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How long does it take you to read 1000 words?

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Matriarch
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Time it and post please!

Anna had only been living with Lincoln for three months, one week and five days when he walked in on her masturbating. He’d originally left with an overnight bag swinging from his clenched fist and a casual comment thrown over his shoulder to let her know he was spending the weekend at a friend’s place.

Ten minutes after he walked out the door she stripped down to her tank top and panties, feeling an urgent need to relieve some of the tension that being around him regularly caused.

Everything about Lincoln made him the perfect housemate, except for the fact that he was gorgeous. That had proven to be a distraction. His eyes and hair were the colour of rich espresso and his addiction to running, combined with his job as a personal trainer, helped maintain a long lean body. The playful way he had about him, from his sense of humour to his relaxed personality, unfortunately pushed all the right buttons. Often.

She’d removed her bra and sat cross-legged on the couch with a Channing Tatum movie playing on TV for inspiration. Just as she really started getting into it—one hand inside her panties and the other cupping the breast she’d tugged her top down to expose—Lincoln barged into the apartment rambling about having forgotten something.

He stopped mid-sentence and stared. His mouth opened and closed. Shocked amusement filled his eyes.

Anna recovered first and screamed, “Oh my God, Oh, my God! Get out! Close your eyes! Stay there! Shit. Just GO!” She scrambled to yank up her top and clamped her legs together, throwing the remote at him as a distraction while she sprinted from the room.

Embarrassment swept over her again at the memory and she wondered for about the hundredth time whether she’d ever get over it. Luckily she hadn’t been calling out his name at the time. If he’d turned up thirty seconds later it would have been a different story.

She sipped from her can of Pepsi and stirred the brown rice bubbling in the pot on the stove. It was already after seven. He’d be home any minute now.

Her exhibitionist moment had become that elephant in the room no one dared speak about but it was only a matter of time before he cracked and brought up the subject. Since returning from his weekend away three days ago the amused glances he kept sending her way confirmed her hunch; the only reason he held back from talking about it was because it made her uncomfortable. This whole situation had become far too entertaining—for him, at least.

Anna heard the front door open and close. He usually headed down the hall to deposit his work gear in his bedroom before he came looking for her. She took the pot of rice over to the island bench to drain while she waited for him to appear.

Moments later he entered the kitchen, sending her a grin while he strolled across the tiled floor barefoot. She knew—she just knew every time he looked at her now he pictured that scene all over again. “Hey,” he said. He wore black athletic shorts and a sleeveless red top that revealed his muscled arms.

“Hi.” Anna smiled and met his eyes briefly. “Dinner’s almost ready if you want to set the table.”

His hair gleamed under the lights. He always looked so healthy and full of life while she was on the skinny side of slim with mostly unremarkable features. Her only saving graces were a plump mouth that according to her last boyfriend looked obscene when she wore red lipstick and a pair of breasts that were a little too big for her frame.

Her job as a columnist for a teen magazine meant she sometimes worked from home so she’d thrown on an old grey t-shirt and navy yoga pants this morning. Her feet were bare and her dark-framed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose. A tortoiseshell clip just barely held her messy blonde bun together at the back of her head.

She left the drained colander in the sink, switched off the burner under the stir fry and went about serving up dinner.

When they were both sitting in the dining room beside the floor-to-ceiling window that showcased the twinkling lights of the city, Anna speared a piece of chicken and shoved it into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed, then quickly replaced it with another to avoid having to talk to him.

She wished things could return to normal between them, that they could go back to sharing their flirty banter and having fun together. They’d clicked from the moment they met. Now it was just awkward and the fault lay entirely with her. He hadn’t changed a bit. Her eyes remained directed at her plate. It was only when Lincoln let out a snort of amusement that she raised her head.

“It’s natural, you know,” he said. His gaze roamed her face, taking everything in. “To want to do it, I mean. Everyone does it.”

Anna closed her eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it, Lincoln.”

“I know.”

She opened her eyes and forced herself to look at him. “Then why are you bringing it up?”

“We need to talk about it.” He balanced his fork on the edge of his plate. “This is serious. The tension around here’s putting me off my food.”

Although it didn’t help at all she still appreciated his attempt to bring humour into the conversation. “Can’t we just pretend it never happened?” she said.

“Anna, it did happen and it’s not a big deal. You’re just turning it into one.”

Her eyes widened. “That’s easy for you to say. How would you feel if I walked in on you…pleasuring yourself?”

“I don’t know because it’s never happened to me. I always go somewhere private to…pleasure myself.” She heard the humour in his tone. “I’ve never set up camp on the Continue reading ->
Matriarch
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Mine was 2:57.

I'm asking because it would be good to know, on average, how long it takes readers to get through a typical story here.
Lurker
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Took me a little over a minute, then again, I'd already read it before.
Lurker
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A little under Three Minutes to read it properly... (And it needs an edit!!!) Laughs!

xx Steph
Active Ink Slinger
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1min 22 sec. But, I have just started to learn speed reading techniques.
Matriarch
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Yes, I can skim it a lot faster, but taking care to read and take in each word, that's a totally different matter.

