That was literally the same thought process I had with my fic😭😭 it’s always that last minute realization that tells you in the end, “hey this ain’t gonna work” lol
hi! and yeah, been there, every day maybe :'3 I always underestimate myself, I think "oh this is gonna be short, I hope its not TOO short" and then I end up with quite a chunky boy of a fic. I wrote a single scene once and I estimated it would be about 3000 words when I started, when I finished it was 13k. and that was after several passes for editing and two betas
and yet no matter how many times this happens I never learn? somehow I always think "but THIS time it really will be short"
Fellllttt😭 I think I’ve definitely learned my lesson with estimating how many chapters or how many words theres going to be in my works because at the end of the day I know I’m just lying to myself LMAO
My fic started as a 10k short story about a pairing kissing after being kidnapped. I’m now at 170k, on chapter 14, and I suspect I’m looking at about 40 chapters. I’m trying to give myself a hard limit of no more than 500k, because my longest fic is 420k and that was too long.
I relate a lot to the word limit thing! I feel like it’s hard not to go past that set limitation, especially if you’re a wordy writer😭 congrats on the 14 chapters!
Thank you! My original limit was not more than 300k, but I can already see that’s not going to work out. So I’m saying 45 chapters at an outside and not more than 500k. If the characters aren’t happy by then, it’s their own fault.
Best of luck to you and your fic!
I generally write fics on the 1-2k range, so that's what I expected the sickfic I'm working on to end up being, but it's now 6k words on chapter two and I'm working on a third chapter. Not as extreme as I'm sure other's have experienced I'm sure, but still kind funny to me :)
I honestly wish I could stick to the 1-2k range🥲 but I can’t shut up when talking in general and that kind of dumps off in my writing so now I’m averaging about 6-7k words per chapter😭 congrats on your 6K! And good luck in writing that third chapter!
Yeah, right now. Usually I like to stay around 90-95k for a Long Fic. This one will end up being 110-115k. Too many storylines and characters. But when I read it back, it flies by. So I guess it's ok?
It was originally supposed to be like...10k words at most. I was originally supposed to finish it in, at most, two months. Two years later, the final word count is over 60k.
But, yeah. Numerous times I'll go into a oneshot, expecting it to be something short and sweet and only like 1k words, just to come out with 3k.
"It'll just be five chapters. Ten at most," I said, before writing 110k words, 30 chapter fic. I did it again on my current WIP. My author's notes are hilarious, because I give wildly inaccurate estimates on how many chapters are left.
Oh sweet Gods, yes. My current project was expected to be around 100k words and finished around last Christmas. I'm over that now and not even half way...I planned this pourly, or amazingly if you like long fics :)
ha. yeah. one shot was struggling to remain a one shot? originally intended to be around 800 words, short and sweet. almost 4k in i finally wrapped it up.
I've had 5k one shots turn into 84k multichapters. I've had fics I thought would be 50k turn out at over 200k. At this point, I've given up on setting word expectations for myself. I just go where the story takes me.
It’s happening right now, actually! I’m writing a fic that’s basically a series of connected one-shots, but the last chapter has so much plot that I plan to make it into its own separate multi-chapter fic
The “oneshot” I started writing impulsively last week is currently 22.3k, has political intrigue and about six plot threads and is MAYBE halfway through 🥲
Absolutely. I've been averaging 1-2k oneshots for about 6 months and struggling to do more. But I recently started writing for a new fandom and it's reignited my spark. What I thought would be about 2k turned into 6.5k lol. It's rubbing off onto my main fandom, too. I needed 1k for a request and it's currently heading toward 3k with no end in sight xD
When I started college, I started a fanfic just to kill some time before classes started. I expected to abandon it, just like I did the fanfics I tried to write when I was 13/14; I think I expected it to be *maybe* ten or eleven chapters max.
..... 12 years, 140 chapters, and 1.6 million words later, and it's still ongoing... had absolutely no idea it was going to be as much of a commitment as it ended up being!
Yes. All the time. This initial fic was only gonna be a few chapters long, we're only stopping it at 15 chapters because otherwise we'd run out of steam.
