fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2992 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2992 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.

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02.

[Grand Theft Auto 5]

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03.

[Zipang]

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04.

[Ricky Gervais]

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05.

[Tokyo Babylon/X1999]

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06.

[Dexter]

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07.

[The Mentalist]

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08.

[The Truth - Terry Pratchett]

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09.

[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia]

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10.

[Douglas Adams]

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11.

[Black Books]

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12.

[Lucky Star]

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13.

[Edward Petherbridge as Lord Peter Wimsey]

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14.

[Ga-In, Brown Eyed Girls]

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15.

[Oz the Great and Powerful]

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16.

[Colin Baker]

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17.

[9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors]

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18.

[Yatterman Night]

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19.

[Johnny the Homicidal Maniac]

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20.

[Blake's 7]

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21.

[Game Grumps]

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22.

[Alexis Denisof]

Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 07 pages, 170 secrets from Secret Submission Post #428.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What's the optimal length for a fic for you?

How long is too long (just by numbers)? Too short?

It kind of varies. Some long fics I have no problem reading or re-reading. Others are just like *table flip* fuck this I ain't gonna do this.

It's really subjective.

It depends on what I'm looking for. For plotty fics, I find the longer the better is good. But I also do like one-shots. And for PWPs, generally I prefer one-shots and on the shorter side because i don't want too much plot getting in the way of the sex.

100k to 300k if it's very plotty with a slow burn romance.

10k to 30k for less plotty, less slow burn-y fics.

1k to 5k for a PWP or character study.

500 to 3k for crack.

This is good. :D

Yeah, once an author starts pushing 400k, they'd better have a reason that isn't just padding or spinning wheels.

I left out the 30k to 99k category, which can be a sweet spot for top two categories if the author does it right.

Anything over about 100k is too long, in general, although I've read stories that were longer; in retrospect, I regret a lot of them, but I've done it. Anything under 500 words is too short; flashfic like that can be done well, but usually it isn't. Optimal length depends on my mood - sometimes it's 2-5k, sometimes it's 10-20k.

Over 200k I'd probably consider whether I wanted to really get invested, but if it looked like a good fic I'd probably be excited.

For oneshots I prefer between 5-10k. Less than 2k I might read if I was just looking for a momentary thing, but they're not long enough to invest in so any emotion they draw is fleeting.

I don't really find anything too long, but I usually like to settle in for a one shot at about 3000-4000 words minimum. I'm not a fan of most drabbles.

No shorter than 25k words, no longer than ∞

Depends. If it is a romance fic, then a thousand words at most. If it is a plot or gen centered fic, then I look for a good chunk. At least five thousand words, but really the sky is the limit on gen.

It depends a lot on what I'm in the mood for, though in general I prefer long fics and used to just search with the Completed + 100 000 word filter on at FF.net back in the day.

I very, very rarely read fics with less than a 1000 words, and I think my minimum in general is about 5000.

I don't like it when a fic is long just to be long (like if it's, say 50k, when it easily could have been 10k)

I don't have an upper limit for how long a fic has to be as long as the author can keep things entertaining. On the other end of scale, I get suspicious of stories where each chapter's length averages out to less than 2000 words and it's not supposed to be a bunch of vignettes or something, but a serious story with plot and everything.

Longer is always better.

But that's mostly because I'd rather just stop reading a fic halfway than be left wanting more (tbh quitting a fic partway through does not bother me at all). So when I say I want long fics, that doesn't mean that I'll finish them. But it does mean that I'm more likely to be satisfied with what I get.

...Alright, I seem to be the only person in this thread who will literally read fanfic of any length as long as it has the tropes I like and is written well. I've read anything from 6-word stories to epic novel-length stuff.

No, same here. I don't think there is any inherent link between length and quality or readability or attractiveness to a reader. I don't have time for extremely long fics, but that is my issue.

I feel the same way; the main problem with novel-length fic is it can be difficult keeping up with.

Also, sometimes fic that long (even ones that start out spectacular) don't hold up; the author seems to lose their way. (Granted, that can happen to ANY fic no matter the length, but it hurts more when you've been reading a fic for 30+ chapters and the quality starts to significantly decline.)

I'm right there with you, dreemy. I just love to read and if the author is holding my attention even a little bit, I'll read as many words as it take them to tell their story their way. :-)

That's how I am, too. Actually, I kind of prefer shorter stories to longer stories (depending on story genre).

You're not the only one! :o

Depends on my current needs and time available. Something to read in the evening during the week, something to read on lunch break, something to read on the weekend, something to read during a two week vacation, something to just clear my mind for a few minutes? All different lenghts for me. For the two week vacation it can be half a million words or longer, for an evening during the week no longer than 30,000 words. And when I just want to get on a different train of thought during work, 100 words can be enough to clear my mind.

I don't read anything under 1k anymore, no matter how highly recommended.

I won't read anything over 20k unless I'm specifically in the mood (and have the time to kill).

Anything in between is fair game.

A length that lets the author tell the story without going into a billion side plots/rambling endlessly/characters go nowhere. One of my favorite fics is over a million words, and there's not a single bit of bloat. That takes skill.

Don't have an upper limit. Lower limit? Unless it's a drabble, less than 1000 words unless it's an author I know to be good. I feel the same way about fics with chapters that are under 1000 words long. It's just not enough of a chunk to read to feel satisfying to me.

About 30K. Around 30K is long enough to get into but short enough that it doesn't outstay its welcome. Too long is probably over 60K. I've never read a fic that had that kind of staying power but I'm sure there are many that work. 30K-36K is the perfect length for me though.

Normally, I don't read multi-chapters. Give me an 8,000 word slash fic about my favorite pairing, but I'm not touching it if it's over 7-10 chapters long, depending on my mood. I like to have my fics to not take too much of my time.

That being said, if it's 1 am in the morning and I'm on an undead state, I might be flexible.

[ SECRET POST #2992 ]

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