what is the rule on finishing a story from somewhere else?

JaxRhapsody

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I believe it is on asstr, it's old and unfinished. Ive considered taking it on myself to do so because it is pretty good. Or would it be best to either rewrite or just not post it here if I did? I know it's against tos to post work not yoirs- what about a link to it?
 
I believe it is on asstr, it's old and unfinished. Ive considered taking it on myself to do so because it is pretty good. Or would it be best to either rewrite or just not post it here if I did? I know it's against tos to post work not yoirs- what about a link to it?

Personally for me if I could not somehow get in touch with the author and get permission I wouldn't touch it.

At some point on lit or asstr someone is going to recognize it and you are going to get a rash of shit.

Its happened here and there have been other threads and the OP usually does not get treated well on the topic.

Simply not worth it

But that is my opinion.
 
I'd second that. It seems to be an unspoken rule that if you revive an abandoned series, you have spoken to the original author and got an okay to do so.

I understand the desire to finish the story. If it's well-written and you really connect with the characters, so much that you almost feel like they could be real, you want to see what happens to them. If you're creative, you imagine all sorts of adventures for them.

The one time I've done this, I made sure it was okay with the original author. (If a plug for another site is okay here, it was Dragavan's Teachers Lounge stories on his Central U site. If that's not okay, forget I mentioned it.)

There are two other unfinished story series that I was really attracted to. The first one is a classic, but was left unfinished due to some major changes in the author's life. He recently posted about this online and said if someone wanted to finish it along certain lines, they're welcome to. I have a good outline of a story arc, but before I posted anything I'd run it by him first.

The other is a really fun series that is still being updated. The author said she's thinking of ending the series unless someone sends her some story ideas. I've contacted her & have a fairly detailed story mapped out, but I'd rather have her write the story based on my outline. I'm still waiting to hear back from her.

Anyway, the first step would be to try to track down the author and see if he or she is okay with you taking on the story.
 
That is all I needed to know, the story is so old, I won't bother with it.
 
personally I am perplexed at the advice given above. No one bats an eye when someone, say, writes erotica about Star Wars or any number of other "mainstream" stories. Surely permission was neither asked for or given in those cases. So why would some random forgotten story on the internets be any different? Just clearly cite it and go.
 
personally I am perplexed at the advice given above. No one bats an eye when someone, say, writes erotica about Star Wars or any number of other "mainstream" stories. Surely permission was neither asked for or given in those cases. So why would some random forgotten story on the internets be any different? Just clearly cite it and go.
I am currently adapting some raunchy old (early 1970s) underground comix stories that I think will do well here. I won't ask permission but I *will* cite, in detail. If anything, the citations may drive some readers to search out the original publications, and other works by the original authors.

I treat these stories as I would any old tales. from ASSTR or other sources, finished or not, that I might want to adapt. That is, NO PLAGIARISM. Total rewrite. Use NONE of the original text. Steal the ideas, sure. Shakespeare rewrote old plots. The whole drama and screenwriting business runs on pilfered plots. We all breed our plot bunnies differently. Lift the ideas, cook them up nice, and go!
 
personally I am perplexed at the advice given above. No one bats an eye when someone, say, writes erotica about Star Wars or any number of other "mainstream" stories. Surely permission was neither asked for or given in those cases. So why would some random forgotten story on the internets be any different? Just clearly cite it and go.

It's not that you "can't" the only warning I gave is that the fans of the original work may end up bombing him and leaving nasty comments that he is stealing from someone else.

Should they? Honestly, I find that hard to say, but whether they should or shouldn't they will and we all know the trolls need little to crank them up.

As for mainstream yes there is a huge fanfic crowd out there. I doubt they ask permission my vague understanding is its okay as long as you're not making money from it.
 
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