I honestly I feel that the length of a topic can be purely dependent on the topic that you choose. If you are writing a technical article, you have no other option than writing a detailed article where you will be able to express whatever is required to explain all the technical details. In that case, the article becomes bigger. If you are planning to write a nontechnical article, that is when you can control the length of the article. This is what I feel.
To think in a different perspective, I would say don't put your heart and soul in your articles in the initial days. You can keep your articles short and to the point. After you get a good set of followers who are actual readers, then it will be ideal to put your heart and soul on writing good quality articles.
yes, I guess you are right about the point of gathering more followers before really putting it all in... but I also think if I am not sincere, will I get the followers in the first place?
Yes that is a valid point. But my point is don't compromise on your quality but you can compromise on length and amount of time you spend on your article.
yes, I want to try and do that... let's see how it works out :)