Resource Fanfic Writer's Desk: Your Place for Writing Discussion, Questions, and Advice

Franciscan

Probably not but I am a person who know a bit* about monastic fashion and if they just say monastic it could mean anything from European simple Franciscan robes to Tibetan Gelug robes and beyond? Also are we talking about nuns or monks?

* only a little bit

That could work. It is for a fic where a community dress in clothing similar to what we see Jedi/the Lars family wear.

 

Home-spun/ rough-spun woolen robes, worn over a belted tunic with loose pants and boots.

 

Double post because I have a question now: any tips for writing lightsaber combat without writing a blow by blow duel? I am writing about Doran's Jedi Trials. According to the book The Jedi Path, one of the five tests to becoming a Jedi is the Test of (lightsaber)Skill. I don't want to spend a lot of time on this, a paragraph or two at most, but I don't want to skip over it, either.

Any advice for someone whose fencing knowledge comes mostly from Robin Hood Daffy ("Ho! Ha ha! Dodge! Turn! Parry! Spin!") and The Princess Bride?

 

Have you read the novelization of Revenge of the Sith? The opening duel with Dooku is done really well. Now obviously your scene will be less dramatic but maybe it could give you some ideas

 

Have you read the Wheel of time series? Jordan have a system where more or less every maneuverer have a namn and he call them out in the writing when people duel, I remember it working rather well.

 

If you're using these in a roleplaying game, why does it matter how they look? Just curious. Discard my question if you're using them in an actual story.

 

Gamiel

It is true--monasteries are of the Christian faith specifically, and while George Lucas intentionally decided that the Jedi were some form of sci-fi monk once the prequels came out, it's an awkward image to convey with that terminology.

Personally, I modified Jedi clothing to be more specific to the individual in my own writing. For instance, Obi-Wan wore a "long, dark grey Coruscanti jacket" to give him a sort of young, cultured image. And of course there's always the option to keep "robe" simply that while having a lot of room to describe the clothing that Jedi wear under their robes--tan tunic, wide belt, loose pants, long sleeves, wrapped boots, folded collar, etc.

If you must have a robe, there's "long, layered cloak and hood" or "worn/tattered, heavy outer garment" or other words for fabric with robe-sounding modifiers attached to them that will help people think, "Oh right, I remember what Jedi robes look like." I believe I've used cloak several times myself. Garb, garment, jacket, etc. are all good too.

 

Yeh, I know what you mean. Try to get the flow of the fight without reporting every single blow - who's on the attack/defense etc. You can just paint a general picture of the sabers clashing. Concentrate on their state of mind rather than exact vectors of attack. I hope this goes without saying, but the emotional build-up is far more important than the actual fight itself. See Tolkein. He actually mostly skips over the battles. The reader needs to care about the protagonists and what's at stake.

That said, zooming in to the decisive final few blows that determine the result of a duel can be an effective refocusing at the climactic moment.

 

I think this is the very best way to go about a lightsaber duel. If you're writing a technical journal about the various modes of lightsaber combat, you may as well describe each stroke. But if you're writing a novel about relatable, realistic people, then people will want to learn what they are bringing to the fight--their motives, their desires, their training, their dogmas.

 

DarthIshtar wrote a great guide for duels a long time ago. It's available on the defunct Fanfic Archive via the Wayback Machine here: http://web.archive.org/web/20100618004205/http://fanfic.theforce.net/articles.asp?action=view&ID=39

 

I still need to tackle the endgame of my Kylo versus Saber Guard duel.

 

I need to get back to my fiction... No more procrastination...

 

Well, after having written 8 chapters, after having introduced my main characters and the main plot, I am stucked. :-(
I know quite well how my story will end. I have already a draft of ending scenes. But it seems I lack something (inspiration?) to bridge where I am to the end. I miss the middle to be clear. And this frustrate me so much.
I have some ideas of what should happen in the middle, but all seems "flat".
If anyone already experienced this and have some pieces of advice to overcome such a situation, that would be nice to tell me

 

yahiko

I'm not sure what works best for you, but have you written an outline for it? I've found that helps me tremendously. Of course, you may have read that and said, "Psh, everyone knows to do that." Well, great! Why isn't that outline working for you? What is lame about it--the characters, do they arc? The settings--are they too routine or run-of-the-mill? The plot--is it predictable?