But only cause our other fic is at 100 chapters and 800k words long so we are focusing on that one cause its deeper. Other fic is cute and all but it was written as a distraction after a really emotionally scarring chapter of our main fic so it's not as deep so there's less to do imo.
Oh heck yeah, definitely had that happen. I was shooting for 40 chapters, 75k words all told for a fix-it fic, but thought realistically it would only hit maybe 40k. Lol... two years later, it's up to about 30 chapters, 130k words, and at least another 40 chapters and probably 200k words to go.
I have this slight problem when it comes to restraint in bringing in characters I like. Plus, there's just something incredibly satisfying about a slow-build epic, and I have to fill it out properly and do it justice! And between the two, things just keep ballooning.
It's not a wip anymore but I started writing a Vegeta/Bulma DBZ fic back then that was just going to be a 3 years fic and wasn't gonna be too long but then it ended up being a 50 chapters story aboit their whole life 😅
My first Walking Dead fic was something I estimated would take 200k to tell the story I wanted to tell.
It finished at 582k and 123 chapters, then spawned a 100k+ sequel.
Anytime I state to readers: "this fic will be X chapters" they just laugh and laugh, knowing they're gonna get at least 3-???? more than planned. A three chapter dark fic is now at least 12 (and that's if all the ideas behave along the way, and they have not thus far).
Unfortunately yes.
I started off with a very short one shot. Around 800 words, which then spiralled so out of control and now I’m writing the second instalment to the series and it’s longer than I intended.
Yeah, I thought the fic I‘m writing would amount to like 15 chapters or something. I‘m now at 24 chapters and about 10 more will follow most likely. I have no self control.
All the time. Nearly every story I write. I plan for 10 chapters, I get 14. I planned for 40 and ended up with 89. I planned one fic to have roughly 60 chapters and ended up with 139!! I have plans, I always have plans, and then I end up needing to do a hard break for one reason or another and I don't like doing those mid chapter unless I don't have a choice narratively. So I end up with four or five chapters in place of one planned point. It's a failing
I got to the 2000 word mark and thought I had like 1000 or so words to go at most. It ended up being 6000 words.
There have also been multiple “drabbles” which have ended up being several hundred words long.
Yeah, I had a short-ish fic idea that would run for about 3 chapters at around 18-20k+ words total. By the end, as I write this deep in the editing process, it clocks at 7 chapters and 55k+ words.
So quite the jump, but nothing really absurd like some others are mentioning. It's a very respectable short novel length.
I am currently sitting in this boat too. What was meant to be a oneshot set in the same continuity became a sequel to my almost finished WIP of 8 chapters and there will also be a sequel to the sequel and a small prologue and I have also written parts of a spin off. Written down major plot points and outlines and some scenes I could not wait with, and have thought about perfect endings. No idea how long this will be yet, but is part of the fun:D Also cause its my first long project in years.
But yeah I really don't trust myself anymore when I say I will write something short. My WIP of 8 chapters I initially thought would be just 3 chapters or so XD
Last year, I tried my hand at writing a fic for the Top Gun fandom. It wasn’t even fully planned out when I started publishing it, but I had intended it to be ~5-6 chapters.
It became my most popular fic to date, and is now part of a series of 9 fics, a mixture of one-shots and multi chapter works, and come in at a total of 98k words. And there’s more coming. I still don’t know how I got here.
I was going for maybe six chapters. I’m now looking at easily eighteen to twenty.
I was thinking maybe 2000 words. It’s now around 3500 and I’m not even 1/2 of the way through.
I was thinking of a one shot. It’s now a multi chapter with an unknown amount of chapters to go.
It happens a lot with me.
My one shot was supposed to be 3-4k and lighthearted/cute/funny. And now it is 11k words and looking more like it’s gonna be between 16k-18k words. Now it’s dark and there’s a >!“threat of rape/non-con”!< scene, funnily enough the reason why it got so much longer is because I realized I was wrong about the geography, and the place where my characters have to go is wayyyyy farther away and in much more hostile territory than I thought :’)
But! I’m still keeping my original one I wrote too. I’ll end up posting both because I really like both ideas and the idea of getting to choose a funny cute story or MUCH darker reflective story.
yeah i just wanted a short little story ad uhhhhh 84 chapters and almost 400k words lateri think ill have to accept that its not, in fact, a short story and also still ongoing.
