my normal reaction when someone asks.
Do you clutch them to your chest and mumble, "My Precious," in the process as well? Please tell me you do the voice. Nothing would make me happier. Nothing.
*happiest archaeopteryx dance*
PM me, we can discuss terms
One why not is when the other author just wants a generic character (maybe sharing some physical attributes) to slot into their story without my character’s attributes, attitudes, and history being taken into account.
I'll leave my demands in a plain brown paper bag next to your login button.PM me, we can discuss terms
The normal arrangement, that’s fine. But don’t tell anyone, OK?
I'd very much want to see what they came up with, or at least hear their vision of what they think the character would be like and what the scenario is. Unless it's a really minor character I have no intention of fleshing out or using further, as much as I'd love to have someone with more clout use them, I wouldn't want them to do them disservice. It's less about me as an author and more respecting the characters.
Same. It's a fun idea, I just have zero interest in participation, and I can't imagine anybody wanting to use any of my characters. There are maybe three or four writers here I would trust with that kind of thing, but otherwise, that's gonna be a 'no' from me, dawg.
For me the whole thing veers too close to sexting territory. I know that's not the idea, and probably it's miles from how it works in practice, but the idea of everyone sharing each other's characters for sex scenes is far more intimate than I'd feel comfortable with.
Free-use character thread anyone?
So two authors have written either me or my characters that are me-adjacent into stories: @Djmac1031 and @EStaccato With Dj, how we work is to swap rough drafts of sections of stories (say 500 - 2,000 words) as we write. So anything he writes I’m uncomfortable about gets addressed immediately.
I offered up my OnlyFans semen-addict Cressie as she’s a total trope anyway. I wouldn’t let people other than Dj write Emma & Lily.
This, I think, is the more interesting discussion.
I've mentioned this a few times, but this is what makes writing so special. With TV shows, movies, and other visual media the story is static (with the exception of choice-based video games, but even those have a narrow range of options), with little left up to interpretation and imagination. You get what you get. But the written word is so much more flexible and dynamic. Each person dreams up their own version. They're active participants in the creative process. It's like you give them the blueprints, and they build it in their heads. There are possibly as many versions of that story, those characters, as there are people who read it — maybe more, depending on if a person views it differently on subsequent reads. It's beyond your control, you can choose how much to leave up to them, how tightly you want to hold the reins, but ultimately, they're the ones consuming and imagining those worlds and characters. It leads to interesting interpretations and mental visualizations. Most people are going to imagine the characters at least a little different from someone else. It's what makes writing so beautiful, it's a collaboration between author and reader.
I have a statement in my profile allowing fan fiction. I think that's probably the best place to announce this.
Sometimes I prefer to binge the books before seeing the movies for this reason. One exception is The Expanse, which had pretty good casting for most of the characters. I read a few books first but the series was still being published and the characters changed in my head.
