Star Wars is inexplicable. The universal appeal and adoration of those original films is as mystical as that galaxy far, far away. Maybe some people can justly describe the first moment they saw those two words blast from the surface of a theater or television screen, disappear as they got smaller and smaller, only to be followed by a scroll of an ominous introduction to the story you were about to see. I'm always at a loss to translate that complete sense of wonder.
Over a year ago it was announced Star Wars fans would be given a third trilogy, and it would be a continuation of Luke Skywalkers, Han Solo, and Princess Leia. It is the follow-up trilogy we had always hoped for.
In what I think is an even more exciting development is that they have also decided to reboot the entire Star Wars Extended Universe.
If your age is close to mine, you grew up reading the Star Wars novels of Timothy Zahn and Kevin J. Anderson, eager to get your hands on any new Star Wars story out there while you waited for George Lucas to make the next trilogy. I devoured many a Star Wars book that was released throughout the 90's. Not all of them, but pretty close. Flash forward to around 2012, when I get my first Kindle and decide it would be fun to journey back to the Star Wars universe. Unfortunately, I had no idea where in the hell to start. Numerous trilogies, one-offs, short story collections, and comic books left my beleaguered as to what was actually Star Wars-canon. I'm sure a lot of it was good stuff, I read two of the James Luceno books about the Sith and Darth Vader that were both excellent, but the rest of the timeline seemed jumbled. Stories seemed stacked together, many times contradicting events of the others or the films. Honestly, it seemed like a giant mess and much too daunting for someone like me to sort out. I was just looking for some casual reading before bed or in the morning over coffee and cereal.
So I walked away, aside from the Darth Plageius and Darth Vader novels by James Luceno, and decided to come back another day when I had the ambition to figure out the order to tackle the Star Wars monstrosity of an Extended Universe. I had also just discovered the work of another George and his stories of the seven kingdoms of Westeros, so it was pretty easy to walk away with that beckoning.
On October 30, 2012, Disney purchased Lucasfilm from George Lucas and immediately announced the first chapter in a third trilogy would be released come 2015. Over the next year, word trickled out JJ Abrams would be directing a Lawrence Kasdan penned script, with all of the original three cast members returning. The film is called The Force Awakens, and comes out next December. I'm drinking coffee, staying up to see if the first trailer arrives at midnight tonight as it is rumored to.
One of the developments, the one I mentioned before that most intrigues me, is that this past April, the Lucasfilm powers that be hit the rest button on the expanded universe. Not only did they do that, the put a stamp on everything considered official canon. Prequels, Clone Wars animated series, original trilogy, and the new animated series Rebels. So basically, aside from the Rebels series, I knew everything I needed to enter this new, canonically correct Star Wars expanded universe. Not only that, I would be be prepared to move forward as it grew with the new films, books and comics Disney/Lucasfilm planned to pump out for years to come. Most people would probably be skeptical, but what reassured me that Lucasfilm had learned from their mistakes was that they put together the Star Wars Story Group.
Those four people have been tasked with keeping the continuity straight, the contradictions nill, and making sure Star Wars fans have a streamlined experience when they venture into the films, literature, television shows, and video games. I cannot imagine a more dream job. The four of them are, in a way, the overseers of Star Wars universe building.
Now, how I've found this inspirational, aside from the relief my Star Wars fandom will be that much more nurtured. I've hit a wall the last month with the third novel, The Falling Stars. It's the third act, not the final act, but it is where I plan to turn the tide of the story and bring a much broader picture of the universe Marshal Noel and Violetta Iolanda live in. As I have been moving slowly along this story, I keep getting distracted because I don't know the story behind a planet or a group of people. Sometimes I think to myself that it doesn't matter that much, and that I can come back later and fill in the blanks. The most important part of a rough draft is just getting it done.
That doesn't seem to work, though. So, I move laterally and start handwriting a story about a planet or a person, just to make that character or setting a little bit more dimensional. It is taking away significantly from the progress of the actual novel, but I feel like the world building will make this story much more enjoyable and clearer to myself and the reader. It's always been a dangerous line of distraction for me, the lateral writing and character notes, but I'm embracing the risk and hoping it pays off. I'm not working under a deadline other than the one I have in my head, and I feel it's a worthy experiment and investment in the story. I know I have a few more stories to tell about Marshal and Violetta after this novel, so this story will be sturdy enough to hold however many others come after it.
My favorite science-fiction and fantasy series have one thing in common: solid world building. Star Wars, Star Trek, A Song of Fire and Ice, Lord of the Rings (especially LOTR!!!!), and the Arthur C. Clarke 2001-3001 novels. Marvel's new cinematic universe has also taken great lengths to make sure the films all exist and ripples from one and other's events are felt. It's resonating all around me how important world building is, and now I don't feel so guilty for slowing down and highlighting the finer details of the world I'm trying to tell you all about.
Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. Anxiously awaiting the Star Wars trailer while scribbling out a few of those details in my beat-up notebook.
Goodnight.
Now, how I've found this inspirational, aside from the relief my Star Wars fandom will be that much more nurtured. I've hit a wall the last month with the third novel, The Falling Stars. It's the third act, not the final act, but it is where I plan to turn the tide of the story and bring a much broader picture of the universe Marshal Noel and Violetta Iolanda live in. As I have been moving slowly along this story, I keep getting distracted because I don't know the story behind a planet or a group of people. Sometimes I think to myself that it doesn't matter that much, and that I can come back later and fill in the blanks. The most important part of a rough draft is just getting it done.
That doesn't seem to work, though. So, I move laterally and start handwriting a story about a planet or a person, just to make that character or setting a little bit more dimensional. It is taking away significantly from the progress of the actual novel, but I feel like the world building will make this story much more enjoyable and clearer to myself and the reader. It's always been a dangerous line of distraction for me, the lateral writing and character notes, but I'm embracing the risk and hoping it pays off. I'm not working under a deadline other than the one I have in my head, and I feel it's a worthy experiment and investment in the story. I know I have a few more stories to tell about Marshal and Violetta after this novel, so this story will be sturdy enough to hold however many others come after it.
My favorite science-fiction and fantasy series have one thing in common: solid world building. Star Wars, Star Trek, A Song of Fire and Ice, Lord of the Rings (especially LOTR!!!!), and the Arthur C. Clarke 2001-3001 novels. Marvel's new cinematic universe has also taken great lengths to make sure the films all exist and ripples from one and other's events are felt. It's resonating all around me how important world building is, and now I don't feel so guilty for slowing down and highlighting the finer details of the world I'm trying to tell you all about.
Hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. Anxiously awaiting the Star Wars trailer while scribbling out a few of those details in my beat-up notebook.
Goodnight.
