Re-writing stories

[JennaM]

My first post! Please be gentle

I've been a big fan for Literotica for years, and I like to lurk on the message boards, but I've never posted anywhere. A few months ago, I started thinking about how some stories would sound from a different perspective...if I read a story that's written in first person perspective, I imagine what it would sound like if it was written from one of the other character's point of view.

Anyway...about two weeks ago, I started writing stories like this. I'll pick a story already posted and re-write it...basically the same thing happens in the story, just a different look at it. It's practically a brand new story, but not quite.

I haven't posted these stories anywhere, but I'm thinking about posting some here on Lit. Would that interest anybody? Should I ask for the original author's permission first? Should I mention when I post it that it's just a new look on an older story? Or just go ahead and post and hope nobody notices the similiarities to the older stories?

Thanks for any answers in advance!

 

[Guest]

 

[matriarch]

Should I ask for the original author's permission first? Should I mention when I post it that it's just a new look on an older story? Or just go ahead and post and hope nobody notices the similiarities to the older stories?

Thanks for any answers in advance!

You must ask every single time.
A lot of the stories, if not all (not sure of the blanket copyright of Literotica) are covered by copyright, and using another's story without permission would be an infringement of that copy right.

Never, never use another author's story without their expression and specific permission.

That said, welcome aboard.

Matriarch

 

[English Lady]

Matriarch is right Never use another Authors work without gaining their permission; it's only polite really when you think about it


I know I'd be tickled pink if someone wanted to play with my story...but I don' t know how all authors would react


Hello and welcome

 

[Guest]

Moosh!

[size=0.5]Moosh, moosh, moosh. . .[/size]

Moosh! Moosh! Moosh!

Moosh: moosh, moosh, moosh.

[size=0.5]Moosh, moosh, moosh.[/size]

Slurp.

Suck my kisser.

I mean, smuck.

 

[matriarch]

Moosh!

[size=0.5]Moosh, moosh, moosh. . .[/size]

Moosh! Moosh! Moosh!

Moosh: moosh, moosh, moosh.

[size=0.5]Moosh, moosh, moosh.[/size]

Slurp.

Suck my kisser.

CV, behave. You'll frighten the poor girl away before she's even had the chance to get to know the less strange amongst us.

 

[Guest]

My first post! Please be gentle

I've been a big fan for Literotica for years, and I like to lurk on the message boards, but I've never posted anywhere. A few months ago, I started thinking about how some stories would sound from a different perspective...if I read a story that's written in first person perspective, I imagine what it would sound like if it was written from one of the other character's point of view.

Anyway...about two weeks ago, I started writing stories like this. I'll pick a story already posted and re-write it...basically the same thing happens in the story, just a different look at it. It's practically a brand new story, but not quite.

I haven't posted these stories anywhere, but I'm thinking about posting some here on Lit. Would that interest anybody? Should I ask for the original author's permission first? Should I mention when I post it that it's just a new look on an older story? Or just go ahead and post and hope nobody notices the similiarities to the older stories?

Thanks for any answers in advance!

Jenna -

I am surprised you don't think what you are doing is plagiarism. I imagine I'm a bit touchy on this subject as I've had stories stolen from Lit on several occasions. (End result - Laurel and Manu contacted the websites and my work was removed).

What you are proposing is an excellent way to practice your writing skills. And I often wonder how certain stories would sound from a different point of view. Hell, I often wonder how some of these stories would sound with correct grammar, but that's beside the point.

If you take what someone else has worked hard to produce and tweak it for your own amusement, fine. But it is in no way practically a new story. If you tried to submit it as your work you'd be easily spotted; many readers on Lit are well aware of certain writer's style, of favorite story plots, etc.

And if you attempt to post something like that on this or any other site it will be considered theft.

That being said, welcome to Lit, and please try to ignore CV. (He really can't help it).

