Abandoned stories

[BloodDragon]

Honestly I think there may always be something unsatisfactory in reading something that is not what - most likely - the Author would write. Perhaps this could be sadder than having the stories unfinished.

[Kotik]

Honestly I think there may always be something unsatisfactory in reading something that is not what - most likely - the Author would write. Perhaps this could be sadder than having the stories unfinished.

Which is why contacting the original author is so vital. Of course this serves more purposes than just getting the green light to go ahead. Basically there is two types of stories, which cannot really be finished by someone else :

a) those which the original author abandoned because he/she grew disappointed with
b) those which he/she ran out of direction with

but many were left hanging because of real life leaving no time and most authors had a general idea were to take them. If a new author is willing to stick to that direction, it would well be worth a shot. I remember that X-mas challenge, where someone would outline some do's and some don'ts for a story and some randomly selected author had to write a story with them. Some true gems came out of that one.

[justTripn]

I'm going to have to disagree with aadarshinah and say, if you can't read the authors, please do not attempt to finish their stories, unless this is just for yourself and you never post it online.

In that one we agree. Without expressed consent from the original author, it's a no-go.

Whoops, I meant "reach" not "read", but you guessed my meaning. Yes, I agree.

[aadarshinah]

I'm going to have to disagree with aadarshinah and say, if you can't read the authors, please do not attempt to finish their stories, unless this is just for yourself and you never post it online.

In that one we agree. Without expressed consent from the original author, it's a no-go.

Whoops, I meant "reach" not "read", but you guessed my meaning. Yes, I agree.

If the story's been abandoned like a year, yeah, I completely understand the hands off policy...

But, look at it this way, The internet is an anonymous place. A big place. There are 6billion people in the world and, theoretically, the author of any one story could be any one of them. And lots of things can happen to people. They die, fall into comas, move on with their lives, etc... so if there's a story that's been abandoned 5+ years, the author hasn't been heard of in that long, and there's nothing you can do to reach them... well, the person could be dead, and the family, not knowing their husband/wife/child/parent's secret life, could simply have not not known to tell their readers online. If the person really cares about their story and will really take offense to what's been done to it, they'll find out eventually and will confront you. If not, well, mimicry is the truest form of flattery there is.

[WarpGirl]

Speaking of someone who hasn't touched a fic in over 4 years, I have to say I'd go nuts if a fellow KOTORian just decided to finish it. I would not consider it a sincere form of flattery. I would not be okay with it, and if they did ask me to let them I'd say no. Because it is my work, my thoughts, and I don't want anyone screwing with it. Period.

[aadarshinah]

Yes, but presumably they would email/pm you first and, since you're still active online, you'd be able to tell them NO WAY. But if there's been dead silence for 4+ years and you can't raise hide nor hair of them online and none of their former online assoicates have heard from them either...

I mean, it's the internet. there's no way to really know. But if, say, you know that one author is like, oh, idk, a soldier serving in Iraq or Afganistan and you stop hearing from them one day and 4+ years later, what are you going to assume? That they just stopped their story or that they are dead/incapacitated?

[justTripn]

Your fanfic addition will influence the way the original story is remembered, and most people want their stories remembered as they were. And most authors of abandoned words are not dead, just interested in new genres. They probably are happy with the thought that the story is still out there in multiple archives being read. Maybe they are monitoring the situtation from afar, dropping in once a year to see how many new hits they get. If you write an ending to their story, they may very well come back to life and make a scene. The fanfic writer community is kind of small . . .

[BloodDragon]

The intellectual property is sacred, I think.
Dead, incapacitated or whatever, I believe that people treasure - or would treasure, if they were alive - that their rights are respected and honoured.
And just because Internet is Internet, I think we should be more ethical and respectful there than in whichever other place.
My two cents.

[Reanok]

Zane still visits this board when he isn't busy and Objects in motion is his work.I think he would want to finish it like he said if he only had more free time to write fanfiction stories he would've finished this story.That's just my 2 cents..

[Misplaced]

The intellectual property is sacred, I think.
Dead, incapacitated or whatever, I believe that people treasure - or would treasure, if they were alive - that their rights are respected and honoured.
And just because Internet is Internet, I think we should be more ethical and respectful there than in whichever other place.
My two cents.

Absolutely. I don't care if it is fanfic or if someone isn't making any kind of profit by finishing or continuing a story, it is still intellectual property.

I took a 5 year hiatus from writing fanfic for ENT. True, I finished "Reflections of Another Universe" but I had many readers clamouring for a sequel that I said I might write. I cannot even begin to express to you how affronted I would have been had I come back to the fandom and discovered that someone else wrote the sequel without my permission (and I would not have given said permission either). I don't care if it's the internet... it's my work. And if you can't get a hold of an author to get permission, then as far as I'm concerned it's still off-limits.

I don't mind if someone is inspired by my work (especially if they have the good-manners to give credit to me). And if I develop an OC, I would not necessarily be opposed to someone else using it -- if they have my permission first. As soon as we start acting like fanfic, even unfinished for years, is open game, then I'm completely out. I'll stick to where my work is truly copyright protected.

I know this is harsh, but everyone who writes palatable fanfic put their blood, sweat and tears into their work and it's undignified to go around continuing or finishing stories without permission. It's damned arrogant. And I ain't apologizing.

[Linda]

I agree with Misplaced. An unfinished work still belongs to the original author. It may be painful for a reader to want to read the end of the story and never get it...but that story if it is ever to be finished must be done only by the original author or by another author only with the original author's permission.

