How do you like Tuesdays? Specifically, what do you think of my Tuesday blog posts? I think it’s beneficial to talk about good (and bad) stories so that we can learn from what others have done. Let me know your opinion in the comments!

For now, I’m starting yet another new series about the stories that inspired my writing style and genre preferences. First up is one of the biggest: Star Wars.

I hope I don’t need to explain what Star Wars is (and if you think I do, are you okay? are you from this planet?!). So many of today’s biggest storytellers were influenced by George Lucas’ original masterpiece, A New Hope, in some way. And it’s understandable; Star Wars has been telling unique stories for decades. Even if you’re not a fan, I hope you’ll stick with me to learn about how Star Wars excels at telling great stories.

A Jedi in Diapers

My Star Wars story doesn’t quite align with most people’s. I didn’t see a Star Wars movie in theaters until the Clone Wars movie (and yes, it totally counts). In fact, throughout the early years of my life, I didn’t even know the original trilogy existed.

Yes, it’s true. I was brought up on the prequels.

My sister, eight years older than me, was obsessed with Star Wars. When The Phantom Menace came out, she saw it in theaters and then watched it so often that she could literally quote the entire thing (and still can, I believe). So before I could even make sense of what was happening on the screen, I was watching Star Wars. I grew up quoting The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones and cried when my mom wouldn’t go let me see Revenge of the Sith in theaters (good call on her part).

I remember being so drawn to the places in Star Wars. The idea of different planets—and easily being able to travel between them—was so fascinating to me. I could stare at shots of Coruscant all day, both then and now (and I do a happy dance whenever the planet shows up in one of the new shows!). Naboo was where many of my idle imaginings took place. Star Wars showed me at a young age that anything was possible with stories.

Finding My Star Wars

I grew up a few years (and didn’t stop loving the prequels, thank you very much), my sister went off to college, and I became a nerdy young tween. Somehow or other, my younger brother and I found out that the Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie was coming out in theaters. We hadn’t seen the original cartoon and had no idea what it was, but having “Star Wars” in the title was enough. We begged our mom to