I have had to cut back severely on reading, but even when I did... 5k was an upper limit for me to read. If it was longer than that, but posted in chapters, I could get by reading a chapter at a time. My reading time is post-work, and I have learned the hard way that I do not give the attention and respect the stories deserve, often only clicking Kudos. So I save my reading "spoons" for exchanges mostly.
Writing? I prefer the 1k minimum for exchanges. I find exchanges that have moved to the 500 minimum but give you 3-4 months to write lead to either a lot of last minute pinch hits (oh I can knock that out closer to the deadline/oh no I forgot about it) or a so-so performance in readers from outside the exchange participants. Granted, this is just a casual observation from those metrics that are visible on those exchange fics.
As to my personal preference for writing? The length needed to tell the story. I love popping drabbles and ficlets off for small concepts, missing scenes, character introspection. But I have had a number of fully plotted fics in recent years (not your fandom, BK, unfortunately) that have been novella and even novel length.
no subject
Writing? I prefer the 1k minimum for exchanges. I find exchanges that have moved to the 500 minimum but give you 3-4 months to write lead to either a lot of last minute pinch hits (oh I can knock that out closer to the deadline/oh no I forgot about it) or a so-so performance in readers from outside the exchange participants. Granted, this is just a casual observation from those metrics that are visible on those exchange fics.
As to my personal preference for writing? The length needed to tell the story. I love popping drabbles and ficlets off for small concepts, missing scenes, character introspection. But I have had a number of fully plotted fics in recent years (not your fandom, BK, unfortunately) that have been novella and even novel length.