# Anyone else worried about dying?



## Mectojic (May 9, 2015)

Does anyone else, like myself, have such grand plans for their fantasy series, that they are afraid they will 'pull a Robert Jordan' and die before they can finish it?
I'm by no means old yet, but death is often unexpected, right?

In terms of the series, I'm talking about the kind of fantasy series as complicated and long as the Song of Ice and Fire series. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that GRRM doesn't die before he finishes. 

P.S. this is all just fun talk, but death is something some authors must actually consider when writing.


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## Feo Takahari (May 9, 2015)

My immune system hates me, so I lived with that fear for about four years. I'm starting to get out from under it now that I've been in remission for so long. But honestly, the only way I would ever finish all my ideas if I stopped having new ideas, and since I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon, I've got to make peace with the fact that some of the things I've come up with won't be completed.


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## TheCatholicCrow (May 9, 2015)

Death? .3LOL. I'm Catholic. That's pretty much ALL we think about. 

But seriously -I have thought about it. What creative person hasn't? I feel like even if I hired ghostwriters to fully flesh out 50%-80% of my ideas for me, I still wouldn't finish before my flesh returns to the Earth. 


But...

        when you think about it like this, it makes the ideas that we do choose to write (even if its just to the end of draft 1)all the  more precious. There was something special about that one that called out to you like a voice, late in the night. It possesses you for weeks, maybe even months or years, until you finish and when you do, it's the most beautiful experience of all. Even if the grammar is horrid, or if nobody ever reads it, nothing can change the fact that _you_ _created _ something. That you sat at your computer or desk or typewriter or whatever it is you use, and you filled page after page with letters, words, sentences. You gave life to people. You shared the burden of their problems and flaws. You decided if he got the girl or if she confessed to to her sister's murder or whatever the case is in your world.


It makes me wonder, for every masterpiece that has lasted through time, how many ideas did the author have to sift through before they reached that special one? How many different things were almost written instead of Crime and Punishment? Or Hamlet? Or Faust? Had Dickens even thought of an ending for Edwin Drood? What would that have looked like?

In all honesty though, death is part of what gives meaning to life. I hope that if I do die that my family has the sense to tidy up my manuscript(s) and publish them on my behalf. On second thought, I'm not so sure I'd want to give them that kind of power over my work. Hmmmmm ... What you do think? It is rude to publish something posthumously?


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## Tom (May 9, 2015)

Sometimes when I look at my stack of notebooks full of jotted-down future ideas, or find myself thinking up new ones, I start to wonder if I'll get around to them all before I die. It's not really something I like to dwell on, as I've had a lot of deaths in my family, and death is one of the things that kind of scares me. 

I don't know what will happen to my ideas and half-finished manuscripts if I do die. They'll probably remain the way I left them, since I never plot anything, and my worldbuilding and mythos change all the time. I hate the thought of someone piecing my stuff together wrong.


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## Devor (May 9, 2015)

I don't think about death.  Instead I kind of withdraw and tremble quietly, with my brain too numb to think.

:spin:

More seriously, I don't think anybody would care enough at the moment to look into work posthumously.  Even if they wanted to, my work is too much of a mess, and I think even my notes would look vague and unfinished to anybody else.


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## Lunaairis (May 9, 2015)

On the flip side. I'm not really worried about dying, got a lot of crappy things on both sides of my family so I quickly grew to accept that my life may be short. I'm more worried about not being able to finish what I've started, as something always distracts me from finishing a story.


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## goldhawk (May 9, 2015)

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”


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## Gurkhal (May 9, 2015)

Everybody will follow Robert Jordan because I don't see anyone actually running out of ideas. 

But essentially I don't worry. All things must come to an end so that something new can follow us, and I'm not afraid of my part in nature. I just hope that the time I've been given on this earth will be roughly equal in the good to the bad, or perhaps a bit more good if possible.


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## Penpilot (May 9, 2015)

Dying? If I write something that lots of people would be pissed that I didn't finish it because I died, I could live with that.  That means I wrote something lots of people liked. 

As for not finishing the story, I'd do what Robert Jordan did. I'm not really keen on his books, but I completely respect what he did to ensure the story was finished. He dictated tons and tons of notes, enough for not just one book but three.

I so respect that. I mean As his health declined, no one would fault him for focusing just on himself, but he didn't. He made sure his fans were taken care of.


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## K.S. Crooks (May 9, 2015)

I have Peter Pan Syndrome and plan to live forever. My personal theme song is Forever Young by Alphaville. Good thing, since there is so much I want to do. However I think the coolest thing would be for other writers to continue with your characters. The way comic characters such as Superman and Batman or Star Trek continues on even though the creators have passed away.


