Star Wars Writing Tips and Tricks.

Creating Better Star Wars Characters.

Sometimes, we want to make complex characters and think that we need to get really complex from the get go. But sometimes, simplicity in the beginning is actually a better idea.

This allows you to get a feel of the character you are creating and to see if they really fit the role you want them to fill or whether you are just forcing them into it and hoping it works.

P.S: most readers can immediately spot this. It's usually a sign of not knowing your characters, weak writing and/or immaturity.

So, here are some general things to avoid.

Generic characters and names.
We've all seen those characters around where their names and identities are blatant rip-offs of well known Canon characters.

You see these characters written up in someone's OC book or story and you read through it, sounds a little interesting until you start thinking about it and realise that this character is basically Luke Skywalker with brown hair, hazel-green eyes and goes by the name Ripoff McSkystalker. Then you feel disappointed and cheated. And wonder what was going through their heads when they came up with that name.

There's nothing wrong with taking inspiration from the characters you love, but there's a fine line between inspiration and plagiarism that we authors walk every day of our lives.

Force Sensitivity.
Not every single character you write in Star Wars has to be Force Sensitive like the Jedi and Sith are.

Force Sensitivity ranges from being abnormally lucky but unable to harness much of the Force to Jedi/Sith levels. Not every Force Sensitive would have been accepted into the Jedi Order as there was a minimum midichlorian count needed to be considered a Jedi candidate.

Sabine Wren from Star Wars Rebels has quite a low midichlorian count, but is still able to wield the Dark Sabre after some training. My own Mandalorian character Janan has the lowest midichlorian count in the immediate Zaneshi family, but is still able to beat her Force Sensitive siblings on occasion even though she can be overconfident with herself. Her count is higher than the average citizen, but too low to be considered a Jedi candidate, and would just be considered very lucky and nimble because of her minutely greater connection to the Force than most.

Species/Culture.
Humans are often the most frequent character types to appear in Star Wars fanfics. This is probably because audiences can relate to them the easiest and the authors know what they're talking about. However, the Star Wars galaxy allows you, even encourages you, to explore a myriad of other species with only a little bit of researching and brainpower on your behalf.

Hell, if nothing exists on a species or their culture, make something up! Who's going to tell you you're wrong?

A personal headcannon of mine is that the Zygerrian people are structured in the same way as the Omegaverse. There isn't a great deal of information available concerning the cultural and societal practices of the Zygerrians, so this doesn't seem that farfetched when you factor in that the creators of the Clone Wars based them off coyotes which are related to wolves where the original Alpha/Beta/Omega theory came from.

Well, not to me at least...

Gender.
Unless you are writing about a gender-less species, you do not need to assign perceived stereotypes to male and female counterparts, nor do you need to strive out of your way to break them.

Because of the SJW movement in recent times, everyone seems to be writing female characters that are supposed to be strong, independent women who frequently fall flat on their faces as the story implodes all around them. Looking specifically at you Sequel Trilogy.

But it shouldn't matter what gender a character is in order for a story to work.

Take Red vs Blue for example. For a show that started out as an absurdist-comedy, it definitely has had some pretty dark and serious moments over the course of the last 16 seasons (as of February, 2019).

Agent Texas, the first female character introduced to the show, was easily the scariest person in the canyon filled with male combatants. She had her faults though and that was what made her tale so sad in the end when we learnt of them. The second female character, Kaikaina Grif, was not as strong but she was designed to be a comic relief to offset the seriousness that was Agent Tex, and this fit her character perfectly as she and Tex interacted with the main cast that we know as the Reds and Blues.

Freelancer Agents Carolina, Connecticut, South Dakota, Ohio and pilot 479er subsequently followed and they were each strong characters in their own rights. We also learnt of the young soldier known as Allison during this time. Later, we had the myriad of diverse characters from the Chorus Trilogy, including the mercenaries Felix and Locus, Generals Vanessa Kimball and Donald Doyle, and many others, and most recently Dylan Andrews and Jax Jonez of the Interstellar Daily from Season 15.

Almost none of these characters share any major traits in common; they are each individuals who have made a place for themselves in the Red vs Blue universe and are seen as significant and likeable characters by a majority of the fanbase alongside the main cast that everyone watches the show for. Female characters are infrequent in Red vs Blue, but the ones they do have are brilliant in my opinion.

Sexuality.
This seems to have become a big deal lately, in the wake of a push to end sexual violence against both genders, but often times it is only bought up in fanfics to say 'Look! I'm being inclusive!' and it is never mentioned again. It's like saying you have a black or a Hispanic character for the sake of saying you have a character of that origin and never making any mention of who they really are as a member of the galaxy.

It's not really doing anything and doesn't really need to be there. If your story still makes sense, still progresses at the same rate, if absolutely nothing changes, then there is really no need to make any mention of a character's sexuality.

If you are, however, using the character's sexuality as an allegory to confront modern day stereotypes, go for it but understand the risks that will also be present by taking this route.

Occupation.
Not every character needs to be a Jedi, Sith, pilot or bounty hunter, there are other occupations within the Star Wars galaxy.

One of my ancient soldier-Jedi characters is a doctor who rarely uses the Force for matters unrelated to healing or saving an individual. Another wields a staff and lives off-grid as a wandering warrior-monk, and another is a mathematically minded genius and prefers designing and building his designs with the Force.

The Jedi doctor also heads an Organisation known as the Healers, who are widespread throughout the galaxy, particularly in the Outer Rim, as a kind of humanitarian relief group as well as a warrior group who aim to end the subjugation of species across the galaxy. He himself has trained a fair number of its membership, and later helps his wife finish her medical training after they get together.

Even within the Rebellion, there are different occupations that need to be filled, not all of which are front line work. Mechanics, techwizzes, cooks, clerks, tacticians, all these and more have their place in the Rebellion just like the pilots and heroes generally associated with the glory of the Rebellion in the minds of many Star Wars readers.

Next up, we delve deeper into the specifics of the Star Wars galactic map and the planets that it houses!

Further suggestions welcome!