Like many things in writing there is a disagreement on to when to spell out your numbers.
There is the opinion that everything under 100 should be spelled out, while everything over should be numerical.
The other opinion is that all numbers that are one word should be spelled out, while everything else should be numerical.
With either of these 'rules' or 'guidelines', you need to spell out all the numbers from one to twenty.
So she wasn't a 5'6", blonde, 16 year old. And he wasn't a 6'4", brunet, 18 year old with 8 inch dick that was 2 inches wide. (I know it isn't the greatest example, but almost every story I've run into on here has something like this in the first few paragraphs or before they have sex.)
She was a five-foot-six, sixteen-year-old, blonde and he was a six-foot-four, brunet. At eighteen-years-old he had an eight-inch dick that was two-inches wide.
I prefer the under 100 'rule' and that is the one that I follow. But it would make a lot of writing a lot better to not see random digits in it throughout.
At 25 she ran a 24 hour restaurant and never got enough sleep.
At twenty-five years old, she ran a restaurant that stayed open all night and even holidays. Never getting enough sleep, she had no time to even think about sex. (When you take out the numbers and try to say the same thing in a different way, you often find something better.)
At 12 that night, he met her in the parking lot.
At midnight, they met in the parking lot.
She called his cell 3 times before his lunch break the next day, and when he got home he had 7 messages from her on his answering machine.
She called his cell three times before his lunch break the next day, and when he got home he had seven messages from her on his answering machine.
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Spell Out Your Numbers
Constant Gardener
How do you feel about spelling out fractions, decimals, equations, street addresses, numerical highway designations, flight or train numbers, populations counts, sporting festivities and my favorite - Movie Titles.
Would it be: Rocky Fifteen, for instance?
Would it be: Rocky Fifteen, for instance?
The same GQP demanding we move on from January 6th, 2021 is still doing audits of the November 3rd, 2020 election.
Quote by Josephine
I prefer the under 100 'rule' and that is the one that I follow. But it would make a lot of writing a lot better to not see random digits in it throughout.
At midnight, they met in the parking lot.
She called his cell three times before his lunch break the next day, and when he got home he had seven messages from her on his answering machine.
I agree with the random digits in a story/sentence - not a fan of it. I also don't like to see something like this:
She was a 24 yo with black hair, et al. I am also not a fan of short hand terms in stories either, reminds me of txting.
With regards to Wellmademales comment:
fractions: half, quarter, smidgeon .... those all work without saying 1/2, 1/4, > than 1/16th
decimals: is this a metric question? he only came 1.5 times?
equations: sounds technical - his speed and desire changed the velocity of his eruption by 1/7th power of normal fucking release?
street addresses: unless it's required, why would you .... or as noted above, often a street address under the 100 mark is written out: She resided at Fifty Point Two CumAlong Road
Numerical highways - I think Route 69 is accepted
Flights/Trans/ID #: I think those are also acceptable (Flight #269 arrived at 4:16 pm)
Population counts and sporting festivities: hey, you got me on those ones! (notice, ones, not 1s)
Movie Titles: Kind of goes hand in hand with the naming of Chapters in numeric order; lots of different ways to identify those (Roman Numerals, Legal Subs [not bdsm], etc)
Interesting topic!!
Clumeleon
I mostly write out my numbers because it feels more proper, but there are a few instances of numerals in my writing. An example I looked out: "a 24-pack of [beer]" seemed more natural to me than writing "twenty-four-pack".
I would never stick with any hard and fast rule like 'everything under 100 in words'; I just go with my gut. It could be viewed as a literary technique and depend on how you want it to be read, e.g. I think there's a difference between "she was a hundred and two years old" and "she was 102 years old", if only in the reader's mind.
There are lots of issues to explore here (most of which Jeff pointed out) and, in most cases, there's no right or wrong answer. Sometimes Roman numerals might be appropriate.
A comment on height: 6'2" would be read (by most people) "six foot two". Technically, in written English, one should include the word "inches"; otherwise it doesn't make mathematical sense. I'm wary of this, although it's a minor point.
Direct speech is an area I do have a rule for: always write it out! A person doesn't say, "Let's meet at 2:15." They say, "Let's meet at two fifteen (or quarter past two)." Similarly, they don't say, "There are 2000000 people in this city." (They say "two million".) This is because they are actually saying the words, not the numbers. People might say numbers differently but if there are quotation marks then it's exactly what they said. I could probably even find a few exceptions to this as well, though.
