PhilK:
njrick:
I'll save the longest stories for last - sorry, but if the the author hasn't been courteous of my time be remaining brief, then perhaps they'll miss out on the opportunity for a top score.
Like mati, I find the longer stories are generally the best.
If the Challenge doesn't specify a maximum length, then people are free to make their story as long as it needs to be. One year, someone wrote a story of around 13,500 words, and while I was relieved that all the other challenge entries weren't as long, I very much enjoyed the 13,500 word one. Plaudits to the author for making an effort and doing what a lot of our authors struggle with - which is to write something substantial which keeps the reader engaged throughout.
Like Mati and PhilK, I like the detail in the longer works, and find it interesting to see how different authors cope with the challenge of writing something more sizeable.