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Yes, it has a beginning, a middle, and an end. All the events are implied and in context. A couple is expecting a baby. They buy baby shoes in preparation. The baby dies. The parents, heartbroken, have decided never to try again. Hence, instead of saving them for a future baby, they are selling the baby shoes that have never been worn.

Hemingway started as close to the end as he could. The very last event in the story, in fact. And it works.

Some people have complained that certain audiences demand too much be spoon fed to them - they don't want to work for or think out plot points on their own, even when all the information to put the pieces together has been given to them. You'll see this difference between a lot of American and Japanese cinema - American movies like to explain everything that happened in the movie at the end, while Japanese movies like to make viewers figure it out for themselves. The latter is much more involving and keeps the story in the thoughts of viewers longer.

Like a joke, a good story can be ruined by too much explanation. It can lead to lazy story telling - really if you have written a good story with appropriate use of themes, you should never have to spell out your theme to the audience.

I've mentioned in other threads that mystery is what keeps readers or viewers involved, asking questions, and being attentive to your story. If you go on too long, you have no choice but to start explaining away mysteries or providing answers, when really, a lot of times it would be better if the mysteries remained. I find stories most satisfying when they make me think - and stories that go on too long prevent me from doing that, because they are doing all the thinking for me, so I can just shut my brain off. Then I get bored. Then I quit reading. And because I never had any unanswered questions from the story, I never think about it again either.

the problem here is that none of that is actually implied by those six words. Some alternative meanings that still fit but make for lousy stories:
-A guy buys shoes for his single friend as a bad joke. The friends decides to sell the shoes.
-An impulsive mother buys shoes and only later realizes that they don't actually fit her child.
-A very eccentric person decides to make a sign that will get people's attention.

it's fine to leave things open, but the human imagination is too powerful to leave without at least a some direction.

More to the original point of the thread, I think the first thing that should be considered is whether or not the story entertains. If a story is too short then the most it can do make the reader stop for a moment to think before going back to his/her day. As far as I'm away the oldest purposes that story were written for were explaining things people didn't understand and escaping the weight of reality.

I don't know which writers are considered the best in each era, but all the stories I hear people talk about over and over again are epic series. This is why I mentioned higurashi, as that seemed like one of the most popular series of its time. Another good vn example is Clannad, which is well known for its length.

But . . . that's what implied means. Just because there are other options doesn't mean that the one LateWhiteRabbit mention isn't the one implied. If it was told straight out it wouldn't be implication anymore.

I think argument is starting to get silly. Neither long or short is better when you start talking absolutes. There are things you can do in a long story that you can't in a short and vice versa. In a short story you have to leave some things out because there just isn't time or space, but because of that every single word has more impact. In a long story things like word choice are less effective or could even drag the story out and make it boring, but you can do things like layer a character's plot and a idea plot then have the climaxes interact in ways that they both become more powerful. I prefer to write longer stories myself because of all the things I want to do at the same time in one story but that Hemingway story is one of the most powerful stories I've ever read and it sticks in my mind as a great example of the power of the proper economy of words.

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Works in Progress: Twin Crowns | Weather Wizard

You presented a good example of "the story can't continue to stay awesome". Each stage has appropriate length and ends before readers get tired. Then the new story starts in the next stage. That's the way to keep its awesomeness.

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Personally, I like it when the game is split into parts within the game. The only example I can think of that did it the way I have in mind was Katawa Shoujo and it's acts. I know the game took a long time to develop, but I just really liked how each part was introduced by a little loader picture and the title of the act.

It broke the long story into smaller, manageable chunks. I know some people probably see it as "intrusive" or "distracting", but I like it.
[Quick question for those who've seen those transitions: for that to be done, would the code be set up like: fade to white, show image with fade, fade to black? ]

After the hell I lived with the Legacy of Kain, Tomb Raider, and God of War series I really don't feel like getting involved in
long story based games nor anime nor manga nor books.

"To be continued..."

The most annoying ending line I ever seen.

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I am now also using my Atlus Online name, AkashanoTenshi. If you prefer to call me that way it's fine.

I agree with LateWhiteRabbit about almost everything she said in general.

I'm actually struggling with this as well because to me, a story should be as concise as possible. Just like writing an essay the concision makes the words that are there more powerful. I'm not sure if this is because I started properly learning how to write from my poetry classes in high school or just from improving in essays, but it's what I believe.

There isn't really a good answer to what a "proper" game length should be. Different topics and ideas hold interest for different amounts of time. That doesn't make the ideas any less powerful; it just means that each story has a length that fits it best.

