LovelyLucy
Super-Earth
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2019
- Location
- On your mind
I have a simple question, how long should a "one shot" be?
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Story length query
- Thread starter LovelyLucy
- Start date
I would suggest that a "one shot" is for the duration of the current scene & location, but that's not necessarily mutually-exclusive; a scene can potentially take place in multiple locations (eg the scene starts with a girl in a bar, she gets drugged, taken out the back to an alley, naughty things happen in the alley, the assaulter leaves her in the alley...then the scene ends). In that example, if the girl then tries to follow the assaulter it's no longer a one-shot, as the scenario then has continuity into other scenes and locations.
How many posts does that take...? Totally between you and your partner.
How many posts does that take...? Totally between you and your partner.
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2014
- Location
- Central US
This is, in fact, wholly dependent on how much detail you and your partner go into. If you both write 4+ paragraph blocks that push the scene towards its conclusion in chunks? I could easily see a one-shot ending in maybe 4-5 posts per player. If you write one-line back-and-forths where every other post is just a line of dialog and a single action? That could easily be 100+ posts.
As far as "how long" goes, I think @Sync was on target when he said that it's more about the scene itself only having one "arc," so to speak; one event that gets focused in on, played out, then completed. Girl goes to bar, gets drugged and dragged out back. Pairing meets on a train, hook up in the bathroom, then go on their merry ways. Pairing sees each other across the movie theater, their eyes lock, they get busy in the seats, and then the movie ends and they bugger off. Anything to that effect, for me, effectively constitutes a "one-shot."
As far as "how long" goes, I think @Sync was on target when he said that it's more about the scene itself only having one "arc," so to speak; one event that gets focused in on, played out, then completed. Girl goes to bar, gets drugged and dragged out back. Pairing meets on a train, hook up in the bathroom, then go on their merry ways. Pairing sees each other across the movie theater, their eyes lock, they get busy in the seats, and then the movie ends and they bugger off. Anything to that effect, for me, effectively constitutes a "one-shot."
- Joined
- Apr 27, 2019
- Location
- London
I do tend to blow stories out of proportion, so one shot for me would be something about 20 replies with two, sometimes three, actions per reply (which could be anywhere between 450-1,000 words).
One important characteristic of one-shot for me, at least, is that we have an ending nailed down. The idea shifts as we write, of course.
One important characteristic of one-shot for me, at least, is that we have an ending nailed down. The idea shifts as we write, of course.
Mint
Super-Earth
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2018
It depends like everyone says, but usually for me it's the same-- around 20 replies between my partner and I for a given scene. Granted my one-shots are a full chunk of a story, just a segment of it. We can move scenes but there's a clear beggining, middle and ending that is usually do-able and manageable to actually finish within a couple months time, it's why I prefer them nowadays cause they allow you to actually explore multiple pairings, characters, and still enjoy the moment.