I am wondering.
I am part way through writing a story inspired by the April "Take your daughter to work day" challenge. It's turning out to be a bit longer than I had expected, so I would like to get some or all of it posted before the end of the month. But I have a question.
I am writing the story in scenes, each of which is between 600 and 1,000 words in length and ends with a revelation or minor cliff-hanger - what Blake Snyder in Save The Cat calls an 'act out'. The whole thing will likely be somewhere around 10,000 words.
Do readers on this site generally prefer one big file to scroll through containing the whole story, or is it OK to post the scenes one by one, maybe every day or two?
All suggestions welcome!
Comments
Depends on the reader, but if the story is complete
and you let them know that from the get-go, even if it's not all posted yet, then that can help a lot.
My suggestion would be to go for chunks rather than chapters (1-2 of your scenes, to try and hit around 1k words per chunk,) with a notification on the first one that the story is already completely written and of your posting schedule. Then, when you post the final chunk, share a blog as well letting people know it IS the final one. That way you'll be able to benefit from the front page exposure of multiple parts, while also getting the readership of folks who prefer to wait until a story is complete before diving in.
Looking forward to seeing it!
Melanie E.
I usually post my longer
I usually post my longer stories after the story is finished, but while doing the final edit (cleaning up awkward phrases, and clearing up inconsistencies).. I chose to make the parts about 3000-4000 words each in longer stories, usually. I'm currently working through one, but the ending isn't solid yet. I have, however, put Part 1 in final; it weighs in at 4620 words. I'll probably give it another pass once the ending is settled, but before posting.
But do I prefer that for stories others post? It's not as big a matter. I think it's important that the story be finished before it gets posted publicly.
I should mention that I don't
I should mention that I don't consider myself a serious writer, at the moment. My characters are probably not well rounded and my stories do not have much conflict in them. And even my longest writing tops out at 16000 - 20000 words.
My personal preference
I always post my stories as a single posting. Most of them weigh in at about 17K words. I find it difficult to do any real character development in less than 15K. I'm not one to want unsolicited advice on my stories, so reader comments are something that I don't indulge in reading until the story has been up for about a month or more. Many of the authors here use reader comments on their chapters to help develop the story line. Not me, my only real take away from the comments and kudos is to help me decide if the the theme for the story or the subject matter is well received and worth more stories in the same vein.
My personal story for the "Take Your Daughter to Work Day" challenge is running about 18K words at the moment and is about 60 to 70 percent finish so it is more then likely to top 25K words. I intend to post it in a single post.
I have the luxury of being able to read 20 to 30K words in a single setting. So I guess I'm catering to those who have the same luxury. I find stories that post by chapters that have less than 2K words a bit annoying, in that I just get into the story and they leave me hanging.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
As always, it depends
For the purposes you describe, your story is of reasonable enough length that you could post it in one go if you wish.
Every reader is different. Some want longer chapters, some shorter. I tend to write ~6,000 to ~9,000 word chapters but sometimes go under or over by a small margin. Others seem to pack more action into chapters half that size but how they do that is beyond me.
On reading, on the other hand, I don't mind short chapters but tend to get restless when they go over about 12,000 to 15,000 words. Sometimes I get sucked into a long story and have to break off and come back to it. There was one I read a while back that was 47,000 words in one lump - too long!
I think the issue is time, how much does your reader have? Some of us can just sit back and read as if we were reading a book but others have Real Life to attend to and there are many other stories which need our attention. I dip in two or perhaps three times a day but I would rather be writing than reading, and Real Life takes priority over even writing, especially if it concerns drains or other non-negotiable facts of life!
Just my 2 groats.
Penny
I agree with Penny Lane
As a reader I don't like it when the published chunk is significantly larger than 10,000 to 15,000 words. It gets hard to scroll through and it get's hard to figure out where I left off reading.
Mind you, I don't think this has ever stopped me from reading a story.
Personally, when a new story is coming out I love it when a 10k chunk is published once a week or a small chunk is published each day.
I like the "chunks" idea.
My 'limit' seems around 5-7,000 words. Longer, and I start to get a bit annoyed. ("Can you just hurry up and either finish, or give me a break?")
Less than around 1,000 words per piece/chunk makes me think "Aww, c'mon. What's with all these 'sound bites'? I'm smarter than that."
At/beyond 10,000 words the story starts to feel like a "solid wall of words", and I go read something else for a while.
Many note that publishing 'a lot' of pieces in quick succession 'monopolizes' the home page, and pushes other authors "off the bottom".
I once read an on-paper novel (aimed at 'tweens'/teens) that had many one-page chapters - but the pages were in my hand to turn.
