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Feb 14

As a pretty inexperienced writer, I'd like to know what you guys think about novel lengths on Tapas. I've completed two short stories with one being 14 episodes and the other spin-off series being 9 episodes. I am currently working on a longer story and the end of the 1st arc is 23 chapters so far. As a reader, I tend to gravitate towards the longer and completed series. So that brings me to the point, do you prefer short stories or longer stories?

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    Feb 12
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    Feb 13
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There isn’t really one. It depends on the story and what works best for you.

I agree. I guess the question was just more of being curious about the length of stories people prefer to read. I know that I tend to binge read but thinking about it, I also tend to write large amounts more sporadically as well, so maybe its connected, lol. Short stories are nice, but I feel like they don't always explore the characters very well or they feel rushed, which is something I think I definitely struggled with my first two stories. Although, I didn't do much planning and was also trying to upload daily for the first one. Mistakes all around honestly :sweat_smile:

You may have to do some research on this. I believe older generation prefer to read longer bits with more exposition, whereas younger ones may be inclined towards reading shorter scripts (or as in web terminology - they love snacking content). I may be wrong about this. Please research more online.

There also may be no one formula. To get an average of what length people like to read you may have to do a survey that is answered by every avid Tapas reader to get the right number. Even then it may change every year based on current trends etc.

I think you're right and I went into this knowing that there wouldn't be a one size fits all for reading anyway. After all, that's why many different genres of stories exist so there is something for everyone. It was mostly just out of curiosity to see what everyone else prefers. As a member of the younger generation, I still find myself gravitating toward the longer stories but it feels a bit easier to write the shorter ones or 'snacking content'. As I am just writing for fun (and to improve my writing skills) at the moment, it's just a bonus if other people enjoy it as well. Thanks so much for your reply! :blush:

Depends on your story. For a competition entry Tapas requires a minimum of 1500 words per chapter, and 30 chapters, so you COULD use that as a guideline, but my suggestion is to just go with your gut and make your stories as long as you feel tells the story best. Or, write what you want to read.

My novel ended up being a lot longer than planned because I knew there was more I wanted to add to the story. I think you should judge the idea as worth adding or the chapter length, worthwhile, if in the end it's something you'd WANT to read, and especially if it's not something you'd skim over to get to the next 'good part.'

Thanks for the response! I have been reading Damsel in the Red Dress and have been loving it! As a beginning writer I know that I will likely be doing a lot of trial and error with my writing. I was trying to write regularly a few years ago and after a few months I basically just stopped. I picked back up with it in December, but I've still got a long way to go. I'm using Tapas as a way to keep myself accountable to write more this year and hopefully in the years to come.
I think my biggest struggle overall was lack of planning. My first two stories I had the basic concept and the ending palnned out, but not enough conflict in the middle to keep a longer story going so they ended up really short. My current story was one I started 2 years ago and have been picking back up. I've planned out a lot of it in advance and I'm currently working on the next arc from another character's perspective to keep things interesting.
The competition entry guidelines are a good starting point though, I've been trying to make sure my chapters are at least over 1000 words, although in my first one I started with the 1500 guideline. Making my chapter slightly shorter just worked a bit better with my chapter content and makes it a bit easier to have biweekly updates.

I am a huge reader of books :slight_smile: And I actually like both short and very thick novels, as long as the story is good and I am engaged :> The lenght is not important, the content is. Be yourself and let the creative juice flow!

Like others have said, it depends.
Not only on generation but also on genre conventions. Like as a rule fantasy books are going to be longer than sci-fi and romance books. Also books aimed at the 25+ readership are a bit more lax on length than YA (13-25), so where most modern long YA will top out around 300 pages, modern long adult books can go up to 500-700 pages, with older books and books by well known authors sometimes going over 1000.

I saw a video from the mystery and romance writer Alexa Donne about genre conventions in tradpub a couple of years ago that I could try and find for you if you're interested, it had a ballpark wordcount for different demographics and genres that are a good idea to at least have in mind if you ever want to pitch your stories to publishing one day. It was an interesting watch even though I'm not aiming for tradpub nor novels.

As an aside I just want to say how much I hate this phrasing :tired_face:

I used to work at a video production company and one of the clients wanted a "snackable" video. After multiple version the thing that continuously came up was that the video wasn't "snackable" enough. In pure anguish, and to the amusement of my coworkers I shouted "WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!" at my computer screen (not at the client, I'm more tactful than that haha.)

To this day, when I see that phrasing, it makes me want to hurl :laughing:

It does sound really intersting. I'm not really aiming to publish anything anytime soon, just working on improving my skills atm, but you did mention some good points. I'll have to keep them in mind

I can understand both sides of it, I guess. Although I like the longer form content, sometimes I'm just really busy and only have time for the shorter ones. I could only iamgine the frustration to create something more "snackable". I think "snackable" is a bit easier to implement in writing becuase you simply split up the chapter, plus it can help increase the frequency of uploads which increases exposure.
BTW I love the art on your comic, I've been meaning to make some time to read it, so I'm adding it to my sub list

When it comes to artistic expression I just find myself becoming an old curmudgeon haha. You'll never find me joining Tiktok as an example for the same reasons.

My philosophy for making my own personal works these days is really simple; "Do I like it? And can I realistically do it? If yes, then do it!" I'm not gonna do market analysis to see what demographic likes what better or try to join in on a trend to make number go up. I do this for me :relieved:

That's not to say that I don't like it when others enjoy my work, I do share it after all for that reason. So I'm definitely glad to see you're gonna give my little passion project a go, and I hope you'll enjoy it! :grin: