Aug 12, 2012

Star Wars and Storytelling Choices

I know, I've been gone. I tend to do that, like a cat that suddenly decides it has to be in another room RIGHT NOW and flees. I'd like to claim that I'm back and steady now, but I know that's probably not true. But, in my defense, I have been writing up a storm in my absence! If I'm productive here, I'm not productive with my projects and it looks like the opposite is true as well: if I'm productive with projects, I fall off the face of the blogosphere. Need to work on that.

 Anyway.... So, first, what's new with me:
  • I am currently in revision process on my medical romance with Harlequin. Dunno if it will turn into a sale, but I'm working with an editor to try and make it publishable with them. We'll see how that goes, but I'm actually loving the revision process. Learning heaptons as I go through the editor's notes. 
  • Wrote and subbed a 30K novella in July, still out with another publisher but I'm hoping something it will return something good even if it's just a contact.
The past few days, I've been trying to figure out what story I want to work on next. I have three options, but before I pick one, I decided to explore a setting that's been tempting for me a two years. I couldn't imagine where I'd send this story in 2010 when the idea bloomed, but there are now options to send it and today I decided to explore the idea in my plotbook! Ideally, this story would take place over many years, not necessarily a family-saga, but kinda like that. And while deciding what story to start with, I started thinking about Star Wars and all the many episodes... which brings me to my questions:
  • Do people who have experienced these movies from the standpoint of beginning with current Episode IV have the same experience as folks for whom Episode I is where they start watching? Is it the same story for them? Does it illicit the same emotions? 
  • Are current-Episodes I-III as compelling as they are for those who first saw current-Episodes IV-VI and then really wanted to know how Vader became a bad guy? 
  • Do you feel like with the addition of the new first three stories, that the whole of the six stories became more a chronicle of Vader's life or that it subjugated Luke's story some? I don't think I felt that way before the new three, but now that there is a chronicle of Vader-puppy thru to his 5 minutes of redemption and death... and the stories END there... it sure does feel like Vader-chronicles to me. 
  • If these stories always existed for Lucas(even if initially as backstory), why did he choose to start the movies with current-Episode IV? Could he not have hooked his audience as well if he started with current-Episode I?
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5 comments:

  1. MelissaAugust 13, 2012 at 4:11 AM

    Gotta love a girl who loves her Star Wars. hehe
    Sounds really interesting. Good luck with it, Amalie. Hope it all goes well. :)

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  2. Faith ThomasAugust 13, 2012 at 3:32 PM

    Good questions. For some reason, I am glad I'm not the only one that has pondered this. My WIP that I'm finishing up now, the more I get into it, I find I know the stories of the other characters. And I see, the story I started with, isn't even the first one chronologically. One character that dies in this story, has a more exciting story, but if I tell it, will that be putting off readers by introducing them to someone that died tragically?
    I've started writing the next story, but I'm hesitant to take that step backward in time to tell the original story. I am seriously considering it.
    One story at a time though.

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    1. Amalie BerlinAugust 13, 2012 at 7:58 PM

      @Melissa: thanks! I definitely need luck with it because I have nooooo idea what I'm doing :)

      @Faith: I've never considered writing a series before -- maybe everyone goes through this? I think it probably depends on genre somewhat, whether or not a series can work where one of the M/Cs from a previous book die. I honestly have no idea. I'm setting mine up to be told where none of the stories will be in the same eras with one another, so I'm going to assume that the folks from the first story are dead by the last story. Should also mention: this is going to be Sci-Fi romance. I have even less a clue what is kosher for contemporary stuff(at least from a romance angle, otherwise I doubt that it would matter so much if one character from a prior book dies later in the series.)

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  3. LandraAugust 18, 2012 at 8:23 PM

    I think the first 3 did the whole downside thingie to Luke's story. His story isn't as exciting anymore.
    After watching everything multipe times I now find myself wishing Lucas had never made 1-3, unless he made them in order. I guess I'm trying to say don't start in the middle and then circle around the back end to wrap it all up. Wherever you start consider it the beginning. Entire books about the past shouldn't be entire books, but appendices or a companion book with snippets. If you want to tell it from the beginning I'll be more enticed to read. Blah... that was a bunch.
    Good luck on the subs and editing land.

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    1. Amalie BerlinAugust 19, 2012 at 12:18 PM

      Thank you for your insight, Landra. I think the way you do. Seeing I-III once was enough for me--there are good parts but on the whole it seems emo in a bad way. Sometimes I enjoy a good emo, but ... mmm not so much with this story.

      So I think I have to start the story far enough in that things are different than the normal for contemporary society, but not too far in. If you're going to use social evolution(for lack of a better term) as a setting but you skip to the where everything is established, you miss exploring all that conflict that occurs during change.

      Of course, I'm still pretty much a baby writer, so I may totally go down in flames with this, but at least it will be colorful!

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