I do sympathize with the reader who wants a story finished. That is why I have only put up one story chapter by chapter as they were written...because I was nervous thinking I might not finish it and leave the readers hanging. I would feel so guilty if I did that. I do think to leave a story unfinished is inconsiderate of an author, but sometimes there may be some good reasons why they can't finish it. And that is why the long story I am trying to write now is not having any of the already finished chapters put up yet. I refuse to put them up before the story is entirely finished.

[EntAllat]

Kotik, since you asked, here's how I feel about it:

I'd obviously be a little ticked if somebody tried to finish something of mine, without my permission, that I'd shared in an unfinished form. But I'd even be annoyed if someone asked to finish one of mine. I doesn't feel complimentary for a number of reasons and I'd tell them, politely but firmly, to go write something of their own.

Furthermore, I wouldn't read a story that was obviously completed by another, different, author unless the previous author introduced the story with an endorsement and glowing praise. I follow and admire authors, not just stories. I know what I can expect from certain authors and another person simply wouldn't have the same style or insight.

Lastly, I would be freakin' pissed if someone took my dead friend's unfinished work and tried to edit, alter or finish it. Much more so than I would be upset about my own work! That just feels wrong on so many levels.

I don't mind if someone asks if they could use something of mine in their work. For example, asking if they could mention a character I created and that everybody likes, or an alien race I came up with, or a bit or terminology or language or an aspect of an alien culture, etc. THAT kind of question comes with connotations that are far more complimentary to my involvement in its creation. But asking to finish my story? Not so much.

[aadarshinah]

With all due politeness, I do think it's kinda ironic how fired up people are getting over this, considering we write fanfiction - which is, essentially, us taking someone else's work and "editing, altering, or finishing" it.

Now, this doesn't mean I wouldn't be ticked too if someone tried to finish one of my stories without asking, but, if something were to happen to me and someone wanted to finish one of my stories after I died, well, the idea kinda tickles me, rather than ticks me off.

At this point I feel the need to mention something along the lines of some of Shakespeare's best works being retellings of stories from The Decamrion, and add something about people retelling Shakespeare all the time, and something along the lines of Roddenbery dying before DS9 or VOY and certainly ENT or ST:IX were ever invisioned but remain people esentially "editing, altering, and finishing" his story - the same with Andromedia... but that might be getting off topic.

[WarpGirl]

With all due politeness, I do think it's kinda ironic how fired up people are getting over this, considering we write fanfiction - which is, essentially, us taking someone else's work and "editing, altering, or finishing" it.

Now, this doesn't mean I wouldn't be ticked too if someone tried to finish one of my stories without asking, but, if something were to happen to me and someone wanted to finish one of my stories after I died, well, the idea kinda tickles me, rather than ticks me off.

At this point I feel the need to mention something along the lines of some of Shakespeare's best works being retellings of stories from The Decamrion, and add something about people retelling Shakespeare all the time, and something along the lines of Roddenbery dying before DS9 or VOY and certainly ENT or ST:IX were ever invisioned but remain people esentially "editing, altering, and finishing" his story - the same with Andromedia... but that might be getting off topic.

aadarshinah I understand your points but their is a HUGE difference between Shakespere and Rodenberry and what Kotik is proposing. First of all there was no concept of "intellectual porperty" in Shakespere's day as we know it. Secondly GR too legal steps to ensure ST continued after he died. As for us being fic writers and copyright infringers... Technically as long as we can't make a dime, or other people can't make a dime off of us, it's not stealing.

BUT finishing somebody else's work in a fanfic community is stealing from the people in that community. PERIOD. It doesn't matter if they're living or dead. When I left my KOTOR fic it was just before I had an opperation where I nearly DIED. And yes I left a message in the community where I said, if I don't make it, sorry I didn't finish... No I don't want people messing around with MY work even if I'm dead. It is mine!

Now dear Kotik if you do get permission, that's one thing. But don't be surprised if someone says to hit the road.

[Misplaced]

Yes, it is ironic that we are having this discussion when fanfiction is basically finishing someone else's work. Yes, we don't make any money from it and yes, our work in the fanfic world is not copyright protected.

But we have operated under an unspoken code of conduct where we respect that the work of fanfiction does belong to the author of said work. We treat it like it's copyrighted and therefore the writers feel safe sharing their work without worry that someone else is going to steal it or modify it. If we did not operate with this unspoken rule, how many fanfic authors would still be writing fanfic? Not I. And I'm pretty sure that the majority, if not all, of the authors that we love in this realm wouldn't have posted anything.

Sure it's frustrating for a reader to come upon a wonderful fic that is not finished and probably never will be. This is the nature of the beast. It happens and will happen as long as fanfic exists.

You have to ask yourself even before you contact an author of unfinished work: Can you really capture the voice of that author? Can you basically be a ghost writer -- write in such a way that no one can tell that another is penning the words now? Seriously? This is why I think it's arrogant. It happens in the published world. Brandon Sanderson is taking over finishing Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. (The author lost his battle with cancer). But honestly, not after the two met several times and Brandon Sanderson was hired because his "voice" was similar enough to Jordan's. And I'm pretty darn sure that Sanderson wasn't the one who contacted Jordan and said, "Hey, I hear you're dying and I think I could finish your series for you." Nuh-uh. Sanderson was contacted by Jordan and interviewed.

So really, does anyone honestly think they are unbiased enough about their own writing voice to say, "Yeah, I'm seriously as good as you and think much like you -- so let me finish your work"?? Not bloody likely.

Oh and in the event of my death -- I don't think there is a single author in the fanfic world that I believe could finish my work for me -- especially my alternate MU stuff. Not because I think I'm that good -- not in the least!! -- but because no one writes like I do. No one sees the characters the same way I do and no one has a freaking clue where I planned to take the story.

I'm a laid back person, but I've had my intellectual property stolen before, and I'll be damned if in this "safe" bubble of fanfiction we stop respecting those boundaries.