Kaedal Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 No, this is not a thread about measuring your pride. Rather, I'm curious as to what length other people prefer when writing. Do you have a particular page/word count you aim for, or do you just write until your story is complete? I've tried aiming for a page count/word count in the past, but it just ends up stressing me out. Instead, I write until I'm out of juices and simply go back to revise it later on. Revision usually involves adding large sections to the previous paragraphs, which pushes the page and word count up automatically. And as a bonus; do you have a preference for short stories, or full length stories? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilishlyHandsome49 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 If its a full length story, I like my chapters to have over 1000 words. Short story, over a thousands words or at least 2 pages long. I enjoy writing both but short stories feel less stressful to work on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charrio Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 4-6 pages is all one will tend to read online, people don't have the want to sit and read a book on a PC screen.I keep mine about that length as it seems to intimidate readers by the length otherwise. I do mine in small chunks like that. each chapter or part only 3-4 pages on average, and people seem to respond more then to a book of text. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaedal Posted September 25, 2015 Author Share Posted September 25, 2015 If its a full length story, I like my chapters to have over 1000 words. Short story, over a thousands words or at least 2 pages long. I enjoy writing both but short stories feel less stressful to work onDoesn't the risk of info-dumps increase with short stories, too? Or is that only a problem for me? 4-6 pages is all one will tend to read online, people don't have the want to sit and read a book on a PC screen.I keep mine about that length as it seems to intimidate readers by the length otherwise. I do mine in small chunks like that. each chapter or part only 3-4 pages on average, and people seem to respond more then to a book of text.That's true. If you want to run the universe/story on, you can always produce more than a single short story, but keep the plot of each contained. Basically, a serialised style of writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilishlyHandsome49 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Doesn't the risk of info-dumps increase with short stories, too? Or is that only a problem for me? Really all depends on what you're writing. Short stories should be for fairly simple plots, so not much info would be needed. Anything complex in my opinion, should be saved for a full length story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidy Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 it depends on what it is i'm doing, if i'm writing narrative for a game i'm working on then it does depend heavily on what the context is - for example, if i'm writing a backstory i prefer to keep it brief yet detailed, no more than an A4 sheethowever if i'm writing the lore of a location then i go all out, i'll write for ages but i'll break it down into chunks that can be read easily and quicklybut that's just because i do narrative design, my writing tends to fluctuate quite a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaedal Posted September 25, 2015 Author Share Posted September 25, 2015 Really all depends on what you're writing. Short stories should be for fairly simple plots, so not much info would be needed. Anything complex in my opinion, should be saved for a full length story... So yeah, definitely just a problem for me. I tend to flood everything I write with complicated plots and what not. They don't even make sense. They just happen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevilishlyHandsome49 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 ... So yeah, definitely just a problem for me. I tend to flood everything I write with complicated plots and what not. They don't even make sense. They just happen.Maybe try doing a rough draft or outline and have someone read that before you make the final draft and upload it. See what needs to be cut and tweaked on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolorio Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I usually just write until I'm out of ideas, wait a day, and then come back to it. I usually do that 2 or 3 times. I've noticed that somehow, I always end up finishing my writing in convenient spots. If it's a story, it's normally at the very end of the page. If it's a short response section on a test, I end right at the end of the lines. I think I'd make the perfect stories for people with OCD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlynnCoyote Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 A short story just has to be as long as it needs to, if that's four or five pages or around 4-6k words then that's what I do.Novella and the like I usually go for about 2k words per chapter. The ones I put online usually end up being about two to two and half pages worth of reading at a time.The novel manuscripts I'm working on (for fun at this stage) are significantly longer, and as such the chapters are too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnarl Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Pretty much the sme answer as most others, depends on what i am working on.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kellan Meig'h Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 I usually write ten to twelve pages per chapter, whatever feels good but the number of chapters will be dictated by the content that I need to convey. In the same series of works, one set had eighteen chapters while the latest works had twenty-nine chapters and a triple epilogue.Kel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaedal Posted September 26, 2015 Author Share Posted September 26, 2015 A short story just has to be as long as it needs to, if that's four or five pages or around 4-6k words then that's what I do.Novella and the like I usually go for about 2k words per chapter. The ones I put online usually end up being about two to two and half pages worth of reading at a time.The novel manuscripts I'm working on (for fun at this stage) are significantly longer, and as such the chapters are too. Out of curiosity, can you provide a very quick example of the pacing and format of your manuscripts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChaosCalix Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 (edited) I prefer writing short stories because I don't have the commitment to finish writing a moderately lengthy story. I also generally strive for 1500 words per chapter, and four or more chapters for a short story (though I might not explicitly call them 'chapters'). Or did. I really need to find my motivation and start writing again... Edited September 26, 2015 by ChaosCalix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlynnCoyote Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 Out of curiosity, can you provide a very quick example of the pacing and format of your manuscripts?I have nothing of my long manuscripts uploaded at this time, but my pacing and structure are pretty well conveyed by this old project. http://serpion5.deviantart.com/gallery/33683194/Draconia-WIPIt is incomplete at this stage and I'll probably abandon it, but it shows how I write pretty well. You could probably click any of the more recent chapters to get the idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Conker Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 It really depends on what the story calls for. There are times when I've been able to more or less guess how long one of my stories will take, and the shorter the piece, the more accurate I am, but then I look at my current novel-in-progress which was supposed to clock in at around 100 pages and didn't get a "THE END" slapped onto it until page 320. Whoops.I do tend to overwrite and then cut down heavily during my edits, so that doesn't help at all.I will say that I prefer writing longer pieces of fiction than shorter. Novels are more fun, even if they take for god damned ever to edit. I don't like being confined by page space though, or stressing about every little word, which I feel like I need to in a short story. There are so few of them there!For my video game project, I'm trying to keep levels between three and four pages. That has to be a steadfast thing for pacing reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaosmasterdelta Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 I have just started writing so I'm not sure how long my stories are going to be or even the chapters. The story may end up just being only 1/4 of the size of a novel at most since I'm not really good at coming up with extra events if they are not really that important to the plot. As for chapters I may keep it at about 3-4 pages per chapter depending on how often I can think of something to put next. I also dont like to wait to see how people will react to the chapter so they are probably going to be short so I can submit them already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zytan Posted October 14, 2015 Share Posted October 14, 2015 Going to have to go with a long story here. I like to immerse myself in the story when I'm writing it and a good plot to me has a lot of detail and perhaps some 'new' concepts specific to the story to let me play with fantasy/sci-fi terminology. I wouldn't be able to explain or make use of said explained concepts if my story was less than 1,000 words without turning the story into an encyclopedia of made up nonsense with no plot. It's all preference but when I read a book I want it to go on and on if I really like the setting, the prospect of hitting the end any time soon really bogs me down and I don't like putting a reader through the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxxy Posted October 18, 2015 Share Posted October 18, 2015 I prefer a long one, because you can include more info in your story. I'm writing my first story, well the one that I change since i can't use the critters i wanted, so I required to change the story for them. I do a little time to time and also trying to add or change something in the only one that I finish. But both are only in French for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Half-Note Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 I prefer short stories that just grab you and leave you there, struck down by what you just read. But if it's a long story it just... Blergh. Sometimes I think long stories are too... Dragged-on. Sure, a long story might cover more, but for me, short stories are the best. <3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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