Story Lengths

Does anyone have a view on the lengths of stories posted here? I am thinking in particular of when I should maybe split a story into several 'parts' for easier reading. For example I have just completed one of a bit over 6,000 words and decided to split it into two roughly equal parts for posting. Obviously that creates a complication of finding the best place for one part to end and another to start! Are there any views out there on how much folks will read at one go or am I just being silly!

I try to break stories down to a "one main event", then serialise from there sticking where possible to the "one main event" rule, I posted one story in excess of 10,000 words and it seemed to be a slow burner hits wise.
I think around 2000 to 3000 seems to be about the most popular length, though I'm most likely wrong but it is the size I tend to go for the most to read.

I would agree with that. Personally, I find anything over 4000 a bit daunting to read in one sitting. Of course, if I'm enjoying a story, I can always come back and read the rest later, as I'd do with a novel.

More off-putting for me is not so much the length of the story, but the length of the paragraphs. Long, dense paragraphs I find difficult. If I open a story and find the first 'page' in the story viewer is all one paragraph, the chances are I won't read it.

It's very much down to the individual - I know of a few people who refuse to read anything that is classed as a serial, because the overall word length puts them off. And yet, one can have a serial broken up into quite small digestible chunks of 1,000 words or so for each part.

Personally, I prefer to read engaging stories that are 2-3,000 words as opposed to those that are 6,000 and upwards. A word count of 10,000 for one story or part of a serial can be a bit offputting unless it's written by an author I like, or I am armed with a large glass of single malt to aid my concentration ....

I agree. I don't always have time to read a LONG story. by that I mean over 5,000 words. When I wrote the story I submitted to the last contest, I didn't MEAN for it to be over 10,000 words. Honest I didn't, but the words just kept coming until my brain said I was done. I was glad when it was broken down into parts after the contest was over. It made it less daunting to read, for those who had not done so before.

I wish I could write shorter stories but it takes some time to establish characters and/or plot. As a recent example there was no way Mission Impossible would have worked without the set up in the plot. The optimum length here at SL seems to be about 1500-3500 words, and I usually go with 4000-5000. Beyond 3500 words you will lose some readers because they won't even try it---too long. If there is a logical break point to the story, it's probably best to break it into parts. That too is undesireable because we've all seen the sharp drop in readership between the first part of a serial and the rest, but all that means is that the reader wasn't interested anyway. Better to give the readers a quick look, though, than for them to avoid it altogether due to a daunting length of 6000 words and upwards. Pick your poison.

Technically, a short story is a work that can be read in one "sitting". But that definition preceeded the age of the internet and I suspect the time window is much shorter now.

Well grab yourself a glass and read "The Language Student".
I know it's shameless plugging, but still.

I concider myself as an avid reader, and the length of a story dosn't matter. It just has to hold my interest.

A very wise statement. Personally, though, what holds my interest is 'plot.' All too often (though probably not with better authors), longer stories, or serials, seem to me just a strung-together sequence of spankings (by or to the same people), or, on the other hand, WAY too long a build-up to the one or two inevitable spankings. I'd rather spend my reading time taking pot-luck with a shorter story (which I may or may not like) rather than to delve into the War and Peace of spanking literature. But that's just me. Everyone is different.

I agree. A good plot will definitely hold my interest.