I, too, have written much of a story following some others grand entry. That person has said they are writing a sequel but nothing has shown up in more than three years.

I, myself, can understand how that can come to pass as I have an unfinished story on this site which I was attempting to finish for a deceased friend. Some day I hope to be able to do so.

I, in the above case, have sent e-mails to the several addresses I have for the individual who has not returned a reply to my correspondence. There could be a number of reasons for this including not remembering the passwords for their e-mail accounts having relied on the storage of their computer to fill that in for them. The failure of the computer could, inconveniently, have erased those passwords, thus.......

I know the person has been on the site in the recent past (1 year) and have sent a PM to them via the site but still have had no reply. As it now stands, I have a partially written story which will not be shared despite giving credit to the author of the original story. Call it professional courtesy, if you will. I know I would not care for someone to pick up and continue a storyline (even a new story) without contacting me first. Story material is essentially copyrighted with the characters belonging to the author who created the universe, however minor. More especially, the material is copyrighted if the author places a statement of copyright in their story. I understand that many do not do so but, for myself, I tend to prefer to err in favor of the original author.

By all means if you are so driven, write your sequel of the story you have found to be of such interest that you must produce what you feel is a logical continuation as did I for what is probably another worthy story but, for myself, I would not publish it if I could not obtain permission of the original author. Just an extension of my own feelings about someone writing in the universe and with the characters I created.

God Bless,

Anesidora

PS. (edit) I have found that if I do not write material, even if it is not to be published, which has poured into my head from some as yet undetermined source, that I have great difficulty moving on to produce other material. By writing that material, even if I know it will not be posted or published, I clear any blockage and am free to move on to the creation of other stories which I can, then, publish or post.

I think that adding to a larger canon, such as the star trek fanfic that I have in mind, is perfectly acceptable. I particularly like it when these offerings add a dimension that is unexplored. Perhaps it's a universal lack of characters in these paradigmes, who are forced because of some inner misalignment, to struggle with even the simplest things that most people take for granted, like the way that they approach a relationship with someone they love. Not just weather they like each other, but how to move the relationship to an orientation that satisfies that need, instead of just teasing it by simply missing the mark by some five or ten degrees to the left or right.

For instance, some many years ago, I found Xena alternative sites on the internet. Then I found some regarding Janeway and Seven of Nine stories. And... I was astonished by how much of themselves the authors poured into theses and stories like them. I found lines and paragraphs in them that inspired me, and astonished me; and, for the first time I can remember (perhaps due to my own maturity.), I recognized the efforts on the part of the author to make that story perfect. The perfect time, in the mind's eye and in the heart, for the character to reach out and slip her hand into another's, or the point at which, no matter how noble the intention, that keeping silent just exceeds the limits of human endurance. I can only say, that although I've read great stories my whole life, and ones that were equally inspiring, I think that it was stories like those with their pursuit of perfection that inspired me to write my own.

I have to mention an author Sarah Bayen here. There were one liners in her stories, that inspired me as much as anything else.

There have been many stories, likewise, that I thought could have been better. The author lets the tension go too long, or teases one time too many; or, they simply miss an aspect of a character or a plot, that seems so obvious to me. It kills the story, at worst, but too often renders it much less pleasing. The thought that My perfect story can never be the same as that author's perfect story, is little consolation, when something inside you is screaming: 'why didn't you just kiss her?'

But: Your perfect story, is not theirs.

I think that there are many authors here who would say, that once you've done your due diligence, that creating a separate story line based on another author's work is okay. I don't think it is, and I think that's a matter of size. A universe of many stories and contributors is fair game. A single story that the author may have intended to finish is not. However it can still be an inspiration.

Now, I will never say that I think I can do better than most of the authors I've read. A few... Yeah, they suck, and I could kick their arses, but for the most part, all those other stories are just different than how I'd have done it; and, they contain no more errors than I make when writing my own.. If you are inspired by a story, then by all means credit the source of the basic idea, but do not miss the opportunity of creating a story that is your own. It's a lot more work, but it's still your very best chance to create a more perfect story for you.