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I've posted a few stories now. Originally, I thought, spread the posting of the story over many days, with one chapter per post, so people will have time to get caught up in the story and will be (I hope!) eagerly anticipating the next.
However, with Melanie's Story I got a lot of grief for having too little in each post. So my next story, Joy I put it all in one post. And got very few readers.
It could be, of course, that not many people would have liked Joy however I did it. But I can't help wondering if the serial format simply hooks in more readers. I notice that by far the most popular stories on this site are the ones that have a seemingly endless series of chapters.
At the moment, I'm leading towards posting future stories the way I did Melanie's Story -- one chapter per post, and one post per day or two. (Maybe drag it out several days if I have a cliff-hanger at the end of one.) I'd be curious to hear what people think, though.
Comments
The Shape of a Story
I just had a look at ‘Joy - A House that Love Built’ and noticed a couple of things. First it belongs to a Universe:- if that is a widely read universe and you make the connection clear that would I expect draw in some readers; it will however also deter more readers not willing to delve back into earlier stories.
To get around that paradox it might help to write as though it were intended as a standalone story with an opening that grabs the reader. As it was, when I started reading it was like wading out into the deepening water of a universe that I didn't until now know existed accompanied by characters who were only slowly brought to life. I did not finish but read enough to see your writing is good and the few comments at the end appreciative so please do not look on this as discouraging but merely encouragement from somebody who usually reads about older characters than Mark.
Rhona McCloud
Good point
That's a good point. Now that you mention it, it seems obvious that most readers won't have any idea who the "universe" characters such as Cathi and Janet are. If I get around to rewriting it, the first improvement should be including enough backstory so readers won't be missing anything if they haven't read any of the other stories.
up to you
To me length depends on how frequently you plan to post your story parts. Shorter chapters are perfectly fine for daily postings, the longest story on this site is averaging about 1,200 or so words per posting. My "A Touch of Magic" is averaging about that many words as it's about all I can muster for each edition before I start to draw a blank.
I would just break the story where you have a natural break. Cliffhangers at the end of chapters are a good place to end a story part and pretty much guarantee readers will come back. I try to arrange my chapters so they can break easily into a new story part but also fit into the middle of a story part.
The most I am willing to post in a story part is about 7,500 words. I would prefer between 6,000 and 7,000 but there are times when I need to go over it or just under to fit the chapters in.
The big question is this: have you written your next story? Are you going to post it as it is being written or are you writing it completely first before starting to post it. If it's the former then you should be able to get a reasonable amount of words in to satisfy yourself and others and if it's the latter well post it as you see fit and as long as it is good ignore the complaints about short length.
I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime
I don't post until I've finished a draft.
I prefer to finish my stories before posting them. I learn about the characters and the situation as I write, which means I often rewrite earlier chapters based on what I've learned writing later ones.
I do some polishing additional polishing as I post them, but by that point, it's just a matter of fixing bugs and clarifying things.
P.S.: Sorry for the delayed response, had an attack of depression over the weekend which is only now beginning to ease up.
How much per post?
I've been posting between 9k to 13k words per posting for Mother's Child. I started out trying to post weekly, but the last few chapters have been delayed do to health reasons and occasional muse desertion. It seems to have been well received. Posting daily I would suggest 1000 to 1500 words at most. I don't see how anyone can write much more per day and still give it a good edit.
Waterdog
it varies
Stories have their own natural break points, some will best be posted as solo efforts, others will need the serial posting.
for the latter, people appear to prefer 1k word length at a minimum, never more than 10k is a general rule for serial entries.
The Whateley Universe stories have always been a 35k length, so it is expected with them. You need to find the length that works for the story itself, sometimes it's the 1k-1.5k, others it will be longer.
No one can honestly say that a serial chapter needs to be x words in length, since even mainstream publications chapter length varies, from as low as 500 words ( 2 pages ) to 8k words.
And you can't forget, the cliffhanger, where you end the chapter leaving a crisis unresolved, usually for both enticement to get readers to read the next chapter as well as to have maximum length available for that resolution to happen. ( just don't abuse that to often, people get frustrated with you if you do. ;) )
Stupidity is a capital offense. A summary not indictable.
Whatever suits you or your story
I usually publish chapters of 2500-3500 words at weekly intervals which ensures that the story will remain on the BC front page for the maximum length of time. It also gives me time to make small amendments to the story in the light of audience reaction. That seems to work for me, but you should do what works best for you.
Louise
Chapter lengths
I find this an interesting question.
Penny started her (wonderful) series based in Anmar at around 7.5k to 8.5k words per chapter.
So when I hopped onto the bandwagon, I started out with the intention of introducing my characters with, initially, almost thumbnail sketches of them. The very first one was a brief introduction to the concept of the tales, and is by far the shortest, and has yet garnered more kudos than any other.
My second chapter, by far the longest of them all, started out with the intention of being around 3k to 5k, just to give a flavour of the character.
I had barely started when I realised that I would have to give so much background information and that I would be repeating myself a lot in the future if I continued with that policy. So I changed my tack slightly, and used that one to set the background for all the rest of the chapters to come. Hence a chapter of 20+k.
Then the next character descriptions were correspondingly shorter.
Once the characters were established, then the story could continue as a story, and I found myself imitating Penny in the length of my chapters. They seem to me to be long enough to develop plot concepts and to provide information, and yet short enough for the reader to get involved without having to invest a lot of time.
At least that is how I see it.
Please let me know f you feel my chapters are the wrong length!
Penny has managed to entertain us with over 1 million words, and I have contributed over half a million words, so the TOTAL staggers me that Penny averages well over 100 kudos and I get about 70. So many words and still finding appreciation!
I thank all the loyal readers for their continued encouragement.
All the best,
Julia