I would never stick with any hard and fast rule like 'everything under 100 in words'; I just go with my gut. It could be viewed as a literary technique and depend on how you want it to be read, e.g. I think there's a difference between "she was a hundred and two years old" and "she was 102 years old", if only in the reader's mind.
There are lots of issues to explore here (most of which Jeff pointed out) and, in most cases, there's no right or wrong answer. Sometimes Roman numerals might be appropriate.
A comment on height: 6'2" would be read (by most people) "six foot two". Technically, in written English, one should include the word "inches"; otherwise it doesn't make mathematical sense. I'm wary of this, although it's a minor point.
Direct speech is an area I do have a rule for: always write it out! A person doesn't say, "Let's meet at 2:15." They say, "Let's meet at two fifteen (or quarter past two)." Similarly, they don't say, "There are 2000000 people in this city." (They say "two million".) This is because they are actually saying the words, not the numbers. People might say numbers differently but if there are quotation marks then it's exactly what they said. I could probably even find a few exceptions to this as well, though.
Active Ink Slinger
Yet again I refer to the Guardian Style Guide
Of course this is a journalistic style and does go against the OUP's style (there's a whole chapter on numbers in the Oxford Manual of Style) which goes for under 100 except when it doesn't
As always though, clarity to the reader is always more important than any hard and fast rules
numbers
Spell out from one to nine; numerals from 10 to 999,999; thereafter use m or bn for sums of money, quantities or inanimate objects in copy, eg £10m, 5bn tonnes of coal, 30m doses of vaccine; but million or billion for people or animals, eg 1 million people, 3 billion rabbits, etc; spell in full at first mention, then tn; in headlines use m, bn or tn
Of course this is a journalistic style and does go against the OUP's style (there's a whole chapter on numbers in the Oxford Manual of Style) which goes for under 100 except when it doesn't
As always though, clarity to the reader is always more important than any hard and fast rules
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Why not read some stories instead
NEW! Want a quick read for your coffee break? Why not try this... Flash Erotica: Scrubber
Why not read some stories instead
NEW! Want a quick read for your coffee break? Why not try this... Flash Erotica: Scrubber
Her Royal Spriteness
for addresses, phone numbers and such, i use numbers. if i'm describing a scene and the number is small, i spell it out, and if there's a lot of numbers involved, i try not to be specific so i can spell that out too (There were four guys looking for the house at 4884 Elvis Boulevard. Four among thousands hoping to get tickets for the big event.)
You can’t truly call yourself peaceful unless you are capable of violence. If you’re not capable of violence, you’re not peaceful. You’re harmless.
Active Ink Slinger
Lots of good points. 
For me, I agree that most numbers should be spelled out. My mind just skips over the typical lists of stats presented in a large portion of the stories here as an uninteresting read and moves on to the proper meat of the story... Which there generally isn't. There are exceptions, of course, but it's my experience that people who put a paragraph of numbers to describe their characters typically lack the ability to create anything thrilling.
I have to go with clum on this one: gut feeling plays alot in nicely built writing, including numbers.
One thing I like to do, though, is use numbers for addresses, dosages, and other things we typically see regularly as numbers. It triggers those parts of the brain used for that type of thing, and brings the reader one step closer to picturing the real thing. Some things we remember as numbers, and accessing those memories in people creates a more rounded picture of what they're reading, in my opinion.
For me, I agree that most numbers should be spelled out. My mind just skips over the typical lists of stats presented in a large portion of the stories here as an uninteresting read and moves on to the proper meat of the story... Which there generally isn't. There are exceptions, of course, but it's my experience that people who put a paragraph of numbers to describe their characters typically lack the ability to create anything thrilling.
I have to go with clum on this one: gut feeling plays alot in nicely built writing, including numbers.
One thing I like to do, though, is use numbers for addresses, dosages, and other things we typically see regularly as numbers. It triggers those parts of the brain used for that type of thing, and brings the reader one step closer to picturing the real thing. Some things we remember as numbers, and accessing those memories in people creates a more rounded picture of what they're reading, in my opinion.
Quote by WellMadeMale
How do you feel about spelling out fractions, decimals, equations, street addresses, numerical highway designations, flight or train numbers, populations counts, sporting festivities and my favorite - Movie Titles.
Would it be: Rocky Fifteen, for instance?
No, it wouldn't be. But why would you put a lot of that in a story anyway? I guess a good way would be if you can't find a better way to say it without the numbers than it probably needs to be a number. If you are talking about math then you would want numbers.
As someone else said. If you are saying something, then write it the way you would say it.
If you have your character reading an address off a house, then it would be in numbers (I think.)
I agree with those who said go with your gut, unless your gut tells you to never to spell them out that is.