"Kind of story" can influence the break points. The same story, but told from the viewpoint of each character, in succession (maybe like Rashomon) has natural breaks between characters.
"Past", "Present", and "Substantial Epilog" is obvious.
Stage plays, opera, symphonies, all have natural breaks. (Acts, movements.)
All sorts of ways to organize a story,
===
Without reading it ... Your story may have 'chunks', each chunk having 2-3 minor cliff-hangers, and then a major cliff-hanger at the end of each chunk.
At the 10,000 words you have in mind, that suggests 3-4 chunks. Or 2 to 5 chunks.
-
The chunks can vary in size. You are the author, and not a 'bread slicer'.
Multiple parts of the same story push nobody off.
The way the front page works, only the most recent part of a multi-part story gets to stay in the list. So folks shouldn't worry about posting multiple parts of a story too often (though I would say no more than 1/day just to give things time to breathe,) since that gets handled :)
Melanie E.
I'm going to make waffles
I personally prefer a complete story to sit down and read; however, I'm a speed reader. The downside is that it will go down the page quickly, and if you're a 'once a week' site browser, you may miss the story.
If it's going to be posted in pieces, chapters, or whatever you wish to call them, there are two different ways.
1) Posted while being written. This is popular with authors that use the feedback to write up the next section. I personally am not as fond of that because too many of them end up ... stopping. It really depends on the author. Penny Lane, for example, works very hard to make sure she completes a story, even if it takes a while. (and complains about my poking her creativity) Other authors seem to have zero completed works - they get about 3/4 into a story, and then start another one.
2) Posted as a serial. This is less fun to comment about, in some ways, but there's a joy in knowing that you can come back in a week, and there'll be another episode until it's done. I don't know if it's possible, but maybe Erin or Piper could make it so that the author could post everything at once, but 'hide' the sections that aren't ready. That way, if they can't get back for whatever reason to post the next segment, Erin/Piper or one of the mods can unhide and post that chapter.
So, there are good and bad to both ways, and indifference to others.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Hey!
I resemble that remark!
I'm working as hard as I can, you know that. It's just all the distractions...
P.
Did I blame you somewhere?
Did I blame you somewhere? It's not like I'm poking you every week saying "Hey, more State!" I just said that you complete what you start. Dependable. Just like that squeaky recliner you keep, even with the worn leather, unknown stains, and lean to one side. It always reclines when you want it.
*ducks*
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
I am too insecure in my
I am too insecure in my abilities to write 25000 words and have everyone hate it. The effort that goes into a long story, then to find everyone hates it.
I write around 1500 words at a time. That takes me about 2-3 hours. I can get that done after work.
Leeanna
Interesting; I find that many
Interesting; I find that many of my ideas top out at 15000-19000. I sometimes wonder if something about having watched a lot of television, or 2 hour movies has trained my mind to think of a story as having a certain length...
How to....
the simplest answer to the question of "how do I..." is this: your way. do it how you want because at the end, you have to be happy with it. If others like it, great. If they don't, that's okay too. It's your name on the story so write your story your way and post it when you are ready. Good luck and have fun.
quidquid sum ego, et omnia mea semper; Ego me.
alecia Snowfall
If the story is good
If your story is good, it doesn't really matter to me how you post it. I do find it annoying, however, if the posting are more than a week apart. I really like the way Raine Monday has posted 'April's Fool' every 2-3 days. Emma posted her 'Maximum Warp' every Friday and we eagerly looked forward to that. That being said, I look forward to reading your story. :DD
DeeDee
How do people watch TV?
From the comments of some here, I have to conclude that there are people who prefer watching a ten or twelve hour program rather than ten or twelve one-hour episodes once a week.
For people who have that kind of time, god bless 'em.
I don't know how to plant a bookmark somewhere in the midst of a long long post, so I find episode-length episodes more practical.
- iolanthe
Television is a terrible
Television is a terrible analogy.
Try this:
Some people like to have a book, where they can pick up the story, read for a while, then put it down when they hit some arbitrary point (Whoops, it's 2 AM). Then they can go back and pick it up at that arbitrary point to continue. (guilty)
Other people like serials. An example of this is the way that Sherlock Holmes was published in the Strand, over a century ago, or the way stories/books were listed in Boys' Life (BSA magazine), or even in things like Playboy Magazine. Every month, you could pick up the magazine and know that there was a new "episode", but it would be a chunk that you could plan ahead for the time. (drives me nuts)
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Yes, TV is terrible (as an analogy)
post length
I won't call it chapter length as some will post a single scene and call it a chapter, while others will post what should be multiple chapters and call it one chapter.
