Discussion The Scribble Pad (Fanfic Writing Discussions)

Hello all. How often to come up against writing deja vu? In writing some of my sentences for the recent challenge, I am either finding that I am rewriting what I have already written or having the actual writing of some premonition of the past?

Have you experienced this?

 

Sorry, I don't know what this means.

 

Deja vu is the feeling or sense that you are experiencing something again, for a second time or more that you have already experienced. I just applied it my writing where a certain sentence or idea feels eerily familiar as if I had written it in the past. In other words writing something today that is the same as something I wrote a long time ago, though not necessarily on purpose.

 

Well, "premonition" only applies to the future, not the past, so that is probably what threw me.

Things we wrote before, don't automatically get erased as soon as we commit them to paper, so sure, sentence and ideas will hang around.

Because you say you try to write short things, this might seem more significant to you, whilst for me, to keep "continuity" in a story, I value having such things remaining on hand.

 

Occasionally I'll write something, sometimes something inconsequential, but more often something that seems particularly clever or good, maybe I'll even be pretty proud of it. I'll close the document and move onto something else. Then later, a few hours or a few days, sometimes after I've posted it sometimes before, maybe when I'm driving, maybe as I'm going to sleep, it will strike me that that clever sentence is familiar. Maybe I've written it before. Or worse, maybe I've read it before. Sometimes as I think about it I'll be sure I read it somewhere, I may even have a pretty good idea of where, and I'll start to panic a little, because I've unintentionally stolen a sentence or a wording. So, frantically, I'll try to find the original, to see how bad the theft is, if maybe I changed it just enough to not be too egregious. Only I can't find it. I look where I thought it might be. I google it. I do everything I can to find it again but I can't. Now I think maybe I didn't steal it. Maybe I wrote it before. Maybe I thought it before and promptly forgot it. Maybe it's just been sitting in my subconscious for a long time, waiting to break the surface. Or maybe I did steal it and I just haven't yet found the original...
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As long you're rewriting yourself, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Very good angle on the matter, @Tarsier
That is where you can get accidental plagiarism from.

One of my best interventions, saved someone from using a well known quote as his own, as the final flourish of his dissertation, when he came into my cyber-cafe to either email his work to the university, or get it scanned or printed, and was proudly telling me that he had woken up that morning, and out of the blue, this awesome phrase that he had made up, occurred to him, that was perfect to finish off the project.

I felt that I knew it from somewhere, Googled it, and turned my screen to show him.

 

Hi Sith-I-5. I think what I meant to say, which was still probably nonsensical, was that I had a premonition in the past that was being fulfilled in the moment. Still means it feels like I'm doing it again.

 

@brodiew -- what an interesting predicament! I never think I've written something word for word; I like to think that if I'm 'repeating' myself where given characters are concerned, I know I literally am not because the situation I'm focusing on is different, but the characters may be "struggling" or "coming to terms" with a consistent issue, e.g., Mara with trust, Luke with impetuousness.

 

Hi Nyota. It doesn't happen all the time, but from time to time a get a sense I've written it before, similar theme and similar wording. Anything is possible.

 

So @brodiew , how much are we talking here?

A sentence, a turn of phrase, a joke, or are you talking about something bigger like an entire story, or something inbetween?

As I said before, this sounds good for continuity, where you want the same character, across multiple chapters or stories, to sound consistent.

 

Pretty small potatoes, actually. Like a joke or a turn of phrase. Exactly.

 

Yeah, I have had that happen to me.

On my long-running E-Branch project, I recently had a character make internal reference to "the militant wing of Weight Watchers", and was struck by the feeling that I had used that concept before in the same piece.

I eventually tracked it down to an earlier E-Branch one-shot that I had written for an OTP Challenge, a couple years back, with a character vocalising about if historians have a militant wing.

Both people were colleagues, and for continuity's sake, I wrestled with how the second user might have heard it from the first, but ultimately, changed the more recent reference.

