Star Wars Writing Tips and Tricks.

The Design of a Plot.

This can ultimately be the make or break of one's story.

If there is no overarching story that readers can follow then, as I have seen at least one author put it, the entire thing becomes a 'hot mess' of interwoven ideas and plots that do not necessarily fit together in the way that they were intended to by the author.

We're all taught in school, (at least in Australia), that a story has a beginning, middle and end. That plot progression goes action-packed beginning, backstory, rising tension, climax and solution. This also holds true over the course of a series as well. There is no real limit as to how many tightening tension parts there can be, or how long the backstory is. In the Rowan of Rin series by Emily Roddha, in the first book, there are seven points of tension as they make their way up the mountain, each one becoming graver than the last.

Conversely, a story does not have to follow the strict beginning, middle and end formula. Think of the film Megamind. It begins near the end when the titular character is falling to his death before it then flashes back in time to explain how things ended up that way. In the same way, the plot progression above does not have to be followed in the same strict order. In The Lord of the Rings movies, we get a majority of the world building and backstory in the opening scenes, narrated by the elf Galadriel who has lived through the entire period before we begin the story proper with Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.

These are all valid ways to write a new story.
However, be wary of creating plot holes within the woven web of secrets you write within your story.

A plot hole is an inconsistency within a storyline that goes against the flow of logic already established in the series by the novels plot. If your character can't fire-bend at the beginning of the novel because they are an earth-bender, then they should not suddenly become the second avatar of the series in the fourth chapter and have already mastered the other elements as well.

You probably didn't think that entirely through if that was the case.

Everyone has different ways to approach, plan out and eventually write their own stories.

The way in which I plan and write out my stories is to think about how I want it to start and end. Once I have that, I then think about how many chapters I want, typically around 20 though this is not the case with all books, this is at least where I begin. I find that having the chapters and their subsequent titles helps me remember and continue writing over the course of publishing a story.

Additionally, music plays a major part in helping me creating and visualising how I would like a scene to play out and come to life within a particular chapter and/or book. SWRC: Rising Resistance utilises most of the Hunchback of Notre Dame soundtracks, both the 1996 Disney film and the 2014-2015 stage adaptation, whereas the seventh book, as of now, utilises much of the How To Train Your Dragon 1-3 and Pocahontas movie soundtrack.

This is just a personal way of planning out chapters. I also find that AMV's to my current favourite TV series, movies, etc. help me form ideas about my books, series and chapters.

A short, though can be longer, description in each chapter also helps me remember what is supposed to happen when and where. I erase these as I complete the points and/or when I'm about to publish the chapter. I often write the equivalent of brief synopsises at the tops of each chapter as an aid to the writing process.

I also typically include a notes chapter prior to the prologue that doesn't get published. This contains important information about the story that I need to remember to ensure it flows smoothly and thus does not create any of the plot holes mentioned earlier. Things on it include characters basic info (eg, eye/hair/skin colour, birthday, alternative name if applicable, etc.), plot info about the overarching story and how it leads into the next book (also if applicable). This is constantly updated as the story goes on and new ideas are formed.

Once these steps are complete, I then begin writing the chapters in the book. I usually write each chapter in the week leading up to its release, hence my synopsises, though inspiration can strike at anytime. If this is the case, and I had this really good idea for chapter 15 but I was only at chapter 3, I would go write it down in chapter 15 so that it is somewhere and if it ultimately doesn't work, then I can just cut it out entirely or move it to where it does fit. If it does work, then I've saved myself some time by already writing part of that chapter.

When it comes time to hit that publish button, for the first time it can be daunting. You're basically letting a part of your soul being released out into the wilds of the internet for millions others to see. But what has been suggested many times by many other authors, is try to update at least once a week at about the same time every week.

I understand that it is difficult to maintain a constant one chapter per week update over the course of a book. I would aim for an update between every Friday-Sunday, though there were times when this simply was not possible, especially for students in their final year/s of school and uni students (eg myself). A simple shoutout on your conversation page or in the book itself explaining that you can't update for x-amount of time during exams or because school/uni has become stressful or your family life is suffering is appreciated by your readership. This way they don't suffer waiting for the next chapter that may not come out for a while.

Just think about making your comeback chapter a really good and longer chapter to makeup for the past inactivity due to real life circumstances. This is very much appreciated.

Next, we delve into the art of story pacing and how this idea can be used to further advance the topics and themes developed and expressed in your Star Wars stories.
Feedback is greatly appreciated, and further topic suggestions are always open!