Fan mail. It comes in spurts. But the one question I get on a regular basis is, "Can you help me become a Star Wars author?"

My heart goes out to you. I remember what it was like to want this so bad you could taste it.

I get the question so often that I added it to my website FAQ, summarizing my particular path to writing in that galaxy far, far away as best I could. Often, however, that just doesn't cut it. Folks want the inside inside magical scoop straight from the horse's mouth.

Unfortunately, shy of being George Lucas' son or daughter, there isn't one.

The story of "Maurice" is similar to that of many aspiring Star Wars writers out there. Despite my advice that your best bet is focusing on publishing anything anywhere rather than solely focusing on publishing something Star Wars, the choice for fans is often and easily the latter. Never tell me the odds, right? I can't really fault folks. That's exactly what I did, and now here I am, so who am I to be the dream killer?

The following are my answers in response to a letter from "Maurice." He asked a good batch of questions, so consider this an addendum to my FAQ answer.

Good luck future Star Wars writers!

_______________________________________________________________________

From: "Abel G. Peņa"
To: "Maurice"
Date: Aug 28, 2007 1:52 PM
Subject: Re: On Becoming a Writer

Hello "Maurice,"

It's good to hear you're plunging into the writing. The best way to get things done is by not procrastinating.

As for your questions, no I don't think there's any one piece of SW literature that your writing could benefit from. However, I think some of the best Star Wars novelists are the following: Timothy Zahn, Matthew Stover, Sean Stewart, Karen Traviss, A.C. Crispin, and Drew Karpyshyn. They all have fairly different styles, so see which one you identify with most. I also recommend reading some non-Star Wars books--that's what these authors mostly read, after all. Try some popular modern literature like Harry Potter and The Da Vinci Code, and any biographies of real people you find interesting. If you'd like to read some of the "greats," try Old Man and the Sea, Frankenstein, and Beowulf. [I should've also mentioned One Hundred Years of Solitude--ed., Abel].

When thinking up new stories, I basically cling onto any ideas I think would be cool. That's it. We all have our own definitions for what's cool, of course, and they need to make sense logically and connect to your other cool ideas in a reasonable way. But it's about that simple. The other thing is, don't be afraid to give in to your subconscious. This is the fertile ground for storytellers. Start with that seed of cool, and then let your mind wander with the idea and see where it takes you. Sometimes it's too crazy, but sometimes it's just crazy enough.

For characters, I do often use people I know, especially for my non-Star Wars work. But people I know, or types of personalities I've encountered in life, are often the starting points for my Star Wars characters. This includes "people" from stories I've read and movies I've watched.

Writing events and conferences can be very productive, simply because writing can be a very lonely venture, and interacting with others struggling with the same problems and achieving the kind of success you'd like to have is reassuring and inspiring. Every year, I try to make it to both the UCLA Book Faire and Writer's Faire, which are free, to learn, network, and recharge. So yes, I recommend going to these kinds of events in your area.

Finally, my opinion of Wookieepedia is that it's amazing, and a great place for aspiring Star Wars writers to make their bones. Many winners of the StarWars.com "What's the Story?" contest started out on Wookieepedia. Like any publication, study their content and guidelines, then give it a shot.

Hope that helps. Nice hearing from you and good luck with your writing!

Best,
Abel ~ Abel G. Peņa

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P.S. Just five blogs to go to the big 1-0-0!


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