I just glide through, scowl savagely albeit attractively, and click off with disdain.

I should probably mention that I haven't completed a story in about six years. It was approximately fifty pages of childish drivel, Pokemon all the way, with unintentionally raunchy dialogue. Dammit, Yukimura from Pokemon Conquest! y u so filthy?!!

 

[Sonata]

My chapters and one shots typically run around 2k-5k. As for the longest story I've written so far, that'd be Pokemon NWOAOTA which is probably closer to 150k now as I've been writing chapters for a while without actually posting them.

 

[Auticorn]

My chapters are often between 1000 to 1500 words at a time. I don't know why I do this, but I guess because it's easier to read? I mean, I've noticed that some readers have short attention spans these days anyway... so it's better to keep it a little short. *shrug*

 

[Venia Silente]

You'd be actually surprised at the kind of attention span readers have nowadays. A friend of mine writes a longfic with chapters in the 14k word mark and he's got quite a loyal and involved audience, not unlike the audiences that got into their favourite TV series inspecting every little detail such as random Starbucks cups.

Of course, writing the kind of story that nets you that attention is the difficult part.

 

[Vragon2.0]

upon looking back on my earlier chapters and the post I made I have decided to make an addendum.

By that, I mean I've decided to toss it out the window. Chapter length has been hard to keep near 3000 since many have a lot going on or needed to convey so I'd say something around 6000 or 7000 would be more relevant though it's not so much a preferred standard as it is an estimate of how long my chapters usually are nowadays.