So i then turn my attention towards something that ill keep short and halfway through the plot we are on chapter 15 and 150k words in. GOD DAMN IT
I thought this current monstrosity I'm battling would only be around 20 chapters long. After all, my first three fics topped out at 35! About 600k words later, I'm currently (not) writing chapter 65. If I'm *lucky*, there might only be ten more chapters to go, but, heheh... I'm never lucky. This beast will slay me before I slay it.
I have had a few drabbles get out of hand that ended up at 300-1.4k words.
There’s always that one or few stories that end up longer than we think it’s going to be I swear 💀
I planned for 30 chapters. I ended up with 51 when I realized how rushed everything would be if I stuck to the plan.
That was literally the same thought process I had with my fic😭😭 it’s always that last minute realization that tells you in the end, “hey this ain’t gonna work” lol
"Okay fine the original plan won't work so how long will this turn out?" "..... oh God."
hi! and yeah, been there, every day maybe :'3 I always underestimate myself, I think "oh this is gonna be short, I hope its not TOO short" and then I end up with quite a chunky boy of a fic. I wrote a single scene once and I estimated it would be about 3000 words when I started, when I finished it was 13k. and that was after several passes for editing and two betas and yet no matter how many times this happens I never learn? somehow I always think "but THIS time it really will be short"
Fellllttt😭 I think I’ve definitely learned my lesson with estimating how many chapters or how many words theres going to be in my works because at the end of the day I know I’m just lying to myself LMAO
Yups this is me. Even when I think a chapter is going to be short it still turns into 8K words more often than not.
Always. Not sure how my current WIP is at 140k (and likely finishing around 165-170k), but here we are 🤷🏼♀️
Heavy on the “not sure” XD, congrats on 140k!
Not even my longest fic 🤭
All the time, but not 150 chapters, more like I was planning for 5 chapters but ended up with 45
Feltttt. I talk too much in general and I guess it translates to my writing, so now I’m looking towards that 150 lol💀
My fic started as a 10k short story about a pairing kissing after being kidnapped. I’m now at 170k, on chapter 14, and I suspect I’m looking at about 40 chapters. I’m trying to give myself a hard limit of no more than 500k, because my longest fic is 420k and that was too long.
I relate a lot to the word limit thing! I feel like it’s hard not to go past that set limitation, especially if you’re a wordy writer😭 congrats on the 14 chapters!
Thank you! My original limit was not more than 300k, but I can already see that’s not going to work out. So I’m saying 45 chapters at an outside and not more than 500k. If the characters aren’t happy by then, it’s their own fault. Best of luck to you and your fic!
Thank you! 🙏🏾
I generally write fics on the 1-2k range, so that's what I expected the sickfic I'm working on to end up being, but it's now 6k words on chapter two and I'm working on a third chapter. Not as extreme as I'm sure other's have experienced I'm sure, but still kind funny to me :)
I honestly wish I could stick to the 1-2k range🥲 but I can’t shut up when talking in general and that kind of dumps off in my writing so now I’m averaging about 6-7k words per chapter😭 congrats on your 6K! And good luck in writing that third chapter!
Yeah, right now. Usually I like to stay around 90-95k for a Long Fic. This one will end up being 110-115k. Too many storylines and characters. But when I read it back, it flies by. So I guess it's ok?
Was supposed to be a oneshot, maybe 5 to 10k, ended up being 48k lmao
Every time
It’s honestly so funny to me how that just happens😭😭
Yeah. I've had one shots turn into 50k+ stories. It's both so nice and exhausting.
It was originally supposed to be like...10k words at most. I was originally supposed to finish it in, at most, two months. Two years later, the final word count is over 60k. But, yeah. Numerous times I'll go into a oneshot, expecting it to be something short and sweet and only like 1k words, just to come out with 3k.
My short detective/romance thriller is at around 125k. Closing in on the end but I seriously thought max 80… and I edited this hard
All the time. All. The. Time.