 

Speaking of writing Deja vu, I did write a scene that afterwards I felt like it was kinda similar to something I'd previously written.

The original was a birthday gift giving scene, out hiking in the woods. The second was a marriage proposal (same characters), out hiking in the wooded mountains. I think I even had the same reaction at first, a silence followed by unsureness on the part of the gift giver. I tweaked it in the edit so hopefully it's a bit less one to one.

But hey, you can always say it's 'rhyming' and claim it's a parallel

 

So, I'm kinda half-considering re-visiting an old fic series that I never completed (my Bail/Breha romance). Basically, I wrote/posted "book" 1 of 3 in 2015 (... was that really almost 5 years ago?!) and I started #2 but the muse abandoned it after like 1.5 chapters. I wrote a chapter-by-chapter, vague plan for book 2 and I (somehow) remember it (... don't ask about book 3... I'm only thinking one thing at a time). Other than re-reading the old stuff (which I'm planning to do over the next few evenings), anyone have any suggestions as to put myself in the mindset I had 5 years ago?

This idea to revisit the series also came to me at like 2AM last night when I couldn't fall asleep, so I'm not sure how viable it is.

 

Finished my TLJ/TROS rewrite and published it on Fanfic.net. The remaining chapters will be added here later.

I currently am working on a reboot of the entire ST, starting with Episode VII.

I think I’ve finished coming up with the main characters and describing them, which in my experience I’ve learned is better to do first than compose the plot.

The characters make the plot, in a sense.

 

MEGA SQUEEAGE ... I must admit that when I read "Leia, Princess of Alderaan" and the characterizations of Breha/Bail I had their courtship in mind as you wrote it! LOL I often find even reading the reader reviews inspiring. Their enthusiasm is infectious! Even with current projects, I frequently find writing the dialogue /conversation is the easiest part to start with and then fill in the rest of the scene(s) later.

 

Let's hear it for vague! After such a span of years, I agree that music may help inspire the fic to soar to new levels on a different course, even more splendid than the first.

 

My outline so far:


Long wall of text

Spoiler

Episode VII: The Bloodline Heir

Snoke, a middle aged human, leads the Freedom Coalition, a terrorist group seeking to liberate the criminal underworld from the New Republic

The Jedi Hunter works in partnership with the Coalition. Both share a hatred for the Jedi

Leia is Senator for Corellia and a Jedi

Han is a New Republic general, leads Rogue Squadron with Captain Sam Fel

Leia goes to Nal Hutta with two other Jedi (Corran Horn, Cilghal) and a team of delegates to negotiate with the Hutt Cartel. The Hutts hate Leia due to her killing Jabba. They partner with the Coalition who promises her death in exchange for an alliance.

Leia is ambushed by the Hunter and thugs, Horn and Cilghal are killed along with the diplomats.

Leia fights the Hunter

Han and Chewbacca come to help along with Rogue Squadron (X-Wings replaced by Vigilance Interceptors)

Leia escapes with the Falcon, the Hunter pursues them, kills the Rogue Squadron pilots except Sam

Sam gets separated from Falcon, which is shot down over Vanqor

Ben Solo leaves Jedi Academy on Ossus to return to Corellia and stay with his sister Kira while both their parents are gone.

Kira wants to train as a Jedi, but Han and Leia are afraid for her safety

Three years ago- Ben’s best friend Skyler turned to the dark side and killed a Jedi Master before vanishing

Threepio lives with the Solo family

Leia’s friend Winter visits Solo children while their parents are missing.

Saba Sebatyne contacts Ben and tells him about the two Jedi deaths

The Jedi are in a bad position to send help, because Luke wants as much protection as possible for the Younglings

Han and Leia try to contact the New Republic, but the Hunter interferes with the transmission

Snoke plots a terror attack on Taris’s capital city to alert the Republic, and wants to lure the Jedi into a confrontation

Han, Leia and Chewbacca hide from the Hunter on Vanqor, he tries to track them down

The Hutts impatiently demand Leia’s death, Snoke sends reinforcements and bounty hunters across the galaxy, broadcasts a message

Kira leaves Corellia in Ben’s StealthX to help her parents

Sam Fel makes contact with the Republic on Coruscant, is ordered along with all craft not to go anywhere near Hutt Space.

