Novel or just a very long story?

Mangus

I was wondering if anyone advice about when to turn off a story? When is it too long or too short. Do you have something bigger happening or what. I am just trying to get the hump. I have several story idea written. Some seem a little long or could become something better. Your suggestions....please




Mangus

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sosinful

Hiya Mangus!

My personal opinion is that LONG isn't always such a bad thing with a story - as long as it's not being overly repetitive. That's whats caused me to scrap out several of my stories too. I've found that some of the 'heated' parts sounds far too similar to the ones previously mentioned in the story.

Short stories aren't bad - quick and to the point but full of hot steamy sex is GREAT! Almost gives the same fulfillment as an actual QUICKIE would!

Just my two cents......good luck with the stories!!

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Rotsen

This is a saying often repeated in the literary world: form follows function. If your story requires length in it's telling than it will be long. If a story does not require length in it's telling and it is long it is likely to be boring and tedious. It depends on what the writer is attempting to accomplish.

Similarly, if a digital photo has high resolution with many varied colors in rich tones it will have a huge file size. If the file size needs to be constrained then the image will be small or of lower resolution.

I am sure Tolstoy did not sit down and say I am going to write a thousand page novel. It just took that many pages for him to relate his story in the resolution that he desired.

I guess what all that means Mangus, is to write the story you want to write to the best of your ability and the form will follow as needed.

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Dionysius

While I am not good at writing fiction, I find Rotsen to be right on the money in my area too--non-fiction. What you want to say, and to whom, should tell you how long the thing will be. It is more obvious when I am writing about history as the basic (hi)story you see there in the facts both has to accurately express them in good faith but must be supported by enough data and reference to further detail via footnotes and other devices so that the reader can decide just how deeply he/she wants to get into various aspects of the events.
Well with events, even erotic, that ability to go beyond the written words is often left to the imagination.
I have read stories that have lasted 50-100 pages approximately that were captivating. But as a reader I like a story around the sex scenes. Some readers like the "quickie." I like a build up.
I think of the stories I read as either "quickies' which seem to be very popular in today's busy life-style, or "stories" where you are not just enjoying the sex but are getting caught up in the characters having the sex, among other things.
Finally, something Sin said was right on the money and I don't think has been said before. It is her point about repetition: I find that even in different stories by different authors, there seems to be a common lingo and method, a sequence of events in love-making that everyone seems to use so often that it is generic after a while: for example this sequence: first see if she is wet, second release the package, third, describe the felacio, then the intercourse, and do it in the same words and style as others. Does it always go that way? Not in my finite experience anyway. Sometimes it can read like a printed liturgy. That can bore the socks off me. It can make a two page quickie harder to read that a 5 page piece that captivates with its originality. I am sorry for sounding negative with this last point but when sex is ritualistically described, it is negative as it is not allowing for real sex to be described, i. e., as singular every time it is performed. Otherwise it loses credibility and the ability to capture the reader.
I hope this all is helpful, or at least some of it is Mangus.

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Mangus

I would like to thank everyone for their responses there opinions have helped a lot. Knock away a few butterflies.

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