Does story length affect comments?

That's certainly true, I'd figure, that both how much a story is enjoyed by the reader and its length would be factors affecting how long and detailed his/her comments on it would tend to be.

Of course, I make a significant effort in my commenting on stories, hence my comments on ones that I especially appreciate tend to be quite lengthy, even including the quoting of particular parts of them that truly reverberated with me and reacting to those quotes from the account. (This was notably true for the recently-completed F/M spanking story Challenge, since I'm an F/M afficianado and thus there were several entries which I pretty much became enamored of.)

Repeating other commenters' impressions doesn't bother me though, I'll sometimes even refer to an earlier comment that I'm agreeing with. Obviously, that's not an issue with the Challenges, since everyone else's comments are 'invisible' to me until the voting is completed.

From an author's perspective, I'd venture that any comment is better than none at all, although personally I'd assert that the in-depth ones are the most highly preferred...

--C.K.

Quite right. Which makes your comments so particularly welcome.

I think the comments are partly related to the length of the story. I have observed that a story that has a number of parts gets progressively fewer comments even though the better ones may be toward the end.

Thanks for all your input - I'd no idea a casual question would get such in-depth responses!

I'm not sure I agree with the last poster, though; some readers of a series read through the whole thing then leave their comment with the final episode - unless it's a lengthy serial or the episodes are posted at long intervals.

I'd try writing shorter stories, but sometimes a plot sequence that seems quite compact when I'm imagining it turns out to take a lot of words to explain it to the reader...!

Please don't! We value the longer works. And it is a skill to write something more substantial. Some people struggle to write even 5,000 words, so if you can sustain it, go for it!

It can be better to write whatever length story you enjoy writing but then making a "series" after the fact. Just find a break point every now and then and separate it - and the series will get readers. Whether or not they comment - who knows? But more will read a series than will a long story.

I will admit to preferring to read shorter stories, but I think that is because it's more difficult to read on screen as opposed to in print.

When a longer story is split into well-judged parts this helps, but sometimes I think that this leads to a story of an episodic nature, where there doesn't seem to be a smooth flow of the story. OK, sometimes this can be deliberate, ( done that myself) but sometimes it looks as if the author feels obliged to fit a statutory spanking in each part.

I do try to comment on all the stories I read, goodness me, the writers deserve at least that much, but I often feel as if I am short-changing them if I read to the end of a serial and have not commented on each part.

I can't speak for others, but please don't feel you are short-changing me if you read one of my serials and don't comment on each section. I welcome all comments, and if there is something in a section you feel that is worthy of comment, it's much appreciated. But I've never intentionally written a serial. They've all been single stories that ran a bit long and were cut into sections for the benefit of those who don't want to read too much at one sitting. So I don't feel the least bit slighted if readers treat it the same as if it was posted as one long story and choose to make one comment at the end. That's what I will usually do if I read a serial.
If I read a series (ordered or unordered as defined under "document types" in the Author's Guide) however, that's totally different since each part is intended to be a standalone story. I probably would not write a series because some readers might follow it and be expecting another episode and I don't want to feel obligated or guilty if I get lazy or decide I rather work on something else.

I try to comment on everything I read. I find the biggest factor for me in commenting on a story is the comments already posted. Sometimes the comments already posted cover everything I would want to say which leaves me struggling with something to ad that hasn't been covered. I think I have even commented on stories by saying that there is little if anything I can ad that hasn't already been said. I'm lucky if I catch a story right after it comes out and there haven't been that many readers yet.

Not everything you say has to be "original." stating that you agree with certain other commenters (and perhaps why) is more feedback to the author. I certainly don't mind hearing that a particular aspect of a story was liked (or even disliked) by more than one person.