When We Were Married Story Contest Idea

[gumpworsley]

I’m a reader not a writer. As such I’ve been really impressed with the writing and story telling on Litrotica. I didn’t expect it to be this good.

When I hit upon When We Were Married (WWWD) by DQS I was captivated by the bond the author created between the two main characters. He did a fabulous job teasing their relationship and from my hope, eventual reconciliation. (Ok I’ve given away my preference.) In his final installment he does a fantastic job of offering multiple possibilities.

Since a good story is always topical I wonder if there would be any interest in the authors group to finish the tale. The skill in the author group and the back story of DQS’s writers block and inability to finish his epic seem to be too good to pass up. I’d be happy to help in any way I can to organize, support, and promote. Anything I can do I will.

 

[THBGato]

Hey!

Unless other authors are also fans of this story, I can't see any being interested in this. We've all got far too many of our own unfinished story ideas to want to finish somebody else's.

 

[SkyBubble]

I’m a reader not a writer.

And apparently a goalie.

 

[SkyBubble]

Hey!

Unless other authors are also fans of this story, I can't see any being interested in this. We've all got far too many of our own unfinished story ideas to want to finish somebody else's.

It's against Literotica's rules to finish another author's story or use that author's characters or universe without that author's permission.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Since a good story is always topical I wonder if there would be any interest in the authors group to finish the tale.

You will find that analogous questions have been asked many times before. Here is a summary of the responses:

https://forum.literotica.com/thread...-or-rewriting-another-author’s-story.1652309/

 

[EmilyMiller]

It's against Literotica's rules to finish another author's story or use that author's characters or universe without that author's permission.

@THBGato is very much likely to know that already.

 

[Seurat]

I’m a reader not a writer. As such I’ve been really impressed with the writing and story telling on Litrotica. I didn’t expect it to be this good.
...

Anything I can do I will.

Who says you aren't a writer? Give it a try. There's like a zillion (technical writers' term, feel free to use) quality loving wives stories on Lit. Figure out what you like, develop a plot line, come to AH for help in fleshing out the story. You say anything, but you're about to say you can't or won't write.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Okay, it's a fair question and now answered. Good for you for asking, truly. All is however not lost. You could approach @DanialQSteele1 and ask them if they'd be interested in having their story as the basis for an event. Who knows - they might agree? If not, then parallels are entirely acceptable, provided you don't take things too close.

 

[Voboy]

Sounds like this is right up your alley, OP. Get permission, take a deep breath, and type away!

None of us is likely to be interested in either a new contest, nor picking up another writer's cast-off leftovers, nor plagiarism.

 

[devtek]

In addition to violating the LIT rules, which @EmilyMiller explained very well in another thread, it should be noted that Daniel Quentin Steele continued the story, even though he never finished it, as a paid ebook on Amazon, and therefore touching his universe would be no different than continuing "Game of Thrones" or the Harry Potter series.
A few years ago, I contacted him on Facebook, and we talked a bit. He had tons of ideas for concluding the saga, but apparently he wasn't able to deliver a satisfying ending.

 

[FrancesScott]

I’m a reader not a writer. As such I’ve been really impressed with the writing and story telling on Litrotica. I didn’t expect it to be this good.

When I hit upon When We Were Married (WWWD) by DQS I was captivated by the bond the author created between the two main characters. He did a fabulous job teasing their relationship and from my hope, eventual reconciliation. (Ok I’ve given away my preference.) In his final installment he does a fantastic job of offering multiple possibilities.

Since a good story is always topical I wonder if there would be any interest in the authors group to finish the tale. The skill in the author group and the back story of DQS’s writers block and inability to finish his epic seem to be too good to pass up. I’d be happy to help in any way I can to organize, support, and promote. Anything I can do I will.

Arthur Conan Doyle died in 1930. UK law is similar to US law in that copyright exists for seventy years after the author’s death.

My gender swapped, present day tribute to the Holmes stories would probably have been OK even in 1999, as it is sufficiently different and more inspired by Doyle and Poe than attempting to continue their legacy.

If you don’t have explicit permission to continue a copyrighted work, best to wait for the author to die and then for another seventy years after that.

 

[StillStunned]

If you don’t have explicit permission to continue a copyrighted work, best to wait for the author to die and then for another seventy years after that.

Someone's going to start bumping off Lit's best authors...

 

[FrancesScott]

Someone's going to start bumping off Lit's best authors...

Do you have a list?

 

[BeechLeaf]

Someone young, who's expecting to live into their nineties and still be a good writer then.

 

[StillStunned]

Do you have a list?

Luckily I've given up any pretensions of being one of Lit's best authors, so I'm fine with anyone but me.

 

[SkyBubble]

Someone's going to start bumping off Lit's best authors...

That might make a good premise for a story.

 

[Djmac1031]

Someone's going to start bumping off Lit's best authors...

Well I'm safe at least...

 

[AStrangeDesire]

Do you have a list?

