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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

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

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction and Writing Resource' started by Luna_Nightshade, Nov 24, 2011.

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  1. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Jul 31, 2014

    This. So much. Unless there's a good reason to have them there, away they go.
     
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  2. Cowgirl Jedi 1701

    Cowgirl Jedi 1701 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 21, 2016
    Well, I hope you'll forgive me if I disagree a little.:D

    I like nice, rich descriptions. And for that you a absolutely need adjectives and adverbs.

    Though it probably is a good idea not to go overboard with the modifiers within dialogue.

    Unless one of the speakers is describing something. :p
     
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  3. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

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    Jul 31, 2014
    Descriptions outside of the dialogue are OK, until the whole thing becomes a wall of purple prose that is impossible to read and enjoy at the same time.
     
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  4. gaarastar58

    gaarastar58 Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Dec 19, 2010
    I've been looking at the structure of the Jedi Order and there are two distinct titles within their hierarchy: Master of the Order and Grand Master. Information in the Wook is a little vague on what the purpose and role of these titles are. It seems the Master of the Order is the appointed leader of the Jedi Order as a whole entity, while the Grand Master is the head of the Jedi Council (I am going by the Canon definition of the two titles, in the Legends article they are the opposite but that doesn't make much sense to me).

    Since there is no real data on how these titles functioned in practice, which do you think has more authority when it comes to making decisions?

    For example, let's say Yoda (Grand Master) had a point of view which differed to Mace Windu's (Master of the Order) and the council was split down the middle on making a decision. How would they make a decision, and which has more authority?
     
  5. Snocone

    Snocone Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 14, 2015
    I believe there is certainly a balance. I prefer peppering in descriptions throughout a scene to gradually build a reader's idea of the people or situations involved. This breaks up the monotony of

    *A GIANT AND EXHAUSTIVE description of this new character down to the color of her eyes, the town she grew up in, and the color and waviness of her hair*

    Other Character: "Hello there."

    *Flashback to when the character was eight years old and her very best friend said "Hello there" with the exact same tone and rhythm, along with a description of his face down to the shape of his nose*

    Character:
    "Hi."
     
  6. Snocone

    Snocone Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 14, 2015

    I have heard that Mace Windu was the ultimate decision-maker of the Council in the prequels, which has (I believe) 12 masters. In my own fiction I've made it more of a democratic approach, though Yoda and Windu are the ones who typically interact with the outside world and relay decisions the Council has made. I've called them all Grand Masters, but I'm not sure that this is absolutely correct.
     
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  7. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

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    Jul 31, 2014
    Ouch, we have arrived to my (possible) pet peeve - 'em flashbacks. Most people make them too long and they're better in the "as you know" manner, I think. The example you provided looks good, but when it's pages and pages of what disrupts the original flow of the story, I'm not too keen on it.
     
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  8. Snocone

    Snocone Jedi Knight star 1

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    Sep 14, 2015

    Nah, I'm telling you, I can't stand that either. The book Death Star by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry was unfortunately a prime contender for the worst example of this. One single action would take place... followed by 5 pages of purposeless flashback nonsense.
     
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  9. Ewok Poet

    Ewok Poet Force Ghost star 6

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    Jul 31, 2014
    Thanks for warning me, because it was on my reading list, for tech reasons. I'll stick to the Wook article and allow people to correct me if I got something wrong. :p

    I still like the cartoon episodes Michael did, tho. :)
     
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  10. Mistress_Renata

    Mistress_Renata Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 9, 2000
    The flashbacks didn't bother me that much, and I thought they did a great job on characterizations, so I'd keep it on your reading list. Plus, it has my all-time favorite Imperial flunky, Moff Jerjerrod! For random useless ramblings, I'd nominate Wendig any day.

    I'm always torn; there is a fine line in the use of adverbs and adjectives, and I'm not sure I manage to straddle it all the time...
     
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  11. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2005
    Hey guys. This is kind of a weird question...

    So I was wondering why there are so many droids in the GFFA. It occurred to me that the planets aren't particularly overpopulated either; I think Alderaan had 4 billion people on it (?) when it was destroyed. So I'm wondering... was there some kind of catastrophic disease or something that wiped out an enormous chunk of the galactic population in the past? That would explain why we have droid mechanics, copilots, security guards, waiters, farm hands, etc. They replaced the people who once held those jobs, but the people aren't there anymore.

    Would it be reasonable to hire someone to do a job if a droid could do it? If you are unskilled labor or you don't have a professional career education, how would you get a job if a droid could be purchased to do the same work?

    Or do you think droids work WITH people, doing the same work and complementing each other instead of in competition with each other?
     
