Hi, everyone!
I prefer to write linear stories (and am currently having a lot of fun with portraits!) and I was wondering if there was a good chapter-length benchmark for linear stories. Say, like, 1000 words is approximately x-many minutes of reading time?
Thank you in advance if someone answers this 
Hi! 
Tales even made a Tutorial about this… However, I admit, it’s not that easy to find:
The name is totally misleading for anyone writing linear 
Though for you the last two points are of interest
Keep in mind, those are recommendations. Hope this helps
Thank you so much! I definitely looked for something like this and only found information for branching stories.
I really appreciate it, thank you so much!
any time
Hi Kate & Amanda, if I may just chime in here maybe from another prospective, it might, shed a bit of light on Kate’s (?)…
Snap Shot:
I write linear prose. Based in mainland EU, I’m also a member of a UK literary group + website. In that realm, there’s like a colony of; wicked smart, smok’n hot writers, poets, song writers, literature professors, journalist + scouts/agents look’n, publishers for content = periodicals, (& the published tribe that test there material before before it goes public)…
NO bravado intended… As I was allowed in, on a trial basis… I had to face my darkest writing fears & got some, kind & not so kind, help along the way as to my story line.
This is what I learned:
*They limit there story/poem post to 17,500 charterers/aprox 2,500 words. (you can create a series, chapter by chapter, story line, episode from that).
*Why would they do that=limit?
In the world of mobility, mobile devices migrating to screens at a desk top, people read at different speeds in different situations = on commute, lunch break, holiday what ever, night, busy +++ environments… So, someones 3min of reading, could be 5,7,10min+ for others… regardless of the readers skill set/comprehension.
For me this next part was the mind blower:
*Light
Daytime, nighttime, sunrise, sunset, soft light, bright light, changing light as the reader is in motion, and, as a rule, most readers around the world don’t adjust the light on their devices properly (=2) the environment they’re in… (uh-ha… ok- hold on, follow me here)… And there’s the readers temperature &/or comfort zone.
It scales up readers i.e. fan base for your genre easier & timely.
Drawing a circle around this:
17, 500 characters (w/spaces) aprox-2,500 words is a target for real engagement for the content you write/ create… it also forms into kind of rhythm for a series, chapter or call it a ‘reader box set’. & it publishes well… + plus makes editing, copy cut & paste go much more smoothly, = less frustrating ;)…
Or, look at this way; there is a formula (template) to de-risk your content so it gets noticed easier and readers lock on to it, regardless if there’s a better story line in that genre thats not easy to read &-readers (=2) the mobility equation cant lock on to it…
In the Tales world here;… maybe some gifted programmer picks that up and turns it into visual story… because it was de-risked, easy to read and makes sense in their light++.
Although I have enjoyed some successes w/ my story… article(s) & some shorts picked up & republished out there, in various languages, + a scaling fan base in EU & emerging markets (in my demographics)… I am ‘No Guru’ on this, I acquired this knowledge the hard way, like stripped, edited, cold comments, helped + challenges… & Thx to the math/ data peep’s out there that made it stupid easy for me to understand, kinda…(Ahhh)!
Anyway… hope I shed a bit light on this…
Best wishes Kate, kind regards & thank you Amanda (luv ur input) & big THX Tales!.. (as soon I can free up, I’ll be back… Cheers Kris*
Wonderful addition! Thank you so much for sharing this with us 
Thank you so much!
