Segments and General Length of Stories

[Annals Votary]

Hello! After lurking for god knows how many years on a dummy account, I think it's time to actually contribute something to the forum I've enjoyed for so long. I was originally planning for my first post to be the story I've been writing, but I realize that I am in desperate need of advice from some of the more experienced writers here.

Although I have been writing for quite a while and currently enjoy it as a career, the piece on which I am currently working is my first shot at a tickling story. That being said, there's something that's been bothering me about it.

When is a tickle story too long? How is it best divided?

I'm nearing the end of my story, which will be somewhere on page 16 in Times New Roman size 12 font, with no double spaces. I don't know if I should post it in its entirety or divide it into two parts. Most of the tickling is f/f and takes place at the end, though there is a playful bit of f/m at the introduction of the story, so dividing it into two parts may work well for different audiences. I'm planning on the story itself being the first part of a series of stories I've long had an interest to write.

Which would be better? Has anyone faced similar segmenting problems? Please help.

 

[Adalon1]

While I personally very much enjoy stories with a lot of narrative and build-up, which may or may not be immediately related to tickling, I've noticed that more tickling-focused stories appear to be a little bit more popular, although that's just me.

Ultimately, if you end up segmenting it up, which it sounds like you're doing anyway (based on your comment that you plan on having multiple stories), I'd recommend having a good balance of tickling content and story content in each segment. That ratio, as well as the general pace and spacing of the 'action', drive the story along for me, and length becomes less of a consideration.

Just my opinion.

Happy writing from a fellow writer!

 

[Annals Votary]

Thank you for the feedback! I actually like the development-driven stories too, that's what I was aiming for in writing this piece now 🙂

I guess my biggest worry is if it'll become too boring if there's too much length or story build-up. Will the reader be daunted by a towering wall of lengthy text?

In relation to the second part of what you said however, the segments may end up being a little unbalanced.

The first part will end up being the vast majority of the development, while the second part will end up being the vast majority of the tickling. That isn't to say that there won't be development in the second part, or tickling in the first, just that the two segments won't be fairly balanced in terms of story development and pure tickling narrative.

What I'm hoping is that those who are interested in reading the development of the story will read the first part and then the second part, while those who are interested in the tickling section will just skip ahead to the second part. Both parties are satisfied this way 😛.

 

[Sablesword]

What's the word count of your story? (If you're using Microsoft Word, control-w will give you the word count along with the various other stats for the document. Or the command should be in the Tools menu.)

My preference would be to see the story in a single post, even if very long. The only exception would be if the story is extremely long (beyond short-story length) with several chapters of several thousand words each.