Or "When should I do one and not the other?"

Or "What will work for the piece I'm writing?"

"In a standalone you can only say as much as you NEED to say, in a chaptered story you can expand to as much as you WANT to say". (Thanks to TheMaidenInBlack for that!)

Disclaimer: It's actually not that simple, but as a starting point, it works!

Basically, this article will go over the pros and cons of writing a stand-alone piece and a chapter story. I hope this article helps you make the right choice!

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Chapter Prose

Pros:

• Ability to explore the story/setting/characters in-depth.
• It's basically a novel or novella if it gets long enough.
• Immersive in nature, meaning your reader will be sucked into a fleshed-out world!
• Plot. You're able to develop and sustain a longer plot.
• There is a wider possibility of events and/or you can create a longer chain of events.
• Details! Too much or too little can be bad. You need to find balance.
• Easier to have more than one narrative arc or character arc.

Cons:

• It takes longer to read and/or write.
• If you're not careful you might be unable to finish. Stamina in writing can be difficult, if you have trouble finishing things you start you need to reevaluate!
• You might end up with a story that is too long! Pace is important, no one wants to read about Character X's adventures in cooking if the story is about him finding the one ring and throwing it into...Oh. You get the point.
• Details! Too much or too little can be bad. You need to find balance.
• Difficulty keeping facts straights. Consistency is very important in longer works!
• Redundancy. You may get repetitive with words, phrases, actions, etc.
• "Impending sense that something is going to go wrong at any moment."

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Stand-Alone Prose

Pros:

• Short and to the point (no fluff).
• Self-reliant, meaning it doesn't need the world explained in depth. For example, you have Character X which is a special kind of creature, but it's not that important to the story to know about the history of the creature.
• Easier to keep track of the plot / plot is shorter.
• The piece is (but not always) easier to read and/or write because of length.

Cons:

• Pacing may be hard to accomplish, you may move things too fast or too slow. You might even need to extend the work further.
• There will be less character/plot/setting development because of the length. Remember you're only putting what you NEED in the piece.
• Finding balance between details is troublesome for some writers, be careful!
• Plot may be half-formed or not formed enough.
• There is a limited scope of events and/or knowledge of events because of length.

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Questions to ask yourself:

• Have I made an outline/plan for this story?




• What exactly is my plot? Do I need a lot of space to put everything in order?




• Are all these events really necessary?




• How many themes do you want to explore, do you know what they are, and how they tie together? (This is a good indicator of the ideal length of your story.)




• How detailed do I want to get?




• Do I need to write the "extra" stuff or would the piece be stronger without it?