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## Devor (May 9, 2015)

K.S. Crooks said:


> I have Peter Pan Syndrome and plan to live forever.



I have a friend who tried this (so the telling goes).  It worked for him all his life.

When it failed him in the end, it didn't concern him one bit.


*Copied pretty closely from a post on Quora.


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## Androxine Vortex (May 9, 2015)

I am a believer in Christ and I have accepted Jesus as my Savior, so I know whatever happens to me, I am not afraid or worried about death. And when it comes to my work, I don't stress about it as much as I used to because I understand that once I pass on, all the material things I do in this life will not matter; they don't have eternal value so I don't beat myself up about it like I used to. And that's the same reason as to why I don't hope for fame and popularity when it comes to my work because those things seem great now but are fleeting and don't have any value. I don't write as much as I used to and I try to do more things that are profitable for God. I like to look at things through metaphors and analogies and this is how I see it:

Suppose you are an investor and you know that some day the dollar will become completely worthless, so why spend so much time building and saving up investments on something that will not have value?

And I know to some this might seem a little bit pessimistic but it has brought me peace knowing that through anything my life can throw at me, I have my salvation though Christ and that is something that nobody can take away from me. I write as a hobby and if I die before my work gets published, so be it. I have greater things to look forward to.


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## skip.knox (May 10, 2015)

I'm 63, so yes. Somehow, I'm no more productive or disciplined because of it.


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## ThinkerX (May 10, 2015)

I have a sign on my fridge, snagged from an old job.  Ragged looking mimeographed thing.  Shows a little kid with spiked hair in a striped shirt.  Caption says:

'God put me on this earth to accomplish a certain number of things.
Right now I am so far behind I will never die.'

That's how I feel much of the time.*  But, then again, I'm past fifty with few finished projects to show for it.  Anymore, I don't start writing projects unless I have at least semi-solid ideas about beginning, middle, and end. 

*Though my religious beliefs, such as they are, tend towards reincarnation, rather than dogmatic heaven/hell/exclusive salvation.


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## Mectojic (May 10, 2015)

I too am Christian... I know I will be saved, looking forward to it etc...
This is less about fame and all that, but more about enjoyment in having completed a book series. Especially in my case, where my ideas for the series began when I was a child, and I want it to be my only series, since I have had it planned from the beginning.

So think of it less as a fear of death (since I have none), but just wanting what I started with to have a finish.


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## A. E. Lowan (May 10, 2015)

I don't have issues, I have the subscription, and a very long series in the works (we're talking about fifteen books or so).  But I also have a fantastic partner in both work and life who provides for the care and feeding of the damaged writer... so yeah, I worry about it, but the time will pass, worry or not.  I write my butt off because I'm driven to it, and let everything else roll right on past.  If I keep at it, maybe I'll live to see the last lines of our series, _The Books of Binding_, in print.


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## Saigonnus (May 10, 2015)

Whether we are writers, filmmakers, artists or whatever, we all leave behind unfinished business. I see no point in dwelling on the inevitable fact that one day I will no longer be walking and talking, living my life.  I just try to do the best I can with the time I have; even if I don't always succeed. 




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## skip.knox (May 10, 2015)

I'm not sure the afterlife is much of a comfort in this department. Can I still get published?  In Hell is it all vanity press?  ;-)


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## Giya Kusezu (May 12, 2015)

I have thought about death before, but I've never really worried about it. I can count the number of readers I have on one hand, and I'm related to most of those. I don't have to worry about anyone publishing my work posthumously. When it comes time for me to die, I figure there's really nothing for me to do but accept it - though I will probably be sad that I didn't get to write about more of my ideas.


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## Legendary Sidekick (May 12, 2015)

Mectojic said:


> *Anyone else worried about dying?*


Well, I wasn't until I read this thread. And now I'm going to close my window so the lawnmower guy doesn't hear me wailing OH MY GOD! I'M GONNA DIE! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE! WHERE'D THE YEARS GO? THIS SUCKS!

Or... I just type it in all caps and get it out of my system. And now that I have, my thinking is clearer than ever. I'm just gonna leave this little excerpt in my will along with instructions for my daughters to tack it on to whatever WIP I happen to be in the middle of when I croak.



> Addison looked over to her current rag tag party of unlikely allies and said, "Well, once again, we killed the giant beast, I miraculously survived losing a significant amount o' me blood and skin, and all o' you survived too. Too bad about that guy who died, but for the rest of us, new adventures await."
> 
> Suddenly, the sun faded. It was a white swirl, a red-gray speck, then nothing. The world was black.
> 
> ...



That's right. I'm taking my world and characters with me.


