Speculative Fiction

In the writing world, numerous success stories can be found of fans who have turned their writing into contemporary masterpieces. Author E.L. James like the Twilight series so much, they wrote the 50 Shades series. Last week I was reminiscing about a project that begin some twelve years ago that did not evolve, and I began reading about the "fan fiction" which drives a number of successful spin off series.

Star Wars and Star Trek are two of the most popular, allowing evening the novice writer to be able to compile a story based upon the loose collection of characters, in a world which has been established - but not yet fortified on it's boundaries.

Website FanFiction.Net chronicles a lot of speculative writing, and the pitfalls as well.  Writers who have created characters, fleshed them out and developed stories, don't want to see their hard work copied, even plagiarized. But apparently they are comfortable with endless computer games based on their premises - have you ever counted how many Star Wars games there are?

About twelve years ago while with the computer game company, I attended the preview of a game that enthralled me so much, I wrote about it at a number of game sites. Fast forward, I have now started writing my own speculative fiction, using some of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) characters as background for my own story.

Speculative fiction is back in vogue.

The Writing Power of the Dark Side

Laying in bed on Thanksgiving Eve this week, I came to the realization that not much writing has been accomplished in the past year.

The major project - not yet completed.

The prequel - title and idea only.

It would appear that I write better from the Dark Side, when there is disharmony in the galaxy.

Apparently, I have not yet understood the Writing Power of the Dark Side. 

The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Opening night.

The George Lucas Effect has taken over.

The George Lucas Effect

  A strange thing happened after the original Star Wars trilogoy (New Hope, Empire and Jedi) were released. The protagonist may have been Luke Skywalker (and company) but it was Darth Vader's story. It was all about the Dark Lord's demise. George Lucas always had a vision for his project, from which he could not be swayed.  I wonder if he set out to write the trilogy as such, or whether it was the format of film that created it that way.

  About a month ago I wrote of the Monster That Haunts Me, the rewrite required of the major project.  The rewrite is about the ending, which requires a different composition of the minor characters in the early chapters. The protagonist remains the same, but to justify the ending, the supporting staff require names, and in one scene, foreshadowing.

  An unexpected element of the rewrite is that is has resulted in a different query for publishers. The same format of the project is still being used, however, it is now shown in greater perspective by the final scene, which does not have the protagonist. The final scene turns the project, back on itself.

  George Lucas originally named the Star Wars protagonist Luke Starkiller. Like Lucas, I must now go back and give names, identities, and credit, to those, whom are otherwise undeserved, but without which, there would be no major project. I have, unknowingly, replicated the George Lucas Effect.

  Would it not be prophetic if the major project blossomed like the George Lucas effect on science fiction.

Writing Through The Muddle

All writers have a project that just...nags away at them demanding to be finished, when it cannot be.

I happen to have two.

The first, is the proposed book on the blending of divorced families. A title has been picked out, but like all good stories, it needs a beginning, a "muddle" and an end. The end should bring about a resolution to the muddle. Mine does not, so the muddle continues.

The second project is spin off from the original idea. Much like the Star Wars prequels, the second project is the "before" story. Hopefully my "before" story won't be as loathed as the Star Wars prequels. It too has a beginning and a "muddle", and unlike the first project - has a known end point - but it's not there yet.

It faces the same problem as Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, everyone knows where it ends, but the path traveled is vexing.

I have little to worry about though. On this day, August 1 1975, George Lucas competed the third draft of what would became A New Hope.  He called it "The Star Wars: The Adventures of Luke Starkiller".

 The Force was not strong with George on that title. I guess he also muddled his way through.