Clearly, you need to come up with your own list, have you not been paying attention? No copying!

 

[ADirtyPerv]

Well I'm safe at least...

Pardon me while I go heart all your stories and sharpen my knife...

 

[gumpworsley]

Thank you for your interest and responses. And yes I was a hockey goalie. I’ve taken Gump Worsley’s name. He also was an NHL goalie from western Canada who had a long distinguished career.
I will reach back to see if I can contact the estate to see about continuing the story line. DQS left plenty to work on and lots of ways to move on with the tale. In
an earlier post I suggested copy right law might be at play here. Interesting to note there have already been story ideas continuing his work published in Litrotica. Any thoughts on that topic?

 

[Djmac1031]

Interesting to note there have already been story ideas continuing his work published in Litrotica. Any thoughts on that topic?

I think at the end of the day, it's going to be a question of morality and ethics as opposed to legality.

I doubt the site has the time or manpower to police every story published to see if someone continued another authors work and then look into whether permission was obtained or not.

If enough readers / authors complained i suppose the Management would pull the unauthorized story down. But that would require enough fans of the original story and author to not just stumble across the unauthorized continuation, but recognize it as such.

So really it comes down to a choice you make: are you (a collective "you," not singling you out in particular, but others asking this same question) comfortable with taking the ideas and creations of another author and using them without their consent?

If you are, then I suggest you do it quietly. Don't announce it to the world, and expect blowback if you do.

Or, could you instead take the seeds of the original story, the original idea, and rework it into a new story you can call your own?

We all recycle the same concepts, the same kinks. Its how we do it that counts.

MY suggestion is the latter - take that idea, that story that inspired you to want to continue it, and turn it i to something you can proudly and ethically call your own.

You can still give credit to the original story and author as inspiration. No one would fault you for that at all.

 

[gumpworsley]

Thank you for your comments. Couple of things to mention:
1) DQS died so he’s no longer active.
2) I’m not suggesting we do something without permission from the estate.
3) Even though he’s been gone for several years WWWM remains a top read and commented story in LW and on Litrotica. So there’s reader interest.
4) Final note other versions of his work, not this story, have been published on this site after his death. Leading me to believe there is author interest.
All this being said perhaps someone could help me to understand how to move this forward. I find navigating this site challenging. Figuring out who to talk to and how to reach them remains challenging to me.

Thanks for reading and please respond,

The Gumper

 

[EmilyMiller]

Thank you for your comments. Couple of things to mention:
1) DQS died so he’s no longer active.

This is irrelevant from a copyright perspective unless he died more than seventy years ago.

2) I’m not suggesting we do something without permission from the estate.

So focus on getting that. In writing.

3) Even though he’s been gone for several years WWWM remains a top read and commented story in LW and on Litrotica. So there’s reader interest.

Irrelevant.

4) Final note other versions of his work, not this story, have been published on this site after his death. Leading me to believe there is author interest.

Unless they get explicit permission (or deviate considerably from the original work) there shouldn’t be and they should be taken down.

All this being said perhaps someone could help me to understand how to move this forward. I find navigating this site challenging. Figuring out who to talk to and how to reach them remains challenging to me.

Get explicit permission. Good luck doing that from the estate of a dead erotica author.

Then write it yourself.

Thanks for reading and please respond,

The Gumper

 

[gumpworsley]

Thank you for responding to my post. I will get started on obtaining written permission from the estate.
Something I expressed outside this thread here on Litrotica that’s worth mentioning. My original idea was to create a story challenge around having established Litrotica authors including yourself finish the story DQS didn’t.
This would incorporate your talents as a storyteller to come up with an ending that had many possible outcomes. That’s where the “fun” came into play. Also, the fact WWWM continues to have high interest among the audience would hype the event.
Your thoughts are welcome. BTW, I’m now reading and following you Em Miller.
Have a nice day.
Gumper

 

[anthrodisiac]

Thank you for responding to my post. I will get started on obtaining written permission from the estate.
Something I expressed outside this thread here on Litrotica that’s worth mentioning. My original idea was to create a story challenge around having established Litrotica authors including yourself finish the story DQS didn’t.
This would incorporate your talents as a storyteller to come up with an ending that had many possible outcomes. That’s where the “fun” came into play. Also, the fact WWWM continues to have high interest among the audience would hype the event.
Your thoughts are welcome. BTW, I’m now reading and following you Em Miller.
Have a nice day.
Gumper

Setting aside all the issues around copyright., I think the problem with having this be a contest is that it pigeonholes us into writing very narrowly, since we're basically writing based on this one story. The contests are more about giving writers free rein to take it in a whole bunch of different directions in a way this doesn't. Just because we come up with different endings doesn't mean the end result is going to result in the wide swath of stories that make contests and challenges so much fun; the level of diversity is really what it's all about. I just don't see that happening here. You probably have just a handful of legit options for how to "finish the story" given it's already been written.