If it's the third one (it sounds like it is, in your case), I recommend thinking of something totally ridiculous (not silly, just... outlandish) that would throw a curveball in the whole plot, then attempting to form a page-long, extremely basic outline around that curveball to see if it is feasible. Even if you don't end up using that curveball mechanic, you just made something shocking and original, then made it understandable. That's a great exercise to see how flexible you can be with fun new ideas.

Random example: "Maybe one of the Jango Fett clones has defective programming and doesn't execute Order 66." -- I mean, it's not galaxy-shattering. But it presents a fun twist to what would otherwise be a bland, predictable story (yes, that was sort of a dig at Episode III). I don't know what your story is, but when you think of something in a hyper-caffeinated state that makes you go, "Oh man, that would never work... Would it? Hmmmm... Maybe..." you tend to revive that creative spark.

Don't forget that readers who are seeing your story for the first time haven't pored over it like you have, so it's still a surprise. Let someone who's familiar with the universe you're writing about read it and see what stands out to them.

 

While I don't necessarily agree that it has to be shocking, ridiculous can result in some great, great ideas. I agree.

 

Any suggestions on an already existing planet that don't have to much description and could work as a whiphid colony world?

 

yahiko I've experienced that. When it happens to me it means there is some severe logical plot hole in my "middle" - often something a character does that I just know a reader will read and say, "Eh? Why would he do that?" When I hit this wall I know I'm too close into the story and can't quite see the wood for the trees, or what the solution to that problem might be.

I put it down and think about something else. Maybe even start writing about something else. The problem is resolving itself in my subconscious, at the back of my mind, like a pressure cooker squeezing out juices from the ingredients. After a certain time period I look at it fresh again and BOOM, the solution is there.

If it is a matter of "flatness", sometimes adding a "And then things got even worse!" element can help.

Don't be afraid to change your ending (or your beginning) if needed.

K

 

Snocone and Kurisan
Thanks for your replies. Your advices are smart.

It seems I need to work the middle part of my plot more thouroughly indeed. I have an outline, but not precise enough which lacked key events.

Instead of a global plot, I am working on a plot by main characters, and it seems it has helped me yet to find new ideas and smoother transitions. With a plot by character, it seems also easier to visualize their progresses through the story.
I am also trying to increase stakes in order to remove "flatness". Not sure if this will work. We will see.

 

Could anyone confirm Coruscant has no moon?

 

Sorry, Coruscant has 3 moons.

 

Oh perfect! Thanks

 

How are they used?

 

Wookiepedia might say. That was the source of my data.

 

I have a question: I'm writing about some character in search for answers.

Some non-Force-user (I always refer to people unable to use the Force as NFUs in my writing) character designs an AI similar to what's outfitted in the first version of X0-X1 over the course of a few days almost entirely by herself. The other character commented that she could have done it without his assistance, near the end of that arc.

Since then, she always had that nagging feeling that the Force was using her as it would a computer, or that she was otherwise used by Force-users to enhance their cognitive functions. (But that didn't prevent her from designing a 380mm-caliber hypervelocity cannon afterward, without being Force-aided in any single way or having much outside assistance before the construction of the prototype began) But perhaps I have inadvertently introduced some latent Force-sensitivity in that character. She has always seen her own intellectual capabilities in a positive light however.

Could it be because she became psychotic or in some other way mentally ill? Or can people actually use the Force to use other people's brains to enhance their cognitive functions?

 

Well it is possible for Jedi and Sith (in ledgends at least) to make other people mire effective. The technique of battle mediation is used in war and enhances the effectivity of soldiers. They react quicker, understand better what is happening around them and work better together. Sout might be possible that a force user can make a non force user more intelligent, or better allow the non force user to use more of his or her potential. It could also be that a force user uses mind control to make the victim build the computer.