Rewrite some ones story

[AchtungNight]

I want to close by saying that as an avid fanfic writer, I have never sought out to make my takes on other people’s work better than the original. A different story of similar quality is at most my goal. People can appreciate it as they will, glad I have some fans.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Didn't we literally have this conversation a week ago?

 

[Voboy]

The threads get repetitious on this subject, but one has to remember that there's always a steady influx of new members in this forum, who aren't familiar with old threads, and they have the same concerns everybody's always had. So, there's nothing wrong with re-addressing familiar questions for new audiences.

I think your openness to taking in information and responding to it on this issue is probably much appreciated by many authors who've weighed in on the subject.

I don't disagree, except to say that this particular question isn't really a "concern everybody's always had." This particular question is suddenly extremely common on this forum, where it was essentially absent in years past.

Your main point is sound: new users are going to have repetitious questions. But something is driving this interest in "continuing abandoned stories" or "rewriting other writers' stories" way beyond the norm over the past few months.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I know that you have expressed interest in closing the thread and I respect that in regards to derivative work, but this one point applies to any work, original or not so I believe that it is worth discussing.

At this point I am planning on doing a 7k-10k story as my first or breaking the beast up into chapters and post one or two to see what people think.

Sounds like a better idea would be to find a beta reader or two.

If you are posting just to gauge reader reaction, and that reaction makes you want to edit and revise, well you've already posted it. Too late. One should only post when it is ready. If you still have plans for possible edits, it's not ready.

So I would advise that once you have a couple of chapters drafted complete, find someone to read it over and give feedback. Speaking from experience, it can be invaluable.

 

[coreyc]

Yes, I would like to close this thread, I get it.
Basically what people have beaten me over the head with is:
-Don't use anyone else's story
-Don't use anyone else's characters
-Don't use anyone else's world
-Don't use anyone else's story ideas
-come up with something that is 100% original

Noted.

 

[SimonDoom]

Yes, I would like to close this thread, I get it.
Basically what people have beaten me over the head with is:
-Don't use anyone else's story
-Don't use anyone else's characters
-Don't use anyone else's world
-Don't use anyone else's story ideas
-come up with something that is 100% original

Noted.

This isn't what people are telling you. If you are reading it this way then you are not reading the comments carefully enough.

Under basic copyright law principles, you are perfectly free to take the general plot ideas, or world ideas, of another author's story, without being under an obligation of attribution or having the need to get permission. For instance, nobody owns the idea of mom and son getting frisky in the back seat of a car. Nobody owns the mailgirl concept. You should avoid, however, copying another's author's characters, including all their main character traits, their names, the text of their work, the detailed plot points of their work.

For me, personally, a conscientious author should follow the basic contours of copyright law as well as abide by the rules on this subject stated by the owner of the Site. The Site owner has expressly said you should get permission first. That doesn't mean you have to get permission first if you really like the general ideas of the story and you want to create your own story that incorporates those ideas. Just make it your own story.

 

[StillStunned]

I'll give a practical example of what's allowed:

Anthony Hope write an adventure novel called The Prisoner of Zenda. Seventy-five years later, George MacDonald Fraser wrote Royal Flash.

The premise is the same: an English gentleman finds himself in a small European country having to impersonate the new ruler for his coronation while facing off against a gang of professional adventurers.

The difference is that Zenda is a straight-up 19th century adventure novel full of romantic love, dashing villains and noble heroics, while Royal Flash is a Flashman novel, full of sex, cowardice, backstabbing and general sneakiness.

Two very different takes on the same idea, with some very similar characters. Both very good stories in their own right, too.

 

[8letters]

Yes, I would like to close this thread, I get it.
Basically what people have beaten me over the head with is:
-Don't use anyone else's story
-Don't use anyone else's characters
-Don't use anyone else's world
-Don't use anyone else's story ideas
-come up with something that is 100% original

Noted.

Great job, people! Way to make newbies feel welcome!

 

[VerbalAbuse]

Anybody that bothered reading Grimm brothers, noticed that the same story appears again and again.

Sometimes the same fairy tale appeared in dozens of variants in just one country.

If people hadn't retold stories (and reinvented them in the process), there'd be no stories today.

 

[Imstillfun]

I sometimes use other stories as ins for my stories. Usually it’s a scene that really turned me on and I wanted to pass it on.

I write my own story leading to that scene and then put that scene in my own words.

 

[coreyc]

thank you all for the feedback and comments.
I think it's best to stick to being a reader and put down the pen.
With my Dyslexia, trouble finding an editor, and the possibility of writing something someone else did with the 10s of thousands of stories here it's just not worth the effort.

 

[Djmac1031]

thank you all for the feedback and comments.
I think it's best to stick to being a reader and put down the pen.
With my Dyslexia, trouble finding an editor, and the possibility of writing something someone else did with the 10s of thousands of stories here it's just not worth the effort.

You can absolutely write similar themed stories. We all do.

Wanna write a mom / son backseat story? A cheating wife? A first time anal? Go for it.

Just write it your way, that's all.

 

[samhasstories]

thank you all for the feedback and comments.
I think it's best to stick to being a reader and put down the pen.
With my Dyslexia, trouble finding an editor, and the possibility of writing something someone else did with the 10s of thousands of stories here it's just not worth the effort.

You should not be concerned about the possibility of doing something someone else did. We are all influenced by what we've read/watched/heard etc. That informs your imagination and you should embrace it.

I don't think anyone has suggested your stories need to be 100% original. There isn't really such a thing. People just don't want you lifting content directly from their work. Write what you like to read - it can be derivative, it just needs to be yours.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

thank you all for the feedback and comments.
I think it's best to stick to being a reader and put down the pen.
With my Dyslexia, trouble finding an editor, and the possibility of writing something someone else did with the 10s of thousands of stories here it's just not worth the effort.

Everything that could be written, has been. We're just doing our own versions of the same shit. Do that. Simple. Do your own version of that story you wanna finish. There's no reason to finish somebody elses, when you can do that.

 

[StillStunned]

Everything that could be written, has been. We're just doing our own versions of the same shit. Do that. Simple. Do your own version of that story you wanna finish. There's no reason to finish somebody elses, when you can do that.

There's even a book, "The Types of the Folktale" by Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson, that classifies every storyline in literature.

 

[MetaBob]

I have indeed heavily edited several stories that I've particularly enjoyed, mostly because they were written poorly enough that the language distracted from the story. This godawful mess, for example.

I think my versions are much tighter and a much better reading experience. I sometimes go back to them for inspiration.

I would never submit them anywhere, of course, much less submit them as my own work.