Am I allowed to rewrite a story that has been removed from RU?This is probably one of those very few occasions where I'd allow this. However, if it's a banned story you're rewriting, in place of your link to the previous version, you will put something along the lines of,
"This story was previously removed from RU for rules violations." Thankfully, I now have mod privileges, so I'll be able to search for it if this appears. (Do note, though, if I can't find it, your entry's disqualified.)
How about an old contest entry?Yes.
How about—Allow me to put it simply: with the exception of the banned stories above, if you can link it, and you have permission, then it's allowed. (No, banned stories are not free from the permission rule.)
—an author that is uncommunicable? Like if they vanished from the web, or its an anonymously posted story?Oh! Okay. One, I apologise for pre-emptively cutting you off as you were asking. Two, if you cannot get in contact with the original author, be it because the story was posted anonymously, the email has since become deactivated (yes, that happens), or the author has just disappeared, then I'm prepared to allow it. Similarly, if you've made a good-faith attempt to get in contact with the original author, but with no success, I'm prepared to allow it. This does come with two caveats, though:
- You must state in your preamble the situation in question (the story was posted anonymously, the email bounced back, the author was uncontactable, etc);
- Should the original author come on and say that they do not give permission, then the entry will be disqualified. (This caveat is one I do not see occurring, but I'm including in case the highly improbable happens. It's also possible, although equally highly improbable, that they'll come on and approve of the rewrite; you can probably guess which one I'm more hopeful for.)
If my entry is disqualified, can I try again?If you are able to within the timeframe, by all means. I know I don't make this obvious in the general contest rules, but should your entry be disqualified during any contest, as long as it is during the entry submission time, you can submit another story.
Can I extend my story past its previous conclusion?This is a tricky one, as it can be pretty difficult to define the difference between, "This ending feels like a bad place to finish the story; I'm gonna extend it," and, "I'm just adding the next chapter to this story I've been actively working on." I'll err on the side of generosity here: unless this is an active story with a previously stated number of chapters that the author has not yet reached, appending to (i.e. adding to the end of) stories will be allowed.
What other kinds of revisions are allowed?This is not an exhaustive list, but from the top of my head:
- Fleshing out a part of the story that was previously vague;
- Character description rewrites;
- In the case of previously banned stories, age adjustments;
- Rewriting poorly-conceived scenes...
The list goes on.
Can I rewrite my entire story from scratch?If you have the time, and keep the same rough plot, sure. Just remember, this is not an occasion for you to write up a brand new story and pass it off as a "rewrite" of an unrelated one.
What if I change which character is the subject of the story?Again, another interesting one. In this case, you'll need to explain in the preamble to your entry why you feel this character should be treated as the main character as opposed to the previous one. "They have a much more interesting story to tell" is a good reason; "Because I wanna" is not.