So, if you encounter a 10K word story, it's likely to take about half an hour. As an eBook, that would be perfectly acceptable, in this online format though, I wonder how many people actually get through a story that long.
Alpha Blonde
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3:03 for me and that's still going at a brisk but thorough pace. I could slow down and really savour it and it would take a little longer.
Head Nurse
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Quote by one_winged_angel
Took me a little over a minute, then again, I'd already read it before.


This...
Purveyor of Poetry & Porn
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It took me a bit over five minutes...and I've always been aware I'm a bit of a slow reader, I can see that's the longest time posted so far...and I always read every word in a story btw...

That seems about right for me...I have one audio story posted here, it's an 1800 word story and the audio is almost exactly ten minutes long...

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Candy Connoisseur
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It took me right on 5mins. I read the same way I would if I was reading to someone. Nic, if you tried to read that to me at that speed, my head would explode tying to keep up and actually understand what you are saying lol..
Matriarch
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I know what you mean Darren.

@ Dm - yes, reading out loud generally adds around 40%-50% to the time taken.

I can speed read the above in around a minute and a half, but take in almost none of the emotion or meaning of the words. Tony Buzan has a lot to answer for, I read one of his books over 20 years ago. Took me 3 mins to read

I prefer to savour a good story. I don't want them to end, so I slow right down.
Active Ink Slinger
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2.25 but I had read this before. If it was something that I hadn't read I would be slower..perhaps another minute or two
Active Ink Slinger
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Keep losing my place. can this be found in LARGE PRINT? (-:
Lurker
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i am a slow reader. takes me nearly 5 minutes.
Lurker
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Interesting to learn how others read. Personally, if I like the rhythm of the sentences and they implant clear pictures in my mind, I couldn't care how long it takes to read something. It's pleasure. I will linger and re-read. If I don't feel the music, though, it wouldn't matter how much time I'm given, I can't get beyond a paragraph.

I wonder if learning speed reading would help me plow through?

Does no-one else have difficulty reading sentences they do not like?
Scarlet Seductress
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2:35, but it was that good I went and read the whole thing.
Good god that is a fantastic story!
Took considerably longer to savour.
Clumeleon
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4:02.

I kept getting distracted by the television and looking at the stopwatch, right enough so I maybe could have shaved 20–30 seconds off.
Active Ink Slinger
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Still looking for the large print edition. (-:

Oberon, what messes me up ,, coming across; Words in the wrong tense / tenths, ( Masturbate-Past -instead of Masturbating present ) Or / ore those words that have bin / been incorrectly chosen

So yes I also have troubles reading a poorly constructed sentences..If the story is not to my liking I will stop reading it before long.. If the story contains poor grammar, Its set aside almost instantly..
Velvet-Voiced Titillator
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It took me just over 4 minutes 20 to read it. I read it all properly and made sure I didn't skip over bits, had to re-read a few lines. It's getting late and my eyes are tired so I think with a fresh head I could do it about a minute quicker.
Matriarch
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For those requiring a larger font size, holding down the CTRL button, and twiddling your mouse wheel, will generally increase the size of the web page, in any browser.
Divine Rapscallion
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I got confused and pressed the "continue reading" link before I realized we were only supposed to time how long it took to read what was in the post, not the entire story. Luckily, I stopped the timer because I didn't know how long it would take the rest of the story to load.

And after that long prelude, the answer is...

2:37

It was my first time reading the story, and I wasn't skimming, but neither was I lingering over it.
Maggie R
Moderator
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I can't really play this game because I already know the story. If I'm really into a story it takes me a bit longer to read because I prefer to draw it out. Sometimes if I come across a good line I stop and go back to re-read it just so I can enjoy it again.
Clumeleon
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Quote by nicola
For those requiring a larger font size, holding down the CTRL button, and twiddling your mouse wheel, will generally increase the size of the web page, in any browser.


On a Mac, hold CMD and press +. This will enlarge font size in the browser without zooming in your whole screen.
Active Ink Slinger
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It took me 3 min 9 sec the first time. I read it again and it took me 2 min 57 sec. A 1000 words can take me more or less depending on how much I am enjoying it. And if I am enjoying it a lot I may be doing something else to slow me down! LOL
Constant Gardener
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Quote by nicola
For those requiring a larger font size, holding down the CTRL button, and twiddling your mouse wheel, will generally increase the size of the web page, in any browser.


Sometimes I think you must've worked at a Windows-centric help desk @ some point early in your career.
The same GQP demanding we move on from January 6th, 2021 is still doing audits of the November 3rd, 2020 election.
Active Ink Slinger
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3 mins and was entertained.
Active Ink Slinger
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3:00

www.szadvntures.com

Latest story:

  • TBD

  • Bump in the Night-Microfiction

  • Smoke Break-Interracial

Matriarch
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Quote by WellMadeMale


Sometimes I think you must've worked at a Windows-centric help desk @ some point early in your career.




(actually, it was a former mod here who posted that tip years ago. I think you're right, he did work in that field)
Active Ink Slinger
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Two days...

I keep getting hung up on the counting and reading.
I am not that good a multi-tasker!
I don't have a stopwatch and when I get to my toes when I'm counting, I stop reading!


I haven't gotten past "Anna" yet. I'm so ashamed.