you can write the sequel. Just don't publish it :-)

That's what I was thinking, Gene!

I could always recant on my death bed

I guess to me, it's like watching a parent abandon their child on the street of the Internet. Since I am a writer and a reader, I want to help him out, but the rules would not allow me and would rather let this child wither and die out on the streets.

The argument, when you get down to an anthropological perspective is a stance that few people would allow if this were a "human" child, but an idea is far less deserving and far less human; even if it was man made.

As a fellow writer, I would not want someone to 'finish' my story for me, be it a sequel or a continuation from where I left off, primarily because I have had stories sit half-finished for years, before the rest of it finally clicked in my head and I was able to write it. Just because an author has not worked on a story for awhile, doesn't mean that they have no intention of finishing it. I started a story in Colorado 4 years ago. Excitedly, i wrote the beginning, and even had a few people read it and give me pointers. I revised, wrote a little more, and then got stuck. It would have seemed as if I'd abandoned it all within four months of starting. Then last year the rest just hit me, and in a few months I had the rest of the first draft written, now it is under contract with my publisher, but it took 4 years to get all the pieces to come together, and in that four years I was making notes and collecting data and watching dirtbike races for inspiration since the main character was a rider. So no, i would never want another author to finish my story for me. 

As a fellow writer, I would not want someone to 'finish' my story for me, be it a sequel or a continuation from where I left off, primarily because I have had stories sit half-finished for years, before the rest of it finally clicked in my head and I was able to write it. Just because an author has not worked on a story for awhile, doesn't mean that they have no intention of finishing it. I started a story in Colorado 4 years ago. Excitedly, i wrote the beginning, and even had a few people read it and give me pointers. I revised, wrote a little more, and then got stuck. It would have seemed as if I'd abandoned it all within four months of starting. Then last year the rest just hit me, and in a few months I had the rest of the first draft written, now it is under contract with my publisher, but it took 4 years to get all the pieces to come together, and in that four years I was making notes and collecting data and watching dirtbike races for inspiration since the main character was a rider. So no, i would never want another author to finish my story for me. 

I understand what you mean and even agree with you on some levels, but it's difficult to not feel attached to a character as a reader. I guess its a sign of being a good writer, when you can elicit this type of reaction.

You know, W_L..., a successful drama is based on the author's ability to torture his/her protagonist....  LOL  I've been to a writer workshop and the speaker just said you have to be a sadist to be a writer, and that's what he meant!  Not that I encourage people to be torturers, but you know what I mean....

And sometimes in life, things get unresolved, and they could have less than satisfactory results.  Go ahead and write your story and like other said, you don't have to publish it.  Either that or find something smashable and start unload....  Just kidding.

P.S. please don't beat me up

I've wanted an ending to Panhead '52 since I first read it a few years ago. Someone mentioned in a post I read that Mr. Morgan claimed to have lost his muse and the ability to continue writing. I still hold out hope he will one day return, in the meantime, I have a short outline of how I would have finished it.

Isn't our desire to find closure for the characters, and for ourselves, the reason there's so much fan fiction on the net?

You know, W_L..., a successful drama is based on the author's ability to torture his/her protagonist....  LOL  I've been to a writer workshop and the speaker just said you have to be a sadist to be a writer, and that's what he meant!  Not that I encourage people to be torturers, but you know what I mean....

 

And sometimes in life, things get unresolved, and they could have less than satisfactory results.  Go ahead and write your story and like other said, you don't have to publish it.  Either that or find something smashable and start unload....  Just kidding.

 

P.S. please don't beat me up

"As Ashi walks to his cafe, he is ambushed by a sadistic writer with a giant eraser, threatening to erase him starting with his boy parts "

Maybe just writing it will help me unleash my pent up need to right the wrongs done to a character