 

[Guest]

Re: Re: Re-writing stories

 

[JennaM]

At the risk of sounding like a complete dork...I can't believe English Lady responded to my post! I feel like I'm almost meeting a celebrity or something. You are definitely one of my favorite authors, I love all your stories.

"Elves Help Santa Cum This Christmas" is one of my favorite stories on the whole site. I've wondered what the story would be like from Katherine's POV, though I haven't tried writing it. Maybe there could even be a prequal where she first discovers she likes being dominated by her husband.

I never planned on posting a story without asking for permission first, of course. Though, technically, I'm not sure it'd be copyright infringement since I'm rewriting it from scratch and just using the other story as inspiration...asking for permission would be the polite thing to do, at least. The last thing I would want to do is make somebody mad.

I was mostly just wondering if reading a story from a different POV sounded the least bit interesting, or if I'm just crazy.

 

[Guest]

Re: Re: Re: Re-writing stories

That's never beside the point.

Lime

 

[Guest]

 

[RavenSpirit2k4]

Re: Re: Re-writing stories

Jenna -

I am surprised you don't think what you are doing is plagiarism. I imagine I'm a bit touchy on this subject as I've had stories stolen from Lit on several occasions. (End result - Laurel and Manu contacted the websites and my work was removed).

What you are proposing is an excellent way to practice your writing skills. And I often wonder how certain stories would sound from a different point of view. Hell, I often wonder how some of these stories would sound with correct grammar, but that's beside the point.

If you take what someone else has worked hard to produce and tweak it for your own amusement, fine. But it is in no way practically a new story. If you tried to submit it as your work you'd be easily spotted; many readers on Lit are well aware of certain writer's style, of favorite story plots, etc.

And if you attempt to post something like that on this or any other site it will be considered theft.

That being said, welcome to Lit, and please try to ignore CV. (He really can't help it).

Excellent points, S3. That said, I think re-writing a story with a change of setting or character can be interesting. For example, Tanith Lee once re-wrote the traditional Cinderella story with Cinderella being evil.

A way to do this would be to 1) request the original author's permission, and 2) chage the story, not just rewrite it in your style.

I've been considering re-writing a de Sade novel, to set it in modern times with modern BDSM. What's stopping me? It's a big project, and the "adventure" began when the girl was 14. Her age was appropriate in that day and time, but not now, so I'm trying to figure out how I'd work around that.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Just wanted to say Hello and Welcome to the AH.
~A~

 

[JennaM]

Re: Re: Re-writing stories

Jenna -

I am surprised you don't think what you are doing is plagiarism. I imagine I'm a bit touchy on this subject as I've had stories stolen from Lit on several occasions. (End result - Laurel and Manu contacted the websites and my work was removed).

What you are proposing is an excellent way to practice your writing skills. And I often wonder how certain stories would sound from a different point of view. Hell, I often wonder how some of these stories would sound with correct grammar, but that's beside the point.

If you take what someone else has worked hard to produce and tweak it for your own amusement, fine. But it is in no way practically a new story. If you tried to submit it as your work you'd be easily spotted; many readers on Lit are well aware of certain writer's style, of favorite story plots, etc.

And if you attempt to post something like that on this or any other site it will be considered theft.

That being said, welcome to Lit, and please try to ignore CV. (He really can't help it).

Of course it's not really a new story, I've already told the world that I like to tweak older stories for my own amusement. But if I had never posted the idea here, it would probably go unnoticed if I changed the names of the characters. I meant that writing a story from a different POV makes it <i>seem</i> like practically a new story, if you don't already know that it's not, just as far as copyright infringement and theft goes.

Not that it matters. If I did post the stories, I wouldn't want people to think of them as original works...I'd want the readers to know that it's just a new look at an older story. I'm just not sure if I'm the only one that would want to read something like that.

Anyway, thanks for all the responses and the welcomes! I really appreciate it.

 

[Stefan_J]

As an author myself, I'd be pretty unhappy if someone stole my work and presented it as their own. I would insist on someone asking for my express permission and would only grant it on the condition that I could have final say on whether the finished product could be published.

