Quote:
Originally Posted by rjwse@aol.com
I went to school in Waco. One of the city's claim to fame was Madison Cooper who had written The World's Longest Novel, "Sironia, Texas." It turns out it was actually not the longest, that in the 19th century it was common to have triple-decker stories, books so long that it was expedient to bind them into 3 covers. Star Wars has turned into endless blather, so has Star Trek and Dune. When you encounter a good thing it is natural to want more. And what happens? The good original story gets watered down, diluted, eventually destroyed. I think a good story finds its own length. If well-written and self-encompassing, that could mean extra-short to extra-long. When you finish it, guess what? You want more and don't want it to end, but if you do get more, guess what? It's too long and ruined.
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The same considerations should make authors wary about sequels. I would only write one if I were sure that it could at least hold its own next to the original.