How many chapters/words does a story need to have before you'll think about reading it?

hueyhare

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I know there are a lot of factors here, like cover art, synopsis, whether or not its a known author, etc. But I'm curious to hear how long a story has to be before you'll give it a shot. Let's say you were on the fence about a story after reading the synopsis. If the story had a larger word count would it change your mind? If so, what length do you like to see before you'll read? Also, does anyone like to jump in on brand new stories? Are there other factors that affect this for you? I just wanted to hear what all of you have to say on the topic since I'm still a bit new here. Thanks.
 

Kotohood

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I'm too am rather curious about this.


For me personally, the most important part of it is consistency. If I'm confident that the author can keep writing and not just stop one day, then I'll give it a read. If I have the time of course.

Usually about 50k I guess? If I have to consider word count.
 

hueyhare

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For me personally, the most important part of it is consistency. If I'm confident that the author can keep writing and not just stop one day, then I'll give it a read. If I have the time of course.

Good point. I hadn't thought about consistency when writing up this question. In that case, how long does the author have to be consistently releasing chapters for you to give them a shot?
 

Kotohood

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Good point. I hadn't thought about consistency when writing up this question. In that case, how long does the author have to be consistently releasing chapters for you to give them a shot?
Hmm, this is rather difficult for me to answer. Take Mother of Learning for example (A very good Web Novel). Author post a chapter once every month or so. But he kept doing it for a few years.

But I guess as a rule of thumb, as long as someone doesn't take random hiatus or keep to a schedule for about a few months I guess.
 

Ninetailed_Furball

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Personally, there's quite a few factors beyond simply how much I'll expect to enjoy the series based on title, cover, description, tags, reviews, etc.

There is update frequency, how recent the latest update was, reliability (to a lesser degree if the story is long enough), as well as word count.

Normally on NU I base it heavily on chapter count of the 30-50+ range depending on how interested I am in it, but here where I can actually see the word count, I'd say the minimum is something like 50-100k words? It's short enough that any serious author can reach easily pretty fast, but long enough that it'll kill more than a handful of minutes.

The slower the update rate, the higher the word count needs to be though, as waiting for a chapter can be murder to the point that I'd often drop a story just to wait for a nice backlog to pile up before picking it up again.

Of course, this presumes I feel I have enough time to actually pick up another story, as ever since I started to write, my free time has dwindled quite a bit.
 

Phantomheart

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If the novel has at least 10k in 2k chapter format, then I give it a shot. I don’t read anything under a 2k word chapter average. Higher words counts around 50k make me feel more inclined to read a story despite my doubts of the synopsis.

Usually a synopsis draws me into reading a story, if the synopsis sucks, don’t ever count on me reading the story as a leisurely activity, no matter how high the word count.
 

sage61

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Usually a synopsis draws me into reading a story, if the synopsis sucks, don’t ever count on me reading the story as a leisurely activity, no matter how high the word count.
Same here. The first thing I look into is the synopsis and the plot. At least 12 chapters or 20k+ word count will be enough to make me read a new series as long as the synopsis managed to capture my interest. For frequency, a weekly update is the most I'll wait to read it to the end. Those longer than that ends up in my waiting list which I hardly touch until I'm super bored.
 

crimson_carnation

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I like to wait until it has at least 20 chapters before trying it. However, if it's a short story or is supposed to end within 50 chapters, then I prefer to wait until it's complete before starting on it. But I don't generally consider reading a story if it doesn't update at least once every two weeks. I might forget the plot or characters otherwise.

Other than that, as the others have said, stability of updates also plays a big role, along with seeing from the synopsis if the story will have elements I enjoy or something I might dislike.
 

Pistachio

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Synopsis first and if it is interesting I check the chapters, if it is completed I go to reviews section to look for the miss and hit points. From there, I decide based on reading mood. If the story is ongoing, I check the chapter frequency and if it is consistent then I’ll read it but if it isn’t I drop it, more so if it’s an original work but if it is a translated work, I’ll mtl the whole story.
 

Moonpearl

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I'm actually more likely to read a story that's just starting out. Five or so chapters is ideal, but I'll take even less. More and I'll start considering if it's worth it.

Nowadays I feel like my time is limited, so knowing that I'll have to devote time to binge read a story is pretty de-motivating. If I really like the sound of a larger story, I'll file it away to read one day in the possibly distant future where I feel like taking on that challenge.
A story that's just starting out is easy to read, though. And once you've caught up, you can read along as the author releases new chapters without being overwhelmed.

I never check word count, though - just the number of chapters.
 

Viator

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For me it has nothing to do with length. If you can make a well written compact short story that catches my interest, I will thoroughly enjoy it. I think that a lot of web novels can drag out too much in fact. With many filler chapters as the authors struggle for figure out how to extend their plots and keep things interesting. Eventually things get so long I lose interest. As an author, you shouldn't be afraid of a good ending. Some readers may not want the story to finish, but in the end it's more satisfying than dragging something on until it has no value. I say don't worry about length, but worry about the content.
 

Hama

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To me, I want the novel to at least have few chapters out (like one volume finished or close to finish) to evade suspension as much as possible
 

oblueknighto

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I usually filter out novels below 50k words / 200 pages. The other factor is updated in the last two weeks.
 

CrispyNoodle

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I know there are a lot of factors here, like cover art, synopsis, whether or not its a known author, etc. But I'm curious to hear how long a story has to be before you'll give it a shot. Let's say you were on the fence about a story after reading the synopsis. If the story had a larger word count would it change your mind? If so, what length do you like to see before you'll read? Also, does anyone like to jump in on brand new stories? Are there other factors that affect this for you? I just wanted to hear what all of you have to say on the topic since I'm still a bit new here. Thanks.
At least 20 chapters and / or at least 20K words total. This only applies to *old* works though. If it's a new work, I'd read too see if it's got potential.
 

Sabruness

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Depends. For me, it can be as little as a single chapter pending many other factors OR if the author has a record for stories that i've liked. Apart from that, 5 chapters is the general minimum for a story.
 

Andro

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Depends on the synopsis. If I find the synopsis interesting enough, that I don't care about how many chapters there are.
 

S-Scherr

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I'm too am rather curious about this.


For me personally, the most important part of it is consistency. If I'm confident that the author can keep writing and not just stop one day, then I'll give it a read. If I have the time of course.

Usually about 50k I guess? If I have to consider word count.
I'm with Kotohood on this one. Lack of consistency if the deal breaker for me as a reader. If a writer isn't committed to writing it, why should I commit my time to read it? I usually want an arc or two written before I attempt a newer work. With the long ones, I'll check dates of release first to make sure the story hasn't been abandoned. I understand stories go on hiatus and I'm not talking about those instances.
 

sak-chii

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I'm with Kotohood on this one. Lack of consistency if the deal breaker for me as a reader. If a writer isn't committed to writing it, why should I commit my time to read it? I usually want an arc or two written before I attempt a newer work. With the long ones, I'll check dates of release first to make sure the story hasn't been abandoned. I understand stories go on hiatus and I'm not talking about those instances.
Hmm, this is rather difficult for me to answer. Take Mother of Learning for example (A very good Web Novel). Author post a chapter once every month or so. But he kept doing it for a few years.

But I guess as a rule of thumb, as long as someone doesn't take random hiatus or keep to a schedule for about a few months I guess.

Consistency huh... I will definitely disappoint you guys. Me on internship rn so not much time and motivation to write :blob_blank:
 
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