Why such long stories?

[lambenttyto]

Movies are typically an hour and a half to two hours. A long movie is two and a half hours to three hours. I don't know about you, but I love a really well-made block buster, and I'm pretty excited for Avatar 2, regardless of whether or not it's "fern gully." Not even sure what that is, but I do know that Avatar (2009) is the same story as The last Samurai and Dances With Wolves almost beat for beat, and I love those movies.

Anyway, I don't want to get sidetracked. I read that the average reader reads at about 250 words per minute. Probably true for myself. When I read, I don't skim, I take in every single sentence even if I'm bored, lol.

So let's do the math. A 90 minute movie is like a short novella of 22,500 words And a long 180 minute movie is like a short novel of 45,000 words. How do I know this? I read screenplays. At least, I used to, and they say that each page on a screenplay translates to one minute of screen time, and I have read screenplays for entertainment. They can actually be pretty fun.

So our movies are pretty short, and, arguably, our primary source of story entertainment. I suppose you could make the argument that TV, which can be a lot longer, is more the primary method, but for the sake of my post, let's pretend I didn't write that just now.

Why does everybody like really long stories that just go on and on and on and on? Why don't people like short, snappy, yet very good stories on Scribblehub and RR?

 

[AnonUnlimited]

For me
1. In a movie I turn off my brain and just watch, there is no imagery and I can see everything on the screen that is to be conveyed. Giving that same imagery in writing takes far longer to show. We have to write out facial expressions and it takes several seconds for the reader to read and describe it.

In a movie, 1 second is enough to show how a face looks.

2. In movies we often want a sequel if we really like the movie to see what happens next. In our stories online, rather than a movie we want a conclusive and good ending (which most authors fail to deliver) so rather than getting that ending we prefer it continues going on. Also there is the long winding promise of where the story will go online where as movies the premise is resolved.

3. Movies generally are for those who like soft-world building. That is the world develops for the story and it's short and quick. People who prefer to read like myself like harder world building where we can imagine the world with our minds. Things either make sense or they don't and in order to really build up a world the author needs a lot of time to add depth and other things into the novel, hence much longer stories.

 

[Gryphon]

Honestly, I don't know why that is either. With movies, I don't care if one gets a sequel or not, even if it ends on a cliffhanger, but for books and manga, I'd love to keep reading for as long as possible, and when one ends, whether its a good or bad ending, I feel kinda empty inside, especially if it was a story I was heavily invested in. Same thing with anime and certain cartoons, though I'm more okay with them getting endings, as long as its not a bad ending(looking at you Steven Universe).

 

[Representing_Tromba]

I just enjoy long stories because once I latch onto a group of characters that I really like and am curious about then I want all the content I can get. Even if it becomes an insane mess of obscure references that only the lore enthusiasts can understand. (Looking at you Kazuma Kamachi)

 

[AnonUnlimited]

I just enjoy long stories because once I latch onto a group of characters that I really like and am curious about then I want all the content I can get. Even if it becomes an insane mess of obscure references that only the lore enthusiasts can understand. (Looking at you Kazuma Kamachi)

When you continuing the thigh story?

 

[Representing_Tromba]

When you continuing the thigh story?

Whenever I get the urge to write another short story from my life. Perhaps it will be a continuation of the same thigh event but I have not decided.

 

[TheTrinary]

Movies are typically an hour and a half to two hours. A long movie is two and a half hours to three hours. I don't know about you, but I love a really well-made block buster, and I'm pretty excited for Avatar 2, regardless of whether or not it's "fern gully." Not even sure what that is, but I do know that Avatar (2009) is the same story as The last Samurai and Dances With Wolves almost beat for beat, and I love those movies.

Anyway, I don't want to get sidetracked. I read that the average reader reads at about 250 words per minute. Probably true for myself. When I read, I don't skim, I take in every single sentence even if I'm bored, lol.

So let's do the math. A 90 minute movie is like a short novella of 22,500 words And a long 180 minute movie is like a short novel of 45,000 words. How do I know this? I read screenplays. At least, I used to, and they say that each page on a screenplay translates to one minute of screen time, and I have read screenplays for entertainment. They can actually be pretty fun.

So our movies are pretty short, and, arguably, our primary source of story entertainment. I suppose you could make the argument that TV, which can be a lot longer, is more the primary method, but for the sake of my post, let's pretend I didn't write that just now.

Why does everybody like really long stories that just go on and on and on and on? Why don't people like short, snappy, yet very good stories on Scribblehub and RR?

I do agree that short is better, but what you are not understanding about screen play vs. novel is the content. Screenplays are sparse. It's all dialogue with some stage direction. They don't have to describe actions or characters becuase that's what the visual medium is for. And at the point that you remove all the description and depth from a novel, you pretty much just have a play or something.

 

[BlackKnightX]

You just can’t get enough of it, simple as that.

Watching a good movie is like eating a full-course meal. You get everything and feel extremely fulfilled and satisfied once you’re done eating. But reading a long series is like doing drug or eating your favorite junk foods. You can binge it forever and never get enough of it. (Well, actually, you’ll most likely get tired after a long, long while, but that’s still a long distance away.)

 

[lambenttyto]

I do agree that short is better, but what you are not understanding about screen play vs. novel is the content.

Oh, I understand, trust me. I naturally write pretty lean, but even for the sake of argument, if you doubled the word count, it's still pretty short stuff. Most of what I write amounts to novella length stories. I hate the word "novella." I prefer to call them "short novels" like they did back in the day before the size of the novel was artificially inflated by publishers when they moved to mass market paperbacks after the pulp magazines died off.