Sam sees Kira flying towards Nal Hutta, follows her to stop her and intercepts her on the planet.

Ben and Winter follow Kira in Winter’s ship, they go to Ossus to inform the Jedi of what happened.

Luke decides to take action despite not wanting to militarize the Jedi

Hutt Cartel thugs find Kira and Sam and fight them,

they escape before Ailyn Vel corners them and kidnaps Kira

Ailyn Vel reveals personal grudge due to her being Boba Fett’s daughter, she decides to take Kira to the Coalition alive due to the reward

Sam follows Ailyn’s ship, Kira uses the Force to hijack the ship and land it on Illum en route to Taris

Kira runs away, Ailyn chases her into caves

Kira gets lost in cave, has visions of both Anakin and Darth Vader

Kira escapes the cave, but is captured by the Hunter and Coalition reinforcements sent by Snoke and taken to Taris

Sam follows them in secret, contacts Republic forces

Luke, Artoo, and a team of Jedi Masters come with Ben, Winter and Threepio to Vanqor to help Han and Leia, Luke helps fix the Falcon, the party rendezvous with Republic aid including Lando Calrissian

Sam contacts them and tells them to go to Taris

Snoke announces that he has Kira hostage, will detonate entire city unless the Jedi come to battle with the Coalition

Jedi and Republic forces come to Taris and face large Coalition army with explosives devices, face many causalties

Luke, Han, Leia and Ben search for Kira, Snoke and the Hunter battle them while Ben rescues his sister, Republic scouts search for Snoke’s bomb

Luke battles Snoke while Han and Leia fight Ailyn Vel, Ailyn escapes while Luke kills Snoke, the Hunter confronts Ben and Kira, Snoke activates the detonator underground before his death

The Hunter is revealed to be Skyler, Ben tries to convince to turn away, Skyler says he must fight for his bloodline the way the Skywalkers and Solos defend theirs

Ben and Skyler duel, Skyler wins but spares Ben’s life, Kira attacks Skyler who begins to Force-choke her

Ben tries to protect her, the Hunter is about to finish him off when Luke arrives.

Luke duels Skyler, tells Kira and Ben to leave in the StealthX he arrived in, Kira tries to help Ben but he is too injured to walk, Ben tells her to go without him.

Kira flies the StealthX through the underground passagway, joins the Republic pilots in search of Snoke’s underground detonator.

Kira destroys it before the city is leveled, Skyler, Ailyn Vel and Coalition forces retreat, Skyler goes to Byss to speak with the holocron containing the spirit of his great-grandfather, Palpatine
Han and Leia decide that Kira must now be trained, send her with Ben back to Luke’s Jedi academy

 

Hey @Emperor Ferus , what is the question you need help with?

 

Should I bring Palpatine back in this way or not at all?

Spoiler

A subsequent twist will be that the Holocron is not Palpatine at all, but Plagueis in disguise

Another question? Should Luke die at all? Han and Leia are safe, but will appear less in VIII and IX, though Leia will be prominent in VIII.

 

@Emperor Ferus -- your entire plot sounds incredibly riveting Bringing back Palpatine in such a twist would be intriguing indeed.

 

Thanks! About Luke, should I kill him in either VIII or the beginning of IX?

I am not offing Han or Leia, though they will be featured less prominently. Leia however, will have a relatively large role in VIII.

 

Sorry to do this again, but I’m at the point where Kira Solo is leaving to go help her parents (she is 13). As of right now, she is aware that the Coalition is chasing her parents and also terrorizing a city.

Is that sufficient to cause her to leave Corellia? She is 13, and she is frustrated at not being able to do anything to help either her parents or the galaxy at large.