Reusing material

[TheEarl]

Do any of you ever find yourselves re-using material? I often scavenge my unfinished stories for ideas or scenes or characters. One of my stories (From a Boeing 747) was actually written from reworking the beginning of a non-erotic story.

The only problem is, what happens if the unfinished story decides it wants its pieces back? The non-erotic story has suddenly flailed into life again like some B-movie nasty, waving its malformed arms around and wailing at the huge chunk I amputated from its torso. Unfortunately the huge chunk I removed is now doing stirling service as the opening scene of From a Boeing 747, after it had a bit of a tailoring.

The non-erotic story will probably remember exactly why it died in the first place soon enough, but I can't help feeling like Dr Frankenstein - trying to create stories out of pieces of dead tales.

It's alive. It's aliiivvee!

The Earl

 

[MathGirl]

Ecologically correct

I feel that if a story is remotely good, it should be changed just slightly and submitted under another title. How do you think I got so much stuff posted here?

Actually, it was long after I submitted a bunch of stuff that I realized how bad they were. Since it's apparently impossible to withdraw something, I hopefully made them a little better and posted them again. You can get a large ovary that way.

MG

 

[Uther_Pendragon]

I mine my unfinished stories all the time. I haven't quite
had the problem of one of the unfinished ones coming back
to life.
The closest I've come is with a name. I wrote a story
in which the female lead was named "Shannon." The story
wasn't going anywhere, and when I needed a name for a much
younger (secondary) character, I used "Shannon." I didn't
even remember the first story at the time. Then I
resurected the first story, without changing the name for
the female lead. So now I have two Shannons, quite
different, running around my stories.

 

[champagne1982]

coitus interruptus and ovarian cysts..

[...]it's apparently impossible to withdraw something[...]You can get a large ovary that way.

MG

ahem If he finds it impossible to withdraw in a timely manner, perhaps you should practice a different form of birth control.

As an aside -- That is not an enlarged ovary, all the presidents get one. It's the oval office.

 

[FlyontheWall99]

Nahh, I never re-work my stories for re-submission as a new story. For me I can't write a story which reminds me of another I have already penned. I lose all inspiration and motivation to finish it if I feel that sense of deja vu ....

Back to writing ....

Fly ....

 

[Icingsugar]

No. I live in the delusion that all my unfinished stories will one day write themselves, so I dare not touch them.

 

[snooper]

Re: Ecologically correct

... Since it's apparently impossible to withdraw something, ...

Er, it's easy. Just PM Laurel and she will delete any of your excellent stories you wish; they are your stories, so she has no choice, but it does work. I know because I did it.

 

[MathGirl]

Re: coitus interruptus and ovarian cysts..

That is not an enlarged ovary, all the presidents get one. It's the oval office.

Dear Champ,
The Venerable Og calls it an ovary, and I'm stickin' to it.
MG
Ps. I'm not going to delete anything. I spent minutes and minutes on those stories, and I don't want them lost.

 

[raphy]

No. I live in the delusion that all my unfinished stories will one day write themselves, so I dare not touch them.

I'm with That Fucking Cake Guy on this one. I figure if I leave them on my hard drive long enough, eventually they'll develop sentience and finish themselves.

 

[Quasimodem]

. . .I figure if I leave them on my hard drive long enough, eventually they'll develop sentience and finish themselves.

That happened to me once, but the stories held a vote, and decided that they weren't fit to live, so they finished off my hard drive, instead.

 

[MathGirl]

Originally posted by Quasimodem the stories held a vote, and decided that they weren't fit to live, so they finished off my hard drive, instead.

Dear Quaz,
The literary equivalent of the lemmings?
MG (sic)