Writing a story

[HarperPaige]

Okay this has probably been asked before and answered but I'm to lazy to try and find it. If I'm writing a story that is inspired by another one posted on here by a different author is there anything special I need to do before posting mine?
I should clarify that my story isn't a direct copy. I used the idea the author came up with and a couple of the characters but that's it. I have already put a shout out to the original story and author at the beginning of mine. Is that all I need to do?

 

[jehoram]

Okay this has probably been asked before and answered but I'm to lazy to try and find it. If I'm writing a story that is inspired by another one posted on here by a different author is there anything special I need to do before posting mine?
I should clarify that my story isn't a direct copy. I used the idea the author came up with and a couple of the characters but that's it. I have already put a shout out to the original story and author at the beginning of mine. Is that all I need to do?

I think you should make an honest attempt to contact the original author and tell that person just what you've told us. If the author withholds their blessing, I'd re-write the story (which, after all, should hold up as a work of its own).

If PMs fail, and you can't make contact with the author via the "contact" link on the author's page, I'd put a shout-out in the "Author's Hangout" section.

 

[Diance]

Good question

Should I avoid 'borrowing' the setting of another author's story? Hiking in a forest, mansion rooms, parts of a castle for high fantasy, etc. I assume story settings are common, as long as you don't word-for-word describe a room without asking permission. But "assume" is precarious.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Forests, castles, mansions, etc are pretty generic. Go nuts.

Specific places, if created by another author for a story, are different. How would you feel if your work were taken over by another?

There are of course exceptions. 221B Baker Street of Sherlock Holmes fame has been used many times without sin or comment. Castle Dracula is pretty much open for rent, so to speak.

Some things as well have been used so many times that they are almost common property. I think it was Isaac Asimov who invented jumping through hyperspace - try to write sci-fi without it now. Ursula le Guin's 'ansible', a faster-than-light communication gadget, is widely used.

Again, it comes down to whether you are using a 'commonality', so to speak, or taking advantage of somebody else's hard work.

 

[jehoram]

221B Baker Street of Sherlock Holmes fame has been used many times without sin or comment. Castle Dracula is pretty much open for rent, so to speak.

And no most (but not quite all) of the Sherlock Holmes literature is out of copyright, you can write the hell out of it.

As for Dracula, Stoker's been out of copyright long ago. So feel free!

 

[JamesClaide]

I'll tell you a big secret: it is not necessary to reveal all the secrets of writing any of your stories

 

[MartaMaine]

I'd say writing a story inspired by another author is one thing, using their characters is quite another and amounts to plagiarism.

 

[PapaDan]

Okay this has probably been asked before and answered but I'm to lazy to try and find it. If I'm writing a story that is inspired by another one posted on here by a different author is there anything special I need to do before posting mine?
I should clarify that my story isn't a direct copy. I used the idea the author came up with and a couple of the characters but that's it. I have already put a shout out to the original story and author at the beginning of mine. Is that all I need to do?

If you're concerned about copyright infringement, you should go to the U.S. Copyright Office website and look for frequently asked questions. There are circumstances where you can use part, or all of another authors work, and you can find out what is legal and not legal under copyright laws at their website.

If you're concerned about common courtesy between authors, you should contact the original author and ask.