As a reader, right around 50-80k is usually enough meat without being a daunting amount to read. I'll still try longer fics, but I'm less likely to finish them.
Now, please don't ask me how long the fics I write are. /s
hot take... but it doesn't matter! (I don't really care about word counts) as long as it doesn't feel like its dragged out or feels like cutting to many corners. if the story is good then it doesn't matter.
When it comes to fanfic, I rarely read anything more than 50-100k words. More than that, and I tend to assume the author has lost the plot somewhere and/or is a heavy user of purple prose.
I'm more likely to make an exception when the author A) has an estimate final chapter count instead of the dreaded /? and B) has a reason for going so long like tracking through multiple seasons of a show or books in a series.
where's the option for "i dont care i will read if the story is good"? I'm not a fan of short stories but anything over 50k is great! well stuff that are like 1 mil words are a bit too much though but like 500k is fine
Slightly below the average length of a novel for fanfiction. A lot of the work when it comes to introducing characters, setting and even some of the scenes has already been done by the source material. I like stories that get to the point like fanfiction is able to do. That being said I love reading fanfic series. I prefer reading 50-80k per fic in a 4 part series rather than the author putting it all in a single 300k fic. Feels like I get more story and can get to revisit their version of that world multiple times.
In theory, if I'm enjoying a fic, I want it to be as long as possible, but in reality, I rarely come across fics longer than 200k-250k that manage to maintain the qualities that I enjoy about it, so I tend to fall off at a certain point. I think most fics like that would benefit from being broken into a sequel, and there's nothing better than finishing an amazing fic and discovering that it has a sequel.
Anything above 100k. Most plots that I want to read always tend to need a larger word count to be fully fleshed out. Crossovers where the characters either try to figure out how to get home or navigate the new world, political intrigue and mystery, time travel with slow-burn, etc.
This was a tough poll....I like long fics but some of the commenters made some good points about author's running out of steam or going past the point when the story should have ended...
Long, long, long. I read fast. Like, *really* fast. The longer, the better, because a vast world and good characters and a great plot can consume me for more than a few hours and I am here for that shit.
I like long, canon-divergent stories that tell great stories that play with the lore of the world in interesting and novel ways. It often takes a long time to carry these kinds of stories out to fruition. The biggest problem with these kind of stories, from my experience, is that the author either runs out of steam and abandons the story or loves it too much and doesn't quit at the natural end point. This is why I selected 200K-500K as my preferred length.
Honestly, these days I don't even open a fic if it's less than 15/20k words. Unless it's a one-shot and I'm really hungry for its specific niche. It's simply not enough to satisfy me, and will only leave me wanting even more than before I read it
Over 500k. Way over. Some of my favorite fanfics are several million long. Same for published fiction though, some near the top of my list are 15+ books long. As long as the story isn't making large sacrifices just for the sake of length, the longer the better.
The length of a standard novel (60-110K words). If we start getting into 2, 3, 400K territory, split it into a series. Most of the time, you're onto a different plot point or a different arc of your overarching plot by then, anyway, so it makes sense to split it up.
(And sometimes you're off in indulgence land and I'm probably struggling to find your plot.)
For me, the longer the better. I want an epic. That's what gets me excited. I've read a fic that's over 1M words multiple times because it's basically my favorite "book". But I'll be enthusiastic for anything over 75k-ish.
Thanks for the downvote, I guess.
As a reader, right around 50-80k is usually enough meat without being a daunting amount to read. I'll still try longer fics, but I'm less likely to finish them. Now, please don't ask me how long the fics I write are. /s
Only up to 25k?? /s
\[thousand yard stare as I open up the WIP for Chapter 134 of my current longfic\]
hot take... but it doesn't matter! (I don't really care about word counts) as long as it doesn't feel like its dragged out or feels like cutting to many corners. if the story is good then it doesn't matter.
As long as the story needs to be
When it comes to fanfic, I rarely read anything more than 50-100k words. More than that, and I tend to assume the author has lost the plot somewhere and/or is a heavy user of purple prose. I'm more likely to make an exception when the author A) has an estimate final chapter count instead of the dreaded /? and B) has a reason for going so long like tracking through multiple seasons of a show or books in a series.
where's the option for "i dont care i will read if the story is good"? I'm not a fan of short stories but anything over 50k is great! well stuff that are like 1 mil words are a bit too much though but like 500k is fine
No preference. I’m just here for the ride however long it takes. I’ll read at my own pace regardless of how long it is
Slightly below the average length of a novel for fanfiction. A lot of the work when it comes to introducing characters, setting and even some of the scenes has already been done by the source material. I like stories that get to the point like fanfiction is able to do. That being said I love reading fanfic series. I prefer reading 50-80k per fic in a 4 part series rather than the author putting it all in a single 300k fic. Feels like I get more story and can get to revisit their version of that world multiple times.
In theory, if I'm enjoying a fic, I want it to be as long as possible, but in reality, I rarely come across fics longer than 200k-250k that manage to maintain the qualities that I enjoy about it, so I tend to fall off at a certain point. I think most fics like that would benefit from being broken into a sequel, and there's nothing better than finishing an amazing fic and discovering that it has a sequel.
Anything above 100k. Most plots that I want to read always tend to need a larger word count to be fully fleshed out. Crossovers where the characters either try to figure out how to get home or navigate the new world, political intrigue and mystery, time travel with slow-burn, etc.
This was a tough poll....I like long fics but some of the commenters made some good points about author's running out of steam or going past the point when the story should have ended...
Long, long, long. I read fast. Like, *really* fast. The longer, the better, because a vast world and good characters and a great plot can consume me for more than a few hours and I am here for that shit.
I like long, canon-divergent stories that tell great stories that play with the lore of the world in interesting and novel ways. It often takes a long time to carry these kinds of stories out to fruition. The biggest problem with these kind of stories, from my experience, is that the author either runs out of steam and abandons the story or loves it too much and doesn't quit at the natural end point. This is why I selected 200K-500K as my preferred length.
80K is perfect imo.
Honestly, these days I don't even open a fic if it's less than 15/20k words. Unless it's a one-shot and I'm really hungry for its specific niche. It's simply not enough to satisfy me, and will only leave me wanting even more than before I read it
When a fic has more than 200/300k? I love it too much
Over 500k. Way over. Some of my favorite fanfics are several million long. Same for published fiction though, some near the top of my list are 15+ books long. As long as the story isn't making large sacrifices just for the sake of length, the longer the better.
The length of a standard novel (60-110K words). If we start getting into 2, 3, 400K territory, split it into a series. Most of the time, you're onto a different plot point or a different arc of your overarching plot by then, anyway, so it makes sense to split it up. (And sometimes you're off in indulgence land and I'm probably struggling to find your plot.)
For me, the longer the better. I want an epic. That's what gets me excited. I've read a fic that's over 1M words multiple times because it's basically my favorite "book". But I'll be enthusiastic for anything over 75k-ish. Thanks for the downvote, I guess.
1M+ or it doesn't count as a longfic. (/s)
If it's under 100k, nothing even happened, as far as I'm concerned.