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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. ViariSkywalker

    ViariSkywalker Kessel Run Hostess Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Aug 9, 2002
    @Tay Neir
    I would say that reading other stories - whether profic or fanfic - is the most immediate thing you can do to improve your lightsaber battles, because that's going to help build up your dueling vocabulary, so to speak. The more examples you can consume, the more varied your knowledge base will be. Not every author approaches lightsaber duels the same way, so seeing how different people write them - what words and phrasing they use, how they pace their scenes, how they incorporate the duel into the greater narrative - will give you more options when it comes time to write your own action scenes, and hopefully help you avoid being repetitive.

    On that note, I think shorter, more concise phrasing can help convey movement, but I would be careful of making every sentence short. You'll still want to vary your sentence length and structure, with some being shorter and some being longer, some simple and some complex. I've actually found that writing longer sentences can help create a better sense of movement because you're not being forced to stop every time you hit a period. (Sort of like stream-of-consciousness, but for action writing.) I think the key is to keep it varied. Don't rely solely on sentence fragments or run-on sentences. And once you've written something, read over that section multiple times to test how it flows.

    Beyond reading a lot of examples, I think the next best thing to do is go back and watch your favorite duels from the films/TV shows, paying attention to the movements that make the biggest impression on you. You can also watch swordfighting videos on youtube. (Edit: the video @Gabri_Jade linked is a great example.)

    Lastly, just write, even if it's not perfect, even if your first draft reads like an instruction manual rather than a fluid story. Once you get the bare bones of your fight scene down, you can always go back and punch it up with more narrative detail.

    I hope that helps at least a little! [face_peace]
     
    Last edited: Dec 21, 2022
  2. sassyhologramllama

    sassyhologramllama Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Aug 26, 2022
    It is a time teleportation scenario.
     
  3. ViariSkywalker

    ViariSkywalker Kessel Run Hostess Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Aug 9, 2002
    Do you have a question about your time teleportation scenario that you would like us to answer? Are you looking for some kind of advice?
     
  4. sassyhologramllama

    sassyhologramllama Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Aug 26, 2022
    Well I'm not really a "nerd", I'm _somewhere between_ a casual viewer and a geek. I'm not sure how the Endor forest moon and all the people on it at the end of ROTJ being sent back to the period of the opening moments of TPM would - well, what changes will start to cascade?
     
    UltramassiveUbersue likes this.
  5. Gabri_Jade

    Gabri_Jade Fanfic Archive Editor Emeritus star 5 VIP

    Registered:
    Nov 9, 2002
    With respect, it kind of feels like you’re asking us to write your story for you. Every story starts with a "what if" premise; you have that. Now the next step is to decide for yourself what happens next, and why, and how. That is both the fun and the work of writing, and it’s something no one can do for you. The most important thing is just to start writing. You'll find that a lot of issues fall into place once you start the process. Good luck! :)


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  6. Cowgirl Jedi 1701

    Cowgirl Jedi 1701 Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Dec 21, 2016
    Some general advice for anyone trying to figure out "how does the weird thing that is the basis for my story premise happen?":
    When in doubt, just chalk it up to "because Force shenanigans".
     
  7. UltramassiveUbersue

    UltramassiveUbersue Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2022
    It sounds to me like you're asking for advice on how to make sure your story is "realistic" as far as canon is concerned. The first thing I have to say is, you don't have to make things perfect, and anyone who gives you a hard time for being unrealistic needs to relax.

    My advice is to look things up on Wookieepedia, and call your story AU (alternative universe) if you don't feel confident that you got the details right.

    Also, keep in mind that different fanfic sites are moderated differently. I love this community because people here are kind and supportive, and the moderators are quick to intervene if someone's being a jerk.

    In short, write what you feel like, see if you like it, and have fun writing! :)
     
  8. sassyhologramllama

    sassyhologramllama Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Aug 26, 2022
    Thanks. I guess it's hard when viewers who are pretty much "normies" want to write their own Star Wars stuff. At least i wouldn't pair Luke with Leia unlike most of the general public who never remember the last two movies after the first one.
     
  9. Mechalich

    Mechalich Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 2, 2010
    In Legends, at least, the GFFA contains the four Bedlam Spirits, functionally omnipotent beings of decidedly childish disposition who can make anything happen. They make an ideal stopgap for any shenanigans.
     
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  10. sassyhologramllama

    sassyhologramllama Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Aug 26, 2022
    "They make an ideal stopgap for any shenanigans"
    So basically this:
    Bedlam Spirit: I think I'll change things so that from the beginning of [Revenge of the Sith], every time that Palpatine draws upon the Force, he wets himself
     
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  11. UltramassiveUbersue

    UltramassiveUbersue Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2022
    Eh, we're a mixed bag of normies and neurodivergent folks here, and we get along quite nicely. :)

    Whether you're a casual fan or you live and breathe SW, you're totally welcome here!

    If you're worried about people being too critical, we have a rule around here that we don't do that unless the author specifically asks for criticism and corrections. We're all here to have fun, after all. :)
     
  12. sassyhologramllama

    sassyhologramllama Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Aug 26, 2022
    I meant "normies" as in people like me - i love the films, well the first three, but don't know all the ins and outs of the Star Wars universe.
    By the way, if i had been writing Revenge of the Sith, that bit when the youngling talks to Vader thinking he is still Master Skywalker? I'd have used a little girl (long haired) rather than the little boy they did use. Would have worked better.
     
