Lately I have been seeing a lot of rewrites posted here and at other sites around the fandom, and it got me in the mood to do my own rewrite on an old favorite that was written post-gof.

So my question is what do people think of rewritten stories?
Does anyone take the time to read them, do you see them as a consent-given plagurism, or somewhere in between?

 

So long as consent is given, they're OK. Especially if they take an good idea by an OK author and turn it into a good idea by a good author. I prefer rewrites that are complete rewrites, from the start, as opposed to rewrites that continue where the previous author left off. They have much better continuity, and the whole story improves if taken on by a superior author.

Without consent, your name is tridentwatch.

 

I agree with Taure. I'm starting to write my own HP story, but I'm not sure how to start it out. (I have a story on FFnet already, but have been planning to re-write it since it totally stinks. I want to re-write it now because I got some helpful point outs from my ex-girlfriend.) Anyway, ya, I'd read a story if it's been re-written by a good author and has been written in a superior writting style versus its old author.

 

It is much easier to take plots/set ups and reconstruct them.

I've yet to see a rewrite feel like it's been rewritten though. I avoid them, personally.

 

For the most part I feel like rewrites are a waste of time. Very rarely are fanfics worth the effort of rehashing a good idea just because you can make it cleaner or arguably better. Polish it all you want, but I'd rather read a good new story than read a very good clean up of a story I already know.

One of the definite exceptions to the rule is Taliath's Young Again. But that was a very rough unedited unfinished idea by one author that another turned into a veritable masterpiece. S.L's A Second Chance for me rides the fence between almost worth the improvements and not worth the effort. It's better, but I'd still rather see how the original ended than two different equally unfinished versions.

Editing your own older fics for grammatical errors or incomprehensible run on sentences is fine. But to actually take the time to rewrite yours or someone else's? Meh. There are plenty of good ideas out there no one's written yet.

 

Yeah, I agree with nonjon.

If you really have to do a 'rewrite', I'd rather see an abandoned story continued from where the old author left off, instead of rewritten from the scratch. Sure, correct a few mistakes and straighten a plotlines you need to, but then get on with new chapters, instead of rehashing old stuff over and over again.

 

I also agree that complete rewrites generally aren't very good, though I did ask someone today if I could post in the challenge forum a request for a continuation/rewrite of his fic. He said he would never continue it and I loved it soo soo much.