Yes - fairly often between updates. I am far from being a bastion of health and I have a ton of genetic predispositions for all sorts of horrible things to happen to my mind and body. It just would seem such a shame to have all the work done and have no one ever see the result, but unless I bug test each time I update and have it ready to post, even if I had someone willing to post my games if something terrible would happen to me, they probably wouldn’t work in the between update state due to unfixed bugs and such.
Obviously, I haven’t, and I have no knowledge to facilitate such a thing, but I think it would be kind of cool if my works might be posted as open source if I were to suddenly expire or have something equivalent happen (i.e. stroke with loss of capacity to create, code, and write or something similiar). From my friends set, I think there’s really only a couple of them that would be able to finish these games, and, while I love my games and obviously think they are the best thing ever, I can’t see any of my friends being willing to put in the time to finish them in the event of my untimely demise - it’s just too much work to ask of someone - they have their own life goals and passions, and finishing my games just wouldn’t be it. Thus, my wish that they might become open source if I did die or have an equivalent circumstance - though I’d probably add corollaries such as my pen name must be given credit (i.e. written by Ed Lawrence & etc etc.) and maybe some note of such in the stat page, and I’d probably want to stipulate which material I’d be okay with people changing and which I wouldn’t, what matterial might be removed or adjusted and what must not be, what messages I’d be okay with my work conveying and which I wouldn’t, etc.
I have been thinking along those lines every time we had a death in the family and, yes, sometimes I wonder if I should get more finished and published because if I don’t do it, who will?
It’s very sad to think that some stories just vanish because the only person or people to tell them are gone.
Not only creative writing but also life stories.
It’s important to think about it before it’s too late and get thinks settled.
I actually had this on my mind leading up to my open-heart surgery. Thankfully I came out the other end and am recovering at a decent pace so the only person who has to worry about my work is myself.
Other people may not care, that’s true. And I can accept that. But writing is everything to me. It has intrinsic value. I don’t want to let myself down more than other considerations.
I definitely understand that it realistically won’t matter after I pass. I guess it gives me peace of mind that my sister or friends will at least be able to use my ideas and notes if they want to should I fail. It won’t have all been a giant waste, necessarily. I don’t want them to feel a bunch of pressure to complete anything of course; it’s more a self-soothing issue.
Young, probably, depending on perspective. Healthy is a whole other beast, but I at least am not likely to die or become incapacitated unless struck by deep misfortune. To be completely honest, I am preoccupied worrying about everything. But I’m about as okay as it’s going to get for the moment. Thank you for the concern.
It would diverge from your style and some of the original vision, but if you have thorough notes for instance, another writer could definitely follow through on the end points should they wish to do so. In my case, my sister is my writing partner and I am hers, so we’ve both talked about taking over each other’s work as memorials if the unthinkable occurs.
I can definitely see how an open source concept could be lovely. Personally, I wouldn’t want that outcome as I’d prefer it be meaningful to someone who meant a great deal to me and who’d have a better chance of understanding my intentions, but that’s only if they feel driven to finish it. I don’t want my ghost to stress them out with unreasonable demands, they already have their in-laws for that.
I’m glad to hear that you’re doing well!
– To everyone else whom I did not respond to, thank you for commenting. I did read and appreciate (or giggle at in the case of the PotC jokes) everything, I just did not have something to add in all cases.
I never said anything to my mother about it, but if something were to happen to me, yeah, I’d give her full permission to upload everything. Give her my tumblr, tell her where all my notes are, etc. I’d hate to leave it unfinished.
I couldn’t ask her to code anything, goodness, no. That’d be too overwhelming for multiple reasons. Leave it as an option, sure, in case she wanted to try. Otherwise, I would be telling her to put it up on AO3 and dust her hands clean of it. I have a couple of friends I could turn to as well, but they’re overseas so it’d be a bit difficult . Good thing is though, I’ve written Book 2, loosely plotted 3, have some pretty detailed notes scattered, tons of scrapped ideas. I think it would be fairly easily work for Ma. Well. Emotional turmoil aside.
Well, entire epics have been passed down through oral tradition, I guess it depends on how well you think you could audibly describe an outline . Thorough written notes is only one example of how a passing of the torch could work out theoretically. Not that you specifically are interested in passing any torches, but the hypothetical you.
For myself, as long as the content I already made wasn’t altered to much, I don’t think I’d mind multiple interpretations of what the middle and end story content should be. Cats and stories have millions of ways to be written or skinned (or maybe it is the other way around), and I think the very concept of IF/multi-path stories prove that.
. Good thing is though, I’ve written Book 2, loosely plotted 3, have some pretty detailed notes scattered, tons of scrapped ideas. I think it would be fairly easily work for Ma. Well. Emotional turmoil aside.