Ernest Hemmingway's short story is a largely quoted short story with all sorts of stories surrounding it, including that he wrote it when drunk when arguing with another writer if I recall correctly, but I think the mindset behind a story told in implications is wonderful. I haven't ever heard people not interpret it similarly to LateWhieRabbit, but the fact that it can be argued to be about different things is what makes writing strong.

I love the words that are left unsaid that float in the air around the reader. But not every story should be told that way either.

Each story is different and needs a different length. If you're concerned about length, I would consider starting with a length and choosing a story from here. I know that WinterWolves in general tries to stay around 50k words for the simpler games. It's a good length for around 6 - 8 hours of gameplay I'd say? Reading paces change that too.

The suggestion to have segmented parts of the story so that people can stop playing the games is a good idea. I feel like that's the mindset behind chapters and it's a good one.

I hope this makes sense >.<

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I can't give any definite answer to that. To me, it depends both on the story and on the writer. There are writers who like to write shorter stories and use implications more than simple statements, then there are writers who enjoy beauty of the language and like to dig in their character's mental state. Of course the latter's prose will probably be longer than former's, but will it actually be better?

Honestly, I don't know. Style and type of story are crucial in that regard. People who say that you can't possibly keep the feel of suspense in longer works aren't right; you just have to be skilled in order to succeed. To me, correct build up is essential for the story to work and in longer, well thought out works, this tends to come naturally. Sure, resulting suspense isn't the same; I would describe it as more subtle and some people just don't have patience for that. Which is, by the way, perfectly normal. Audience is bound to be varied and nobody can please everybody.

Just do what feels natural to you. Trust your instincts

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Fear cuts deeper than swords.

Assuming the story is written well:

If the game has a lot of branches/choices that matter, I would prefer to read a "short story." In that case, I wouldn't mind replaying the game because I know the end is near.

A "long story" with lots of choices I would probably play through once, whether or not I reached the most satisfying ending for myself... Unless I can sense the other choices will tell a "different story," it just takes too much time to play through most of the same things again.

As a fan of history, I can easily imagine such. The story of the Roman Empire, for example, from the founding of the Roman Kingdom in 753 BC through the struggle for survival against Greek colonies, overthrowing of the kings and founding of the republic, fall of the republic, decline and split of the Empire until its end in 1453 by the hands of the Ottomans, offers more material than any human can possibly read in a single lifetime (... assuming a 70-something life expectancy). And it stays awesome and interesting at all points if you dig down deep enough.

Soooooo...there seem to be a lot of "lofty" responses to this and not a whole lot of concrete ones. Here's a response that's sort of in the middle....

A story should go on long enough for all of your dynamic characters to be established, tested, questioned, broken, turned around, rebuilt, and calmed to a resolution. Anything that doesn't work towards one of these goals (or isn't inserted for comic relief, buildup, breaking up action, making it seem realistic, or whatever you feel is truly important) shouldn't be included in the story, and only serves to draw it out and create "filler."

Even some of those examples (breaking up action and realism most notably) can be overused and make a story too long (example...describing going to the bathroom is realistic, but it's not going to add much to your story). The interesting parts are the character development, and most everyone likes a bit of humor in their drama to keep it from getting "whiny" or depressing. Dampening the mood of the story too much can make even very short stories seem long and drawn-out, whereas funny shenanigans seem to race by.

The "until your characters are fully developed" principle even applies to non-linear stories, where some characters will be established, but never tested, broken, or resolved. It just means that you ignore the characters that the player did not or could not focus on for the purposes of that playthrough (and thus, that playthrough will likely be shorter). For that playthrough, these are not really "dynamic" characters at all, but simply passed up choices.

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# Name's Gene. You're welcome to call me that, too.
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Good point.

Hmm. When I reread my own post, I realized I wasn't directly answering the OP but more so the thread title ^^;
But really, I wouldn't think the length of the story would matter as long as all parts of the story fulfill a purpose, and the story is written well.
I wouldn't continue reading a story if I didn't think it was going anywhere*, whether it'd be considered long or short.

*unless I'm going to write an opinion about it, then I'd finish it to be fair OR if it's a serialized comic

If we're talking about personal preference, I like my stories as long as possible, but it's not as if I enjoy grinding.
Generally, I think it should be going until what you set out to do is done, storyline was done, character development is done, no loose plot threads dangling anywhere...it should all tie up at the end. Once your general purpose is done, it's your choice whether to make it longer. A short epilogue is usually the safest route there. In RPG terms that'd be Beginning--middle missions--final boss--bonus stage. Any leftover ideas might make a good sequel, as it's not good to cram too much into one game.

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