The concept is interesting, but we all know what happens to movies that are remade - they become massacred and turn into shadows of their former selves.

 

[Guest]

Well put, Stefan.

Dean Koontz - Watchers is my favorite (I wanna find my own Einstein) but I loved Twilight Eyes! (Koontz certainly gives an interesting explanation for all suffering in the world.)

 

[Stefan_J]

Argh, I don't know what happened. I'm so embarrassed! Oh, and thank you, Sweetsub....I too love Watchers and want an Einstein of my own.

 

[Stefan_J]

Sighing.....now I'm really embarrassed and I can't delete these multiple posts. Lol, somewhere, somehow, I did something. Bah, computers and me, a volitile cocktail if there ever was one!

 

[Carl East]

I think Stefan's stuck in a time loop here. lol

Carl

 

[Guest]

I thought it was just me -

(off to find some more coffee . . .)

 

[oggbashan]

Just finished my coffee, so some advice for Jenna:

Treat what you have done so far as practice. It is plagarism and should not be posted as your own work. You can do it for your own amusement but if you want to post the result it is better (and avoids legal problems) if you pick stories that are by long dead authors.

Try any well known OLD story and rewrite it with a different twist. I did that with Gulliver's Travels and the story 'Rapunzel'.

If the story is in the public domain and no longer copyright you can do what you like to it - even so it is best to acknowledge the source (Jonathan Swift and the Brothers Grimm for mine).

Og.

PS. Welcome.

 

[kinky shy girl]

2 cents

speaking for myself, I'd be pissed if someone "re-wrote" something I wrote and tried to pass it off as an original work. Even if the 2nd work had an acknowledgement, I probably wouldn't grant permission. (i'm just stingy like that.)

i like what ogg suggested...putting a spin on an older work, like a fairy tale or classic.

 

[Sabledrake]

Jenna > I'll chime in with the others here and strongly advise you not to post such stories. It may be fine to practice in the provacy of your own home, but writers can get very touchy when someone else plays with their personal toys. I know. I'm one of those touchy ones Besides, you'll probably learn more and faster by wrestling with your own original stories, and it'll help you develop a voice and style of your own as a writer.

Sabledrake

 

[lucky-E-leven]

Welcome, Jenna.

I got to thinking about the act of re-writing stories. I think everyone else has covered the fact that original ideas are property and should remain as such unless otherwise permitted.

However, the simple mention of re-working a story from a different point of view is intriguing. I've read several that are told, in sections, by different characters....a his/her take, if you will.

The intrigue came when I realized that it might be a good way to continue a story rather than just re-tell the same story from another's viewpoint. I have a sequel I've been trying to get right for months and had the thought that I could continue from a different character's viewpoint.

I didn't plan the story as a sequel and therefore feel a bit bound by some of the original lead character's words and actions. If I choose to continue the tale via the other character, I'm granted a bit more freedom there.

It will take some investigation on my part, but I thank you for bothering to bring up the idea and share it. As for your situation, I'd recommend compiling a working outline of the story ideas that intrigue you enough to re-write and pool them together into an idea of your own.

I have no idea how gratifying it is to re-tell a particular story, but I can say that plucking original ideas from my psyche and developing a story from them is one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. Test-drive it and see what you think. You've obviously got the imagination to see things from a different character's perspective. Create your own characters and make them dance. Horizontally if at all possible.



~lucky

 

[Belegon]

Welcome AH-board Jenna!

I don't know if I would like a reworking of one of my tales posted, but I would certainly be curious to read it.

I am currently writing a story with a female friend who has a vibrant imagination but developing writing skills. I do male POV, she does female POV, and both of us agreed that the other should feel free to add to the opposite POV if it would advance the story or one of us has an interesting idea. I touch up her grammer and sentence structure but leave her concepts alone.

If you truly wish to explore this idea, perhaps a similar team up may work for you?