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  12. Mira Grau

    Mira Grau Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2016
    divapilot
    I think the relativley low population numbers mostly due to sifi authors having problems with scale. For example in the movies the entire clone army was said to have been 1,2 million soldiers with is an incredibly low number.
    I guess there is quite a lot of droid labor used given the technological advanced state of the galaxy. Maybe there are no factory workers anymore at least in the core as that work is done by droids. I remeber a story in wich Anakin and Obi Wan infiltrate a factory and Obi Wan notes his job is just to check if the droids work properly. So I guess droids do the manual labor on many worlds with workers checking on them.
     
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  13. Mistress_Renata

    Mistress_Renata Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 9, 2000
    This is a question I have pondered myself! Catastrophic disaster, or maybe pan-Galactic plague? Of course, there were wars before the Galactic Civil War, and the Sith...

    Could it also be that space exploration and colonization outpaced population growth? Or space travel linkage to a low birthrate/high infant mortality rate?

    And I can't decide if droids are an expensive luxury or if human/living servants are an expensive luxury? Certainly droids in factories, but maybe not on less populated worlds? It's a good question, divapilot!

    Of course I think this is the REAL reason. One million might sound like a lot to them.
     
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  14. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

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    Nov 30, 2005
    The reason I'm asking is that I have a character who has no formal education beyond the basics and has never had to work outside of the family, and now has to find a job. What could this person do if there's already a droid designed for that? Do you think employers would prefer droids to people (less drama, more reliable), people over droids (more interesting, more versatile), or is there a feeling that either option is equally acceptable?
     
  15. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

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    Dec 16, 2012
    What kind of planet/area is s/he searching job in?
     
  16. Mira Grau

    Mira Grau Force Ghost star 5

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    May 11, 2016
    I guess that depends on the job and the employer. I guess at least some people in the galaxy don't really like/trust droids so they might only employ people. (Which of course leads to the topic if droids are people or not, if they are sentient beings or just machines). So your character might still get that job over a droid.
    Also the work of a person might be of better quality than a droids creation.
    So I guess both options people or droids are commonly used in many different jobs.
     
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  17. divapilot

    divapilot Force Ghost star 4

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    Nov 30, 2005
    Excellent points, Anedon. Gamiel, any planet suitable for human habitation, preferably inner core and industrialized.
     
  18. Snocone

    Snocone Jedi Knight star 1

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    Sep 14, 2015

    This sounds like an entire story in itself. Someone in the Star Wars universe wondering where all the people went, or why there are so many droids, or what his/her place is in the economy of his/her planet...

    Not something I've considered much myself. I've had living and droid taxi drivers, servants, cooks, etc... really it just depends on the situation and needs. They seem to get along fine in any case, though. The only antagonistic robot I can think of off the top of my head is IG-88, and he was already made to be an assassin droid.
     
  19. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    Women's equality movement in RL had quite a boost when the menfolk went off to war, and lots of roles needed filling.

    The amount of conflicts in the GFFA, might mean that the droid thing - excellent point, BTW - may have been caused by organics going off to war, rather than necessarily being plague or non-violent catastrophe victims.

    Some races, like Defels and Gammoreans, don't like droids; so their planets and colonies would be suitable for @divapilot's character to find work.
    The service industries near spaceports, would seem to support organic workers, as you don't know what random armed spacers are going to drop in, and you don't want them accidentally riled by a droid.

    Neimoudians seem to use droids as intermediaries between themselves and the world.
     
  20. Snocone

    Snocone Jedi Knight star 1

    Registered:
    Sep 14, 2015

    http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Alsakan/Legends is a neat one :)
     
  21. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    Ok.

    What we have seen so are many droids specialist, they know how to do one job, interact with their owner but not much more, if a job needs flexibility or creativity you hire a biobag. Most kind of real assistant/sidekick kind of jobs are probably done by people and not droids.

    One possibility is that s/he could work as a day labour with different odd jobs, maybe doing simple work that is normally done by a droid while the droid is being repaired.

    There is the possibility that on your planet some jobs traditionally should be done by a human. Or there are areas where they only use low-tech, like a temple where the only normal-tech is a stationary communication unit and the light in the main hall; or maybe there is some kind of space-Amish on your planet, where your character can work as a field hand f.ex.

    Since many worlds in SW are socially inspired by pre-1950:s countries/cultures so is it possible that he could just sign up as the lowest hand on a ship.
     
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  22. Sith-I-5

    Sith-I-5 Force Ghost star 6

    Registered:
    Aug 14, 2002
    Isn't there anything in that Uninteresting Jobs thread that sounds suitable?

    How about escort, tour guide, waiter, waitress, courier, messenger, wash speeders for money, walk your pet for you, grow his own crops, food taster, secret shopper, day labourer, criminal enforcer.
     
  23. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    If you have a planet where the only flora growing that you can make items of are different kinds of reed, what items can you make? I know of: baskets, boats, armour and you could probably create threads from the fibers thereby getting cloth.
     
  24. Cowgirl Jedi 1701

    Cowgirl Jedi 1701 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 21, 2016
    You can make houses out of thatch too.
     
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  25. Kurisan

    Kurisan Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2016
    gg
     
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2021
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