There didn't seem like an appropriate place to ask this question, and this seemed like the best place to ask, so I hope I'm not out of bounds by asking it here.

The guidelines for story submissions state that the minimum story length for submissions is 10,000 characters. I'm currently in the process of writing a story which I'll probably submit to this site. So far, it contains two parts, one of which is over 10,000 characters by a substantial amount, and the other is just under. I haven't yet completed my final edits so far, so it is possible that the second part might be over 10,000 characters when I finish with it. I don't know how many parts my story will contain altogether, though I'm certain by the time I finish writing it, there will be at least three parts. (The story probably has more pull than that, but I haven't written the third part yet, so I can't say for certain.)

So my questions are these: How rigid is that particular guideline for story submissions? Does it apply to stories in their entirety, or only in parts? I don't think it would make sense to actually combine these two (or however many I wind up with) parts as there is a separation in time between each section of the story. Otherwise I would just combine them all and not worry about it, but I think it makes more sense to keep them separate. (I reserve the right to change my mind on that later, though. )

Any clarifications would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!