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## Garren Jacobsen (May 12, 2015)

Honestly I am not too worried about dying as the death relates to my works. First, I'm not published so even if I die no one will be all that disappointed. Second, even if I do get published I am going to change my estate plan to reflect that in the event that my series is not done upon the time of my death my executor will have to find a suitable replacement to finish the series. And if I have unpublished novels to get those cleaned up and published. Last if I only have a few I will direct the executor to either let them fall by the wayside or to sell them to whomever wants them. I'll also make sure that if any of these are made into movies that my executor will option those off to whomever they consider best suited to make the movie. So, even after death my works will get completed.


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## Fyle (May 12, 2015)

I think Axel Rose has this covered

"I don't worry 'bout nothin' cause worrying is a waste of my time."

Worrying about something totally out of your control like death IS a waste of time, just keep writting.


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## MineOwnKing (May 12, 2015)

Definitely a concern for me at this point. 

I've been around, seen things, worked many places. Now I look back and things have crumbled, friends and coworkers are gone. Nothing seems to have any meaning or longevity except for words.

People that knew me and admired me in my youth are dead, and no one cares or remembers what I was or the potential that I possessed.

I'm really not interested in any form of legacy, but I'm tired to the point of breaking, of creating things that expire.

Lovers drift, kid's move away, elderly forget, projects fail and crumble, or linger unappreciated of my time and efforts.

Only words stay unchanged, without age, permanent.

I still have much to say, and far too little time to make it happen.


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## ThinkerX (May 12, 2015)

> That's right. I'm taking my world and characters with me.



'Hey, lookee what I found!'

'Oh?'

'Remember those corny stories dad used to write?  Well, here they are!'

::much reading and laughing::

'Hey, this ones unfinished!'

'This one too.  Hmm...You know I think I know what he had in mind here.  Let me find that instant 'dicta-write' thing...'

'Here's the auto rewrite-proofreader...'

'Ok, I think we're in business...'

::taps button::

and somewhere somebody stirs in their grave...


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## Legendary Sidekick (May 12, 2015)

ThinkerX said:


> and somewhere somebody stirs in their grave...


ZOMBIE DAD: "Girrrrrrls… IIII juuuust wannnnnnna saaaaay IIII'm soooo prouuuuud."

DAUGHTER 1: "Oh, Daddy. You always did say I had the brains to make it as a writer!"

ZOMBIE DAD: "Braaaaainnnnnnssss…"

(Corny laughter ensues.)


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## Tom (May 12, 2015)

I would definitely come back as a zombie if someone started finishing my writing. I'd never rest in peace knowing my stuff was being tampered with!

Zombie me: Whaaaaatttt yoooooouuuuuu dooooooooinnnnngggg?!

Sister or brother (whoever tries it): Just writing the end of your unfinished novel for you!

Zombie me: Glllllaaaaaarrrggggghhhhhhh! Yooouuuu ruuuuiiiinnn iiiittt!!

(I chase my unfortunate sibling away. I then return to the unfinished manuscript, only to realize that zombies can't write nice prose.)

Zombie me: NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!


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## Giya Kusezu (May 13, 2015)

Legendary Sidekick said:


> ZOMBIE DAD: "Girrrrrrls… IIII juuuust wannnnnnna saaaaay IIII'm soooo prouuuuud."
> 
> DAUGHTER 1: "Oh, Daddy. You always did say I had the brains to make it as a writer!"
> 
> ...



Lol. Special Zombie Dad edition


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## Ayaka Di'rutia (May 13, 2015)

I'm pretty sure I'll be dead before I finish writing all the books I want in my major fantasy series.


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## Fyle (May 14, 2015)

Ayaka Di'rutia said:


> I'm pretty sure I'll be dead before I finish writing all the books I want in my major fantasy series.



Optimism is always good to see on the ole' forums.


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## Philip Overby (May 14, 2015)

I have several health problems that have plagued me over time. So in my mind, I'm self-pubbing, submitting stuff, and doing what I can to have something out there in the world. I totally understand people that plan every step of their careers carefully, but before you know it time has slipped away. That is why I always encourage anyone to produce the best work 2015 You can make. And next year 2016 You, and so on.


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## WeilderOfTheMonkeyBlade (May 14, 2015)

I'm 18, I have the immortality of youth. However. . . 

I have something far, far worse than mere death. I have A-LEVELS!"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! starting tomorrow, I might as well be dead!


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## Chessie (May 14, 2015)

If I die before finishing all of the books I have planned in my head, then I hope God will allow me to write in heaven. <3


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## Svrtnsse (May 14, 2015)

If I run out of stories to tell before I die, I'll have failed.


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