Loving another authors characters a little too much...
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Hi,

 

I'm Lauren, from England. This is exactly the kind of group I'm into. Is it wrong to love another book so much that I've followed up on what I would like to happen to the characters? I started jotting down where I would like to see them go, and became a little over excited about my own story.. 155,000 words later and no one but me to admire my work! I would love to send it to the author, but it this a copycat writers' greatest insult to a published author??

 

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Replies
  • There's nothing wrong with loving someone else's characters, it's flattering to know your characters are so beloved. There's a whole range of fan-fiction out there proving you aren't the first to start writing with another author's characters. I wouldn't suggest sending it to the author though, but if you are proud enough of the work find a fan fiction site and post it there. I will caution you just a little here, I sunk a lot of my teen years writing fan fiction rather than my own original ideas (of which I had plenty). It is far better to spend your time writing something you can promote or sell. Well, if that's your goal. If you're writing just to write then fan fiction is just fine.
  • I think it'd definitely be considered a faux pas.  They couldn't look at it for legal reasons because if they ever thereafter wrote something that resembled it, there would be room for suing.  That being said, I think it's totally reasonable to follow up in your mind or on paper with characters that you love.  I myself tend to rewrite endings sometimes.