Everyone has their own opinion of what a perfect length of a post is. Some will tell you 1k words is enough. I feel it doesn't give the reader time to become drawn into the story. 3500 words is considered the average length of a chapter, and a good length for a post. Although I personally believe that more is better and in my longer stories I try to post multiple chapters for a total length of between 7k and 10k words.
We the willing, led by the unsure. Have been doing so much with so little for so long,
We are now qualified to do anything with nothing.
Recurring Debate
I've debated this each year when I've had a new book to start posting. On one hand posting chapter by chapter weekly would potentially increase readership...but on the other, for the books I write anyway, they're meant to be binge-read and written to hopefully pull readers through. In trying to compromise I split the latest book into 8 'Parts' instead of 6, each of which were comprised of 4-5 bundled chapters - and all chapter heading breaks are cleanly marked so if someone wants to take a break and come back it'd be easy to find the actual Chapter they were on.
This means each Chapter (which could include a POV switch, depending) can be as short or long as it needs, all while bundled into 14k-15k, so if one chapter is only 1k in size there's no disappointment of 'aww, that's it?' for any posting. The earlier books had longer 'Parts' but they really may have been too long so I tried to shorten them for this last round. (Especially that 30k finale on one of 'em...-cough-)
I just know that every time I've thought about posting one chapter at a time it caused a cringe, because that's not how the story was meant to be read - they're not episodic serials, they're novels.
I've also pondered labeling the posts as Act I, II, III, etc. instead of 'Part 1,2,...' just to be somewhat spiffier and maybe make it more clear that there are multiple chapters in each.
But I do wonder if I've done my 'exposure' to the readership a disservice by posting them this way, although I do blog post that the entire thing IS drafted before any parts start going up as they get edited/proofread. It's been a perpetual concern, and after reading some of the comments in this thread I may worry all the more for the next one. For anyone who -has- read my stuff, I'd love to hear feedback on if I should do it different next time. Or whether anyone actually decided NOT to read them just because of the length of each set of chapters as posted, I'd be interested to hear that too.
Because yeah, I do worry about it.
Didn’t that stir up a discussion!
Folks are all over the map, as you see. FWIW, I posted my first stories in chunks that were 15k - 18k long, generally as often as twice a week. For my third series my chunks were around half as long and about twice as far apart — I posted weekly. Although it’s hard to tell, I think the readers tended to prefer the 7,500 word chunks.
Are even shorter chunks good? Probably depends on writing style. My sense is that Erin and Rasufelle post chapters that are more in the 2,500 word range, but pack a lot into them. So there’s that.
— Emma
Wow. Just WOW!
So many interesting and useful answers!
Many, many thanks to everyone who has taken the time and thought to answer. I am sure the responses will be helpful not only to me, but to anyone else who might bump into this post in the future.
Well done, team!
"Bookmarking" for the reader.
Sometimes, I'll come back to a loo-oong part of a story with a feeling of "Now, where heck was I?"
A browser restart may 'lose our place' (like a 'friend' closing a physical book for us).
If the author, say every 4-8K words, puts in a line like:
*** Bookmark nnn ***
That can help us find 'where were we'. I don't think this is all that disruptive to story flow. Bookmark placement 'might' show where to break to the next chunk/file/post, or the story really needs this part to be a single chunk. These bookmarks are easily found and removed before publishing elsewhere.
Some authors use fancy, decorative bars as separators, but we readers maybe can't search for a string of special graphic characters. A fancy bar, without words or a number, is not helpful.
I usually just use the
I usually just use the browser seach function and type in part of a section I remember.
However, I'll be honest. I've never understood people that were regularly reading a book, and were desperate bookmark users. It's never taken me more than one minute to locate where I was in a book I was reading that I put down, even if it had 400 pages. "Flip, flip. Read that. Skip forward a chunk. Read that. Skip forward again. . I haven't read that. Skip back. There I am" (I think I'm overestimating, but I want to be reasonable for most people)
If I was going to leave the book for a week or two, for some reason, or doing research? Bookmarks are fantastic.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Chapter lengths are in the eye of the beholder
I remember reading that classic story 'Black Beauty' and tried to read a chapter each night. Boy was I disappointed when I came across a chapter that took up a single page. There is one author who literally makes every page a new chapter. That is madness IMHO.
I look upon a chapter as an episode in the story. Tell that part and move on.
Sadly these days, attention span is limited so now I am of the opinion that anything much longer that about 5000 words is not ideal. Obviously for solo stories this rule goes out the door.
But... do what you are comfortable with.
Samantha