How long is too long for a reader?

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   MarieLBposted 8 years ago

   How long is too long for a reader?
   
   I have just written an article on the 2014 Sydney [Australia] siege. 
   
   That was just a chronicle of events. I am now writing another one that touches upon hostages as individuals.
   
   This siege was a very dramatic, emotional event. One could easily write a book about it.
   
   Here we are writing articles.  I believe that today's readers  want bite-sized chunks of text,& lots of pictures. But there is much I need to write.
   
   I guess one needs to know one's readers, but we don't.
   
   So tell me pls, what  "magic number" would you consider as too long in an article for HP?

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   reinhardBeckposted 8 years ago

   Well if you look on the stats board that HP list on the right hand side of any hub you write there is a sliding scale that basically says an article should be about 1500 words.

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      MarieLBposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Reinhard Beck for your answer.  I seem to have a problem.  My article goes way over that.

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   alancaster149posted 8 years ago

   I've got pages of less than 1,000 and over 3,000 words. As long as you set images (graphs, photos, maps) between sections of copy or paragraphs, you shouldn't go too far astray. We're all adults here - even if some might have shorter attention spans. If someone can read a chapter in a book they can work through a lengthy Hub-page article.

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      Rakim Cheeksposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Considering the articles I have read in the past, I believe the average number for an article is about 1600 words.

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      MarieLBposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you Alan Robert Lancaster for responding.  I wish I was as confident as you about readers of HP articles. Reading on screen can be more difficult than holding a book.  I think HP authors would mostly, but others?!?!?!

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      alancaster149posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Marie, Rahim, 'RITES OF PASSAGE FOR A MODEL RAILWAY - 3: Base Boards...' has a total 5.425 words, images (including some of my own), diagrams, Amazon book offers, links and a book list. So far it's drawn 3,220 readers. What does that tell you?

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   Jodahposted 8 years ago

   I find my attention straying on hubs over 2000 words unless they are extremely excellent and on a subject I am really interested in. If more than  that I'd suggest writing it in more than one installment.

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      MarieLBposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hi John Hansen, I appreciate your response.  I think if truth be known, many people are just like you.  I guess I am going to have to work more on this to bring it down to readable proportons.  Thank you.

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      Lady Guinevereposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      @MarieLB  Divide the content up and make smaller hubs out of them.  You can go back and link them together after you publish them.

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   Lady Guinevereposted 8 years ago

   Just because HP says it has to be so long does not make it anymore readible or make people stay on the hub longer.  My attention span on a hub is less than 1500 words.  If it is more than that my brain goes to something else.  There are great splashes of information that stick in my mind than those that are more like an encyclopedia.  If I want to read that then I would but I don't and I do not read encyclopedias.  It doesn't matter if there is eye-candy on the hub or not. I most likely will not even go to a video and watch or listen to it.  HP needs to rethink of why this site was made and for what audience.

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      MarieLBposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Debra Allen, thank you for responding.  That is exactly my point.  Theory is good to know, but in practice, we dont all fit into it, do we? EG: I am amazed at how many times I get views with no voting at all.  The reader is always right!

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      Lady Guinevereposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I get views on some of mine and they don't bring in any money.  That doesn't make sense to me.

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   Venkatachari Mposted 8 years ago

   Marie, I would say it can be of 1800 words to 2000 words- in between that range. And put it in multiple capsules with good sub-titles, some good images in between capsules, some call out capsules, a video and a map, if possible. All these elements should make it more interesting to the readers to cling on.

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      MarieLBposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you for taking the time VM. I know I am going to find it difficult to make it shorter, because it is about many hostages;  so I will probably come back to your advice to remind me of the elements that need to be there.

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   MarieLBposted 8 years ago

   To Rakim Cheeks,  Thank you for giving me your honest opinion.  I hope you get to read this as I found no way to respond to your comment directly underneath.  It is very useful for me to get the opinion of fellow writers.

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   Stargrrlposted 8 years ago

   If the topic is interesting enough, and the writing is good, I can read any length hub for any length of time. Or I'll read some of it, and come back later.  That being said, some people don't have the attention span, so I'd say try to keep it under 2000 words.

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      MarieLBposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you Stargrrl for taking the time.  I truly appreciate all the responses.  I reckon who better to understand my query than other writers who also want to reach readers, whether these are fellow writers or not.  I am noting all the responses, tks

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   peachpurpleposted 8 years ago

   i say, 700 words are just nice and then you can create more hubs related to the same topic, readers will be captivated to carry of staying on your profile

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      MarieLBposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      You know what peachy, I think you are right.    I have noted that the more wordy an article [of mine] is the less views.  I dont count the ones that bounce Pity my last one is much longer.  I couldnt make it any shorter.  But I will keep this in mind

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      alancaster149posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Seven hundred words amounts to an intro. Almost as soon as you've started to read it you've finished. Some of my longer pages have had over 2,000 readers, one almost 3,000. It's the subject matter, not the length that pulls them!

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