Story is too short..?

[Deathilim]

I'm new to writing and decided to start this shiz for a hobby. I have the events of arc 1 of my story planned in my head, however, I feel that the story feels so short. My chapters are 1.5K-2K, and I upload them per day.

What I'm getting on about is that I fear that my story will feel rushed and short, which is something I wouldn't want. But at the same time, I don't want it to slow paced either.

What is the middle ground between slow paced and fast paced?

 

[BenJepheneT]

Best way to mitigate pacing issues is to set a goal for each chapter of your story. You want to accomplish at least one plot point for each chapter, and determining on how fast your want your story to be, you can segregate it and split it further.

Say there's a tournament arc, and there's a fight. If you want a fast story, you can end the fight in one chapter. Easy. But if you want it to go longer, have the fight be sectioned into three parts: fight begins, MC loses the upper hand, MC turns it around to his favour and wins it in the end. Now you've got three goals for three seperate chapters.

One thing to remember is that NEVER let the dictated plot point be one of a subplot. A subplot is something that runs in tandem with the main plot. You want to retain pacing? Stick to the main plot. Don't go off course and give us a dedicated run of the sub plot, unless we're on the preparation/falling action phase of the arc, else it'll feel like a weird sudden detour.

 

[MorgueAnna]

Hey, welcome to the hobby! Figuring out length is a skill that you'll acquire over time, practice will help you get a sense for it. But there are ways to try to gauge the pace as you are starting out. Also, I know you've got it planned in your head, but please write it down, even if it's a mess! Human memory is fallible and should not be relied upon solely. So many writers have gotten burned by that. Also, writing out your plot and planning ahead can help with figuring out the pace of your story. Of course, some writers are planners and others are pantsers, or a mix of the two, so try to feel out which method is right for you.
If it's feeling rushed or short, going back over a draft to add descriptions is a good way to not only pad it out but also give more context for your story. Though you'll probably want to avoid purple prose if possible, since it can drag the pacing down.
The nice thing about webnovels is that you can edit them over time, as need be. (At least, I've seen the process when adapting webnovels to print...not sure if purely webnovels are the same.) Perhaps your readers would frown on that, so get a sense of what they'd prefer.
Best of luck.

 

[K5Rakitan]

Do what works for you, and someone else will also love it.

 

[Ai-chan]

No problem. Write it to the end. Then go back to it and trash talk it. If it screams in your head, rewrite parts of it. Once you're done, go back and repeat. Eventually, your chapters will get naturally longer as you learn that your writing is garbage and lacking too many important elements, yet everyone's too nice to say anything about it. Ai-chan is talking about a friend's experience.

 

[Deathilim]

No problem. Write it to the end. Then go back to it and trash talk it. If it screams in your head, rewrite parts of it. Once you're done, go back and repeat. Eventually, your chapters will get naturally longer as you learn that your writing is garbage and lacking too many important elements, yet everyone's too nice to say anything about it. Ai-chan is talking about a friend's experience.

That's a nice advice. But I wonder what are those important elements?

Do what works for you, and someone else will also love it.

I see, thanks.

Best way to mitigate pacing issues is to set a goal for each chapter of your story. You want to accomplish at least one plot point for each chapter, and determining on how fast your want your story to be, you can segregate it and split it further.

Say there's a tournament arc, and there's a fight. If you want a fast story, you can end the fight in one chapter. Easy. But if you want it to go longer, have the fight be sectioned into three parts: fight begins, MC loses the upper hand, MC turns it around to his favour and wins it in the end. Now you've got three goals for three seperate chapters.

One thing to remember is that NEVER let the dictated plot point be one of a subplot. A subplot is something that runs in tandem with the main plot. You want to retain pacing? Stick to the main plot. Don't go off course and give us a dedicated run of the sub plot, unless we're on the preparation/falling action phase of the arc, else it'll feel like a weird sudden detour.

I see, this is useful. I will watch out then.

Hey, welcome to the hobby! Figuring out length is a skill that you'll acquire over time, practice will help you get a sense for it. But there are ways to try to gauge the pace as you are starting out. Also, I know you've got it planned in your head, but please write it down, even if it's a mess! Human memory is fallible and should not be relied upon solely. So many writers have gotten burned by that. Also, writing out your plot and planning ahead can help with figuring out the pace of your story. Of course, some writers are planners and others are pantsers, or a mix of the two, so try to feel out which method is right for you.
If it's feeling rushed or short, going back over a draft to add descriptions is a good way to not only pad it out but also give more context for your story. Though you'll probably want to avoid purple prose if possible, since it can drag the pacing down.
The nice thing about webnovels is that you can edit them over time, as need be. (At least, I've seen the process when adapting webnovels to print...not sure if purely webnovels are the same.) Perhaps your readers would frown on that, so get a sense of what they'd prefer.

Basically, if I summarize all your points. It's I just lack experience, I should just continue writing until I get the hang of how I want to write the story.

I didn't know the purple prose, I appreciate telling me that.

 

[doravg]

Writing into the Dark
This book has all the answers you need. It is only 40 pages long. You can read it in one setting. As for chapter length, I know from experience that people would expect nothing bigger than 2k words per chapter for a web novel. 3k is stretching it. Things above are called walls of text. You could also read up on what a good, readable, style is for a web novel. I won't tell you mine because I write romance and slice of life, so, it might not work for you. But a good paragraph could net you readers.