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  13. sassyhologramllama

    sassyhologramllama Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Aug 26, 2022
    OT: My brother didn't invite me to his and his wife/her family's Christmas lunch yesterday. My partial physical disability is an embaressment to his cultivated image.
     
  14. Mira_Jade

    Mira_Jade The (FavoriteTM) Fanfic Mod With the Cape star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2004
    @SupermassiveUbersue really said it best! You can be a casual fan or a die-hard fan, and you're still welcome here. You don't need to know every in and out of the Star Wars universe to participate and have fun with fan fiction. We're fond around here of saying we make our own canon, anyway. Your stories will always be right because you're the one writing them. ;)


    I'm not quite sure what your question is as pertains to writing, but I have to say that I don't necessarily agree with this. A child's vulnerability and fear, along with an impending betrayal of their trust and resulting murder, isn't dependent on their gender. The tragedy of that scene is just the same for a boy as it is for a girl, and there was no need to make the victim female in order to make that any more horrific than it already was.


    I'm sorry to hear this. We have a social thread, here, for discussing anything and everything not related to fan fiction that you might be interested in checking out. :)
     
  15. sassyhologramllama

    sassyhologramllama Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Aug 26, 2022
    "I'm not quite sure what your question is as pertains to writing, but I have to say that I don't necessarily agree with this. A child's vulnerability and fear in that scene, along with an impending betrayal of their trust and eventual murder, isn't dependent on their gender. That tragedy is just the same for a boy as it is for a girl, and there was no need to make the victim female in order to make that any more horrific than it already was."

    I was thinking more in terms that the *audience's* reactions might have been more intense if it had been a little girl in that RotS scene. See this on TV Tropes: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MenAreTheExpendableGender
     
  16. Gabri_Jade

    Gabri_Jade Fanfic Archive Editor Emeritus star 5 VIP

    Registered:
    Nov 9, 2002
    Mira qualifies as the audience for RotS. She does not agree with your assessment here, regardless of what TVTropes says. Neither do I. We're not talking about men and women; that scene shows a child betrayed and about to be murdered. A barely-kindergarten age child at that. Anyone who feels anything but horror and revulsion over the murder of a child, regardless of that child's gender, isn't someone I'd want to be anywhere near.
     
  17. Mira_Jade

    Mira_Jade The (FavoriteTM) Fanfic Mod With the Cape star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2004
    Yeah, that's a trope I disagree with in its entirety. Many of the examples in that article and the ones connected to it I would call bad writing in general. There are a whole host of tropes that are unfair to both genders, and this is one of them. Just because this can be a trend in writing doesn't mean that it should be. Especially here, where the murder of a child is concerned - and there were mixed genders in the younglings Anakin killed, at that - a child is the victim, and that's the main point. Whether or not that child is a boy or girl should be neither here nor there. It was a horrible, repulsive scene to show just how far Anakin had fallen, and to think that it needs not just a female character, but a female character with exaggeratedly feminine traits like you described, is something that I just can't agree with. I second everything @Gabri_Jade said, entirely.
     
    Last edited: Dec 26, 2022
  18. sassyhologramllama

    sassyhologramllama Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    Aug 26, 2022
    I know that. I'm just very cynical about how the audience would have reacted.

    My apologies: my bitterness at being crippled down one side means that my sensitivity is somewhat higher.
     
  19. Raissa Baiard

    Raissa Baiard FFoF Artist Extraordinaire star 4 VIP - Game Host

    Registered:
    Nov 22, 1999
    Is there a GFFA version of godchild/godparent?
     
  20. Findswoman

    Findswoman Fanfic and Pancakes and Waffles Mod (in Pink) star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2014
    I’ve heard “hold-child,” “hold-father,” “hold-mother,” etc., though whether that’s from official sources or fan-devised I couldn’t say.
     
  21. Mira_Jade

    Mira_Jade The (FavoriteTM) Fanfic Mod With the Cape star 5 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jun 29, 2004
    I've heard "guide-parent" used before, but I can't recall exactly where - I want to say it was a RL occurrence. "Honor-brother" has been used in the SW EU, and though that's not exactly godparent/child related, I think that could be a fitting SW variation with "honor-child", "honor-father", "honor-mother" and so on and so forth in that family of names. [face_thinking]
     
  22. Mechalich

    Mechalich Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 2, 2010
    Somewhat random question. Does anyone know if Luke Skywalker was, at any point in Legends, taught how to dance? Like, any kind of dance at all?
     
  23. Gamiel

    Gamiel Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Dec 16, 2012
    I think we se him waltzing with Mara at their wedding at least
     
  24. Mira Grau

    Mira Grau Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    May 11, 2016
    Maybe there was some kind of disco on Tatooine? I mean even many small towns in our world have those. So maybe in Anchorhead.
     
  25. Mechalich

    Mechalich Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 2, 2010
    Wedding is too late in the timeline, and otherwise I'm going to take things generally as a no, which actually works out better. Luke Skywalker: Jedi Master; Rebel Hero; Ace Pilot; Can't Dance.