Approached about writing your characters?

[Rob_Royale]

As loath as I am to kick this particular hornet's next, I'm left wondering something. Based on the frequency with which we see the "abandoned stories" questions brought up here, how many of you, especially the Lit veterans, have actually been approached by someone who wants to continue your character's adventures in their stories?

 

[EmilyMiller]

Me - but only by @Djmac1031 and @EStaccato - and it’s reciprocal and consensual. The writing that is .

Emily

 

[ElectricBlue]

Several times.

Once, after I asked Stickygirl for some advice about transgender women for a story, which ended up with her falling in love with my character. She asked if she could write her into a story of her own, and we later wrote two collaborations together.

Jason Clearwater and I wrote one and a half collaborations, where we wrote existing characters coming together. He wrote a Valentine's story with the same characters.

LoquiSordidaAdMe and i wrote a collaboration with pre-existing characters getting together.

Never a random writer though - in each of those cases, we had long-standing friendships already, plus they were either jointly written or we gave each other edit powers - no, my character would never say or do that.

This current notion bouncing around that, "I should feel it a massive privilege if someone wanted to continue my story," gets the biggest no from me.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I don't recall ever being asked for permission to use my characters.

One of my stories has a detailed description of a handmade dress, and another author asked for permission to use that dress as a gallery exhibit in one of their stories (with appropriate attribution). Another author was writing a story where the minor characters were named after AH posters, and asked permission to use my name. In both cases I said yes.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

One of my stories has a detailed description of a handmade dress, and another author asked for permission to use that dress as a gallery exhibit in one of their stories (with appropriate attribution).

Ooh, which story of yours and which of theirs? I love this kind of intertextuality.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Ooh, which story of yours and which of theirs? I love this kind of intertextuality.

Songs of Seduction - Silk and Skin is the story featuring Bramble's red dress.

Coincidentally, that's the story I mention above, with @stickygirl . She then went on to write Under Your Skin, and we wrote Transgendence together. And Their Summer in France.

 

[AchtungNight]

Never been asked. If I ever do get asked, I will ask the requester what they have planned and make sure it matches my canon. If it does, I’ll probably allow it, but if not you believe I’ll lecture them chapter and verse about their misconceptions. I know my characters’ personalities and kinks very well, probably better than any reader. The real people on whom I sometimes base my characters surprise me sometimes, but I can usually incorporate that too. What will really bother me is if I’m ever asked to reconcile the two somehow in some particular way. But it hasn’t happened yet.

 

[YDB95]

Never been asked. I have of course been asked for new stories with existing characters, but they always want me to write them.
Which of course is fair...

 

[Omenainen]

Never been asked.

From the other side, I do emphasize with reader frustration about unfinished series. I used to read chaptered stories, but after being let down a few times I learned to go check the comments of the last chapter, and if there is a bunch of “more!” and “so stupid that this was never completed!” I won’t even start reading.

 

[MyBareTorso]

Nah, but I haven't been around that long, just a few years. I don't think I'd be into it though, to be honest...but I would be incredibly flattered, that's for certain...

 

[mrs_mackenzie]

This current notion bouncing around that, "I should feel it a massive privilege if someone wanted to continue my story," gets the biggest no from me.

I couldn't agree more. I can understand why someone might feel like that, but I wouldn't be happy about hearing it. Just be content with what I've decided for the story and ending, please...

But I don't have any unfinished series and I can see why people would feel differently about those.

 

[Stimtheone]

Hm, nothing here yet. Though only if one was to speak about my Lit stuff. I had a guy try to write while involving one of my characters and it was a bit off. I finally recommended he just exclude them and make his own.

 

[KeithD]

Not me.

 

[karina_jayde]

I've gotten a couple requests along these lines from people over the years regarding my Duchess of Lust stories. People had some pretty wild ideas for what should have happened with the main character (to include basically becoming a rape victim), but I always said no.

 

[AG31]

Long enough ago that I don't remember the story in question, I was asked for permission to expand on one of my stories. I happily gave permission, on condition that I get to see the results. But nothing ever came of it that I know about. This might have happened twice. I can't be sure.

 

[AlexBailey]

Someone asked if they could draw a scene with some of my characters. I said yes but they never got back to me.

 

[AwkwardMD]

Many times, in a variety of capacities. The most notable is that my Portland series shares continuity with a web of other popular lesbian series. I do not know how far the web goes.

 

[Zootonius]

As loath as I am to kick this particular hornet's next, I'm left wondering something. Based on the frequency with which we see the "abandoned stories" questions brought up here, how many of you, especially the Lit veterans, have actually been approached by someone who wants to continue your character's adventures in their stories?

Yes, actually. I posted it a while back. I had two secondary characters that made an appearance in one chapter in His Professor Aunt. Someone asked if they could branch their story.

 

[Djmac1031]

Me - but only by @Djmac1031 and @EStaccato - and it’s reciprocal and consensual. The writing that is .

Emily

Well, to clarify, our mutual collaborations weren't about abandoned or unfinished series. The Devil And Angel Em sprung from a joke that turned into an actual story based, not on any one of your stories, but a new character, "Sister Emily," who was an amalgam of your "Emily" character.

From there our mutual Angels And Demons sagas have grown and we've continued our own individual storylines but also found fun ways to connect them and swap characters around.

And of course there's been constant communication during the process, especially when one of us is writing the other's character, to make sure we're both in agreement.

It's not like either of us just said "yeah go ahead and write about Character X / continue Story Y, I'm done with it and don't care how you continue it."

 

[EmilyMiller]

Well, to clarify, our mutual collaborations weren't about abandoned or unfinished series. The Devil And Angel Em sprung from a joke that turned into an actual story based, not on any one of your stories, but a new character, "Sister Emily," who was an amalgam of your "Emily" character.

From there our mutual Angels And Demons sagas have grown and we've continued our own individual storylines but also found fun ways to connect them and swap characters around.

And of course there's been constant communication during the process, especially when one of us is writing the other's character, to make sure we're both in agreement.

It's not like either of us just said "yeah go ahead and write about Character X / continue Story Y, I'm done with it and don't care how you continue it."

Doesn’t reciprocal and consensual kinda cover that? I’m trying to be less loquacious, prolix and elliptical.

Emily

 

[Djmac1031]

Doesn’t reciprocal and consensual kinda cover that? I’m trying to be less loquacious, prolix and elliptical.

Emily

I was just specifying the difference between what we've done and the original question, which was about someone asking another author's permission to continue that author's story or series.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I was just specifying the difference between what we've done and the original question, which was about someone asking another author's permission to continue that author's story or series.

I was going off of…

Approached about writing your characters?​

 

[Djmac1031]

I was going off of…

Approached about writing your characters?​

Gotcha. I'll stop mansplaining now

 

[EmilyMiller]

I was going off of…

Approached about writing your characters?​

I have a short attention… what were we taking about?

Emily the Goldfish

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Never on anything original I've wrote. Once for a fan fic I've wrote.