What I write: Currently, I have 8 stories posted at ff.net. They range from 1 to 8 chapters and the stats page tells me the average length is 4,958 words. I'm making a guess here, but I'd say my average chapter length is 1000-1100 words. In fact, once I've established a first chapter on a multi-chapter story, I try to keep each successive chapter about the same length (it's a balance thing and I don't always succeed). Since my stories tend to have a very specific point or thought behind their creation, I don't see myself ever writing one lasting more than 10 chapters. With the exception of
Conversations, everything I've posted is complete. The only reason
Conversations is not complete is that each chapter is actually a independent story lumped together under the same heading - kind of like a book of short stories.
Catalinay said "Shorter fics tend to leave me wanting more," which is the biggest complaint I get from those who review my stuff. My only defense to that is, like I said earlier, each of my fics has a specific purpose. Once that purpose has been met, the story ends. If I continued the fic, it would have to find a new purpose and would necessarily dilute its original one. I don’t want to do that.
Maybe I could satisfy those left wanting more by writing a sequel if I can come up with a new purpose that links the two. We'll see.
What I read: Although I read alot (online and off) and don't shy away from the longer novels or ongoing series (Sue Grafton's alphabet series, James Patterson's Alex Cross series, etc.), I'm not a big fan of the seemingly endless fanfics. I got started on some of the
Gilmore Girls post finale fics, but after 10 or so chapters each, I began waiting until at least 2 chapters of a fic were posted before I caught up (still doing that, I think only one of the many has ended). Also, especially for the longer ones, I look for completed fics so I don't get involved and then become disappointed when the author quits posting updates.