 

[AliceShiki]

Back in the day, I preferred long stories because I loved the characters and wanted to keep seeing more of them. So the bigger the merrier to me.

Nowadays I prefer shorter stories because they take less time to be read. And time is something I don't have much to spare nowadays.

 

[RavenRunes]

Back in the day, I preferred long stories because I loved the characters and wanted to keep seeing more of them. So the bigger the merrier to me.

Nowadays I prefer shorter stories because they take less time to be read. And time is something I don't have much to spare nowadays.

Same. There's too much out there to warrant a commitment to a huge story in whatever format it comes in.

 

[Zirrboy]

Look at your question, then your post, then the question again. There you have your answer.

 

[lambenttyto]

Look at your question, then your post, then the question again. There you have your answer.

*Smack!*

 

[Zirrboy]

*Smack!*

I commend your efforts of brevity, but cannot approve of expression through physical violence, no matter the target.

 

[Temple]

That isn't fair comparing it to stand-alone movies. Look at the MCU universe, all their movies, their TV shows/series, those are a ton of content and people keep consuming them. That's all one story. Or how about Harry Potter? Most people haven't read the books. At this point, there are no more books for the Fantastic Beast movies to follow, but they are still continuing and raking in hundreds of millions of dollars. Star Wars is here too with all their movies + series.

Or let's take Game of Thrones. Fans would've been fine with probably twenty seasons of it, just that the writer/directors messed it up. But you know what? There's a new Games of Thrones series coming right up. I know you were talking of a different Avatar, but take Avatar Korra. That was only supposed to be one season, but the demand resulted in more. Or Rick and Morty keep getting renewed for more episodes. Family Guy is 20 seasons, Simpsons is 33 seasons. Doctor Who is on the 13th doctor.

It's not even about time. Full marathon of Lotr + hobbit extended versions is 20+ hours and plenty of fans do that marathon, some even several times. 20+ hours and web novel readers can easily consume probably 400k words, and most are even faster readers than that.

If people want something, no matter the media, they'll keep wanting more of it. This applies to anything actually. Why do people keep returning to their favorite fastfood place when it's just the same food?

 

[Quinn_Voidheart]

As someone that reads/ write flash fiction but also reads stories in the 3k plus range I can tell you that they are different experiences. The shorter the story the more plot focused it is from my experience. the longer stories have a plot or multiple plots but you also get into the world. you get to know all the side characters the planet, galaxy, universe, dimensions (depends your genre). I love the slow pace even if it is action filled the extended growth period is great. I can is there and let my brain melt and relax like I am with the character.

 

[Deleted member 57675]

Movies are typically an hour and a half to two hours. A long movie is two and a half hours to three hours. I don't know about you, but I love a really well-made block buster, and I'm pretty excited for Avatar 2, regardless of whether or not it's "fern gully." Not even sure what that is, but I do know that Avatar (2009) is the same story as The last Samurai and Dances With Wolves almost beat for beat, and I love those movies.

Anyway, I don't want to get sidetracked. I read that the average reader reads at about 250 words per minute. Probably true for myself. When I read, I don't skim, I take in every single sentence even if I'm bored, lol.

So let's do the math. A 90 minute movie is like a short novella of 22,500 words And a long 180 minute movie is like a short novel of 45,000 words. How do I know this? I read screenplays. At least, I used to, and they say that each page on a screenplay translates to one minute of screen time, and I have read screenplays for entertainment. They can actually be pretty fun.

So our movies are pretty short, and, arguably, our primary source of story entertainment. I suppose you could make the argument that TV, which can be a lot longer, is more the primary method, but for the sake of my post, let's pretend I didn't write that just now.

If you can describe everything all around you in one quick glance to the tiniest detail, it would be a lot more words. What we see -we take a lot of it in all at once because it seems visually tangible vs. what we write - it takes much more to conjure up words to describe the same thing. Especially if the writer is not great at describing the details and it also depends on the audience's scale of imagination.

For example, you could see who robbed you, what they wear and what they look like in span of seconds to minutes. Now try putting it to words on a blank piece of paper what you just saw. A scene that happens so fast and so scarred can be jarring to write, if you want to capture the exact details what you saw, the emotions you went through, etc.

You can describe a car most would know what it means nowadays. Care to describe a car to a 13th century AD knight? Without becoming witch-hunted ofc.

How do you describe the color red if you have never seen it before? The Giver.

Why does everybody like really long stories that just go on and on and on and on? Why don't people like short, snappy, yet very good stories on Scribblehub and RR?

Probably bc they are too invested in the character to leave it. Some stories and characters are good but for the sake of continuity with a beloved character/story, the story is dragged out. And in some cases, the longer it drags out, the more contradictory/boring it becomes compared to before. Sometimes good stories need to have an ending and they don't need a sequel. Even for beloved characters and arcs.

 

[RavenRunes]

I suppose if the story is being told at pace then no it doesn't matter how long that takes. It's when it's series with all their unnecessary rambling filler episodes that get me. We're constantly told as writers to move plot or character on with practically every scene and not do filler. But TV series do it a lot. I'm thinking of things like Grimm and Buffy mostly here (I don't watch much Western TV any more, too busy) but then again there were what, six seasons of Vikings that I don't recall seeing much in the way of filler episodes and I was completely invested in several characters. Quality over quantity!

Can't remember the last time I was really sorry something had ended - probably when I was like 20 and read the Deverry series. That's 16 books and well worth the investment.

Maybe my attention span has decreased. Too much to do and have to allot time to doing it, can't just sit and watch/read without thinking I have XXX still to do.