Longer works are an investment of time, creating a ribbon of thought to wrap the gift of reading it.

Shorter works are but a taste of a tale, leaving the rest of it to the imagination of the reader.

I love both of them, and I'll never completely say one is better than the other, since they are so different and satisfying.

Like an apple and a perfectly machined piece for an engine, they both hold a spot in my heart for their beauty and scent.

Controversy looms. But still I have to get my tuppence worth as opinions are everywhere and you can't walk about for falling over them.

Long posts or short posts - hmm, which is best? Okay, I've come across lengthy, interesting pieces that are worth a read and they get three likes, and I've seen plenty of those 'describe the entire universe in one syllable" challenges that get 20+ likes, so on that basis I could argue that the shorter pieces win purely by virtue they get the most likes.

But not every time, not consistently so.

Take this piece I'm writing now, I know I could fill twenty pages on the subject and maybe two or three avid followers might read through to the finish and like it.

Or I could blah blah.

I think in all honesty it doesn't matter a jot. If I've got the bit between my teeth I can spew reams of stuff, or I can write a Haiku, who cares?

For a start it has to hold the readers attention, and if it doesn't is that the fault of the reader?

Simply because this is a community devoted to writing doesn't mean every piece must be War and Peace, it's up to everyone to enjoy Prose as however they do so, and that is the way of things, and I'm happy with that.

So my final definitive reply to this challenge is.....it really does not matter, not one bit.

Prose is growing in popularity because it is the way that it is, people like it that way, and so do I.

After all, if Prose existed solely for 'serious' followers of the word and only accepted posts containing 1000 words plus, the feed would be empty, and our membership would shrivel to a gnats bollock!

If you'll pardon the expression.