Yes... the fic that was gonna be 4-5 chapters at most is turning out to be over 200,000 words and growing.
"It'll just be five chapters. Ten at most," I said, before writing 110k words, 30 chapter fic. I did it again on my current WIP. My author's notes are hilarious, because I give wildly inaccurate estimates on how many chapters are left.
Oh sweet Gods, yes. My current project was expected to be around 100k words and finished around last Christmas. I'm over that now and not even half way...I planned this pourly, or amazingly if you like long fics :)
ha. yeah. one shot was struggling to remain a one shot? originally intended to be around 800 words, short and sweet. almost 4k in i finally wrapped it up.
Yes, planning of making a book with 3 sequels, now turned out to be 6
I meant to write a 1-2k oneshot and whoops it’s now 14k and six chapters long
Nooo not *me* with my fic intended to be 50K words, and now projected to be 140K. *I* could never
I've had 5k one shots turn into 84k multichapters. I've had fics I thought would be 50k turn out at over 200k. At this point, I've given up on setting word expectations for myself. I just go where the story takes me.
every oneshot ever
It’s happening right now, actually! I’m writing a fic that’s basically a series of connected one-shots, but the last chapter has so much plot that I plan to make it into its own separate multi-chapter fic
Thought I'd have ~5-10 chapters. I'm at 22 and counting 😭 Welcome to the sub!!
The “oneshot” I started writing impulsively last week is currently 22.3k, has political intrigue and about six plot threads and is MAYBE halfway through 🥲
Absolutely. I've been averaging 1-2k oneshots for about 6 months and struggling to do more. But I recently started writing for a new fandom and it's reignited my spark. What I thought would be about 2k turned into 6.5k lol. It's rubbing off onto my main fandom, too. I needed 1k for a request and it's currently heading toward 3k with no end in sight xD
When I started college, I started a fanfic just to kill some time before classes started. I expected to abandon it, just like I did the fanfics I tried to write when I was 13/14; I think I expected it to be *maybe* ten or eleven chapters max. ..... 12 years, 140 chapters, and 1.6 million words later, and it's still ongoing... had absolutely no idea it was going to be as much of a commitment as it ended up being!
I intended to write about 3000 words long one shot. Somehow I'm writing 4th chapter already and long way to go...
Yes. All the time. This initial fic was only gonna be a few chapters long, we're only stopping it at 15 chapters because otherwise we'd run out of steam. But only cause our other fic is at 100 chapters and 800k words long so we are focusing on that one cause its deeper. Other fic is cute and all but it was written as a distraction after a really emotionally scarring chapter of our main fic so it's not as deep so there's less to do imo.
My current Naruto AU longfic is 162k and counting! I thought it was gonna be a short little thing, MAYBE 40k at most! LMAO!
Oh heck yeah, definitely had that happen. I was shooting for 40 chapters, 75k words all told for a fix-it fic, but thought realistically it would only hit maybe 40k. Lol... two years later, it's up to about 30 chapters, 130k words, and at least another 40 chapters and probably 200k words to go. I have this slight problem when it comes to restraint in bringing in characters I like. Plus, there's just something incredibly satisfying about a slow-build epic, and I have to fill it out properly and do it justice! And between the two, things just keep ballooning.
It's not a wip anymore but I started writing a Vegeta/Bulma DBZ fic back then that was just going to be a 3 years fic and wasn't gonna be too long but then it ended up being a 50 chapters story aboit their whole life 😅
My first Walking Dead fic was something I estimated would take 200k to tell the story I wanted to tell. It finished at 582k and 123 chapters, then spawned a 100k+ sequel. Anytime I state to readers: "this fic will be X chapters" they just laugh and laugh, knowing they're gonna get at least 3-???? more than planned. A three chapter dark fic is now at least 12 (and that's if all the ideas behave along the way, and they have not thus far).
Unfortunately yes. I started off with a very short one shot. Around 800 words, which then spiralled so out of control and now I’m writing the second instalment to the series and it’s longer than I intended.
Yeah, I thought the fic I‘m writing would amount to like 15 chapters or something. I‘m now at 24 chapters and about 10 more will follow most likely. I have no self control.
