Arguing About Book Settings
Posted by: WordVixen in not me, novel writing, Publishing, writingMy DH is a frustrated… well, whatever a writer is if they don’t write. He’s had one particular story that he’s been building for several years. He’s been telling me this story in fits and starts for, oh, 3 or 4 years now- and it’s actually very good! I kept telling him to write it but:
“It’s set in the Star Wars universe- there’s no way they’ll let me do it”.
Right. I’ve been patiently explaining to him that his story does not need Star Wars anything. Change the planets to countries, islands, or, heck, cities, replace light sabers with swords, and you’ve got a standard fantasy. One that could possibly grow into an epic fantasy, possibly even a name-making series (Wheel of Time wasn’t intended to be as big as it is either- and this would certainly fit in with such company if the writing itself is solid enough).
No where in his story do standard Star Wars characters fit. “The Force” is easily changed to, well, any other name for magic in Fantasy worlds. Really, there is no need whatsoever for it to be in the Star Wars line.
But hubby just will not bend on this. Because he thinks he can’t write (and truly, he doesn’t have the patience to learn the business- though he certainly could bash out a great first draft if he’d allow himself to commit it to paper), he won’t write it. Because it’s set in the Star Wars universe in his mind, he won’t consider it as anything but. And yet he created a completely new… race, for lack of a better word, and occupation. Part of a new magic system, a trilogy’s worth of new characters, and so on… He won’t write it.
Since Fantasy is my first love (despite my current WIP being chick-lit), I’ve mentioned how much I’d like to write it. I’ve brought up the idea of us co-writing (he really should be a writer, and I think once he sees a work finished with his input, the lightbulb will click on), and he loves the idea. But he will not budge on the setting.
So, I have, lemme see, 9 or so stories that I want to write first (5 of those is if the first two fly). Maybe by then I’ll have been noticed by the packagers or whoever contracts the authors for the Star Wars novel? Then I have a story ready to go. Maybe by the time I have an opening in my schedule, hubby will have come to see sense?
All I know is, this story is too good to waste. And that’s what he says too. Married life. Would you believe that this is one of our biggest arguments?
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This is amusing, largely because I started out writing stories set in the Star Wars Universe. I moved on to a different cast of characters, eventually.
Sometimes, I think you just have to listen to the dreams and thoughts… or so seems to help with my hubby and me
Ain’t married life fun?
Star Wars certainly is good at inspiring story tellers. Hubby also “writes” horror, but I absolutely won’t help with that(he’s lucky that I read over the instructions for the horror game he designed!).
*G* Married life is certainly, ah, entertaining. And I can honestly say that I am never bored.
that’s really kinda cute, your little writerly argument.
maybe you should just let him (“let him” hee hee) write it in star-wars-land. it’ll be good writing practice at the very least. and then maybe he’ll discover ways to make it his own.
back to finals. WHHEEEEE
Grace- Heheh. I’ve been trying to get him to write it. I figure, eventually I’ll get around to writing my fantasy novels (after the chick lits I’m working on). The people that hire people to write the Star Wars and Star Trek novels usually look for mid-listers or low-listers. Then, I’d already have a first draft ready to go!