Finishing off a dead story

[FieryConnection]

So was wondering what if any rules there are for adding to and finishing off a dead story that wasn't completed thats almost 10 yrs old.

Have some great ideas but wasn't sure if it was allowed??

 

[TheWritingGroup]

It's allowed only if you get permission from the original author, which is usually not possible--but sometimes it is, many authors here are very generous.

You could write a story "inspired by" the originals, but don't use the characters or situations the other person made. Don't copy, basically.

-Annie

 

[StillStunned]

Nothing's to stop you from writing it for your own enjoyment but, like Annie said, to publish it here you need the original author's permission. And if they haven't continued the story in 10 years, well, chances are they're not around anymore.

Besides that, it's generally - though not universally - frowned up in the writing community. People consider it stealing the original author's ideas, characters and setting - basically their hard work creating the world and the story.

And the original author might come back and finish the story after all. There are some writers here who have written sequels to their stories a decade or more later. Sometimes real life gets in the way, sometimes they work on other projects, sometimes they just don't have any inspiration. Look at some of the big established writers: Stephen King, Harper Lee, George RR Martin.

So do your best to contact the author, but if you can't get explicit permission, either write the story and don't publish it, or else do as Annie suggests and write an "inspired by" version - but then be sure to credit the original.

 

[FieryConnection]

Nothing's to stop you from writing it for your own enjoyment but, like Annie said, to publish it here you need the original author's permission. And if they haven't continued the story in 10 years, well, chances are they're not around anymore.

Besides that, it's generally - though not universally - frowned up in the writing community. People consider it stealing the original author's ideas, characters and setting - basically their hard work creating the world and the story.

And the original author might come back and finish the story after all. There are some writers here who have written sequels to their stories a decade or more later. Sometimes real life gets in the way, sometimes they work on other projects, sometimes they just don't have any inspiration. Look at some of the big established writers: Stephen King, Harper Lee, George RR Martin.

So do your best to contact the author, but if you can't get explicit permission, either write the story and don't publish it, or else do as Annie suggests and write an "inspired by" version - but then be sure to credit the original.

Thanks for the info. Wasn't sure the of the rules or proper way of going. So appreciate the time you took to let me know.

 

[FieryConnection]

It's allowed only if you get permission from the original author, which is usually not possible--but sometimes it is, many authors here are very generous.

You could write a story "inspired by" the originals, but don't use the characters or situations the other person made. Don't copy, basically.

-Annie

Thanks Annie for taking the time to let me know.

 

[WatchingCloud]

Yeah, definitely agree with the sentiment to leave it. I've got a 14 year old story on here that's still generating requests for a sequel...and I'm still dabbling with finding the right one. I'd be very displeased to see someone mucking with my story without permission.

 

[Husky_Embrace]

It's allowed only if you get permission from the original author, which is usually not possible--but sometimes it is, many authors here are very generous.

You could write a story "inspired by" the originals, but don't use the characters or situations the other person made. Don't copy, basically.

-Annie

I'm truly curious if this is the case. I understand the story thus far is copyright. Anything beyond that, if well annotated that the original is *here* written by *author*, and that the 'finishing' of the story is their own idea how to give it closure, isn't that ok? Like a fan fiction that builds on the preceding narrative?

You might well be right, but I'm still seeing options that it isn't infringement on the original author. Then again I'm not educated in the copyright field.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

You might well be right, but I'm still seeing options that it isn't infringement on the original author. Then again I'm not educated in the copyright field.

That's totally fixable.

I was also including this site's rules. I had a story sent back because Laurel thought it was an unauthorized sequel, and I had to explain to her that what I had written in the Author Note was actually that I was playing with the same ideas as another author, not copying his characters or words.

-Annie

 

[ElectricBlue]

I'm truly curious if this is the case. I understand the story thus far is copyright. Anything beyond that, if well annotated that the original is *here* written by *author*, and that the 'finishing' of the story is their own idea how to give it closure, isn't that ok? Like a fan fiction that builds on the preceding narrative?

You might well be right, but I'm still seeing options that it isn't infringement on the original author. Then again I'm not educated in the copyright field.

It's not only the legal copyright issue, it's also the ethics of using someone else's content without their permission. Some writers don't seem to care what happens with their story, others care intensely. You can never know what the original author's position is without asking.

I always say, write your own story - just like there other writer did.

 

[StillStunned]

I'm truly curious if this is the case. I understand the story thus far is copyright. Anything beyond that, if well annotated that the original is *here* written by *author*, and that the 'finishing' of the story is their own idea how to give it closure, isn't that ok? Like a fan fiction that builds on the preceding narrative?

You might well be right, but I'm still seeing options that it isn't infringement on the original author. Then again I'm not educated in the copyright field.

I'm pretty sure that fan fic is in fact a copyright infringement, only most large IPs will tolerate it because it keeps the fans happy and it would be a huge effort to stamp it out. But just try writing a story about Luke and Leia and the Force and then selling it, and see how tolerant Disney is then.

 

[Husky_Embrace]

It's not only the legal copyright issue, it's also the ethics of using someone else's content without their permission. Some writers don't seem to care what happens with their story, others care intensely. You can never know what the original author's position is without asking.

I always say, write your own story - just like there other writer did.

Agreed. The only difficulty I can see is that it brings you into an ethical maze. We can't use the story of another author without explicit consent. How about stories about celebrities? They have arguably more right to their own stories than an author has on their fictional one. That someone not involved can insert their own ideas and make it something else entirely is worse in my opinion. They aren't fictional characters and can be hurt more profoundly than an author. Especially if the story takes off.

That is why I wholeheartedly agree. Write your own story. Use details from other stories or the real world, but never a full thing.

 

[Carnevil9]

I would be honored and flattered if someone liked my writing enough to put in the hard work of continuing the story. Even if they didn't ask permission. After all it's not taking any money out of my pocket. But I understand that not everyone feels that way.

 

[Lube_it_up]

If permission from the original author is required to publish a sequel, do all fanfics published here have that permission? You can't have a fanfic category and ban fanfics, pick one.

It turns out that if someone writes a fanfic, it is allowed. But if someone else writes a continuation of someone else's fanfic, the story will be rejected for copyright infringement.

 

[StillStunned]

If permission from the original author is required to publish a sequel, do all fanfics published here have that permission? You can't have a fanfic category and ban fanfics, pick one.

It turns out that if someone writes a fanfic, it is allowed. But if someone else writes a continuation of someone else's fanfic, the story will be rejected for copyright infringement.

I suspect the difference, from Lit's perspective, is in brand recognition. If someone writes a story about Luke and Leia, or Scotty and Bones, or Xena and Gabriella, people will generally recognise that those aren't their original characters. Those names are far to big for a fanfic writer to appropriate as their own, too. No-one is going to confuse them for canon material either.

But if someone decides to write about Sal and Big Brother, or Avilia and Sligh, or Xero and Raurri, well, who's going to know that those aren't their own creations? Even if I'm credited as the original creator, there's a risk that the new author might be more popular, or more prolific, and their stories will come to overshadow mine. I'd effectively lose control of the world and characters I created.

Like I said, this is only what I suspect the site's reasoning is. I could be wrong. But even so, I think it's a valid argument.