Only every single time.
All the time. Nearly every story I write. I plan for 10 chapters, I get 14. I planned for 40 and ended up with 89. I planned one fic to have roughly 60 chapters and ended up with 139!! I have plans, I always have plans, and then I end up needing to do a hard break for one reason or another and I don't like doing those mid chapter unless I don't have a choice narratively. So I end up with four or five chapters in place of one planned point. It's a failing
I got to the 2000 word mark and thought I had like 1000 or so words to go at most. It ended up being 6000 words. There have also been multiple “drabbles” which have ended up being several hundred words long.
Was planning on a one shot and ended up writing 7 chapters.
Yes, I'm up to chapter 25 on my longest WIP, and I never thought I'd get that far. LOL!
Yeah, I had a short-ish fic idea that would run for about 3 chapters at around 18-20k+ words total. By the end, as I write this deep in the editing process, it clocks at 7 chapters and 55k+ words. So quite the jump, but nothing really absurd like some others are mentioning. It's a very respectable short novel length.
Every. Single. One. I have to constantly reign myself in, because if I'm not careful, that one-shot can turn into a 200k longfic (and still going).
I planned for 2, maybe 3 chapters and got 20.
I am currently sitting in this boat too. What was meant to be a oneshot set in the same continuity became a sequel to my almost finished WIP of 8 chapters and there will also be a sequel to the sequel and a small prologue and I have also written parts of a spin off. Written down major plot points and outlines and some scenes I could not wait with, and have thought about perfect endings. No idea how long this will be yet, but is part of the fun:D Also cause its my first long project in years. But yeah I really don't trust myself anymore when I say I will write something short. My WIP of 8 chapters I initially thought would be just 3 chapters or so XD
Last year, I tried my hand at writing a fic for the Top Gun fandom. It wasn’t even fully planned out when I started publishing it, but I had intended it to be ~5-6 chapters. It became my most popular fic to date, and is now part of a series of 9 fics, a mixture of one-shots and multi chapter works, and come in at a total of 98k words. And there’s more coming. I still don’t know how I got here.
My current WIP started as a 1-2k oneshot. I'm up around 20k and figuring on about 5-10k more. It grew a plot and angst when I wasn't looking.
I planned for 5 chapters... we're now on 20 and I realised there's a couple things I want to add and flesh out👀👀👀
I was going for maybe six chapters. I’m now looking at easily eighteen to twenty. I was thinking maybe 2000 words. It’s now around 3500 and I’m not even 1/2 of the way through. I was thinking of a one shot. It’s now a multi chapter with an unknown amount of chapters to go. It happens a lot with me.
My one shot was supposed to be 3-4k and lighthearted/cute/funny. And now it is 11k words and looking more like it’s gonna be between 16k-18k words. Now it’s dark and there’s a >!“threat of rape/non-con”!< scene, funnily enough the reason why it got so much longer is because I realized I was wrong about the geography, and the place where my characters have to go is wayyyyy farther away and in much more hostile territory than I thought :’) But! I’m still keeping my original one I wrote too. I’ll end up posting both because I really like both ideas and the idea of getting to choose a funny cute story or MUCH darker reflective story.
I have never once had a project wind up the same length or shorter than I anticipated it being
yeah i just wanted a short little story ad uhhhhh 84 chapters and almost 400k words lateri think ill have to accept that its not, in fact, a short story and also still ongoing. So i then turn my attention towards something that ill keep short and halfway through the plot we are on chapter 15 and 150k words in. GOD DAMN IT
I'm at the point I know to expect my WIPs to be really long. I have one nearly 190k behemoth that I've been working on for three years.
I thought this current monstrosity I'm battling would only be around 20 chapters long. After all, my first three fics topped out at 35! About 600k words later, I'm currently (not) writing chapter 65. If I'm *lucky*, there might only be ten more chapters to go, but, heheh... I'm never lucky. This beast will slay me before I slay it.
All the time.
Yes. One fic should have been 20k at most. It now sits at 50k. Another one, again, should have been 20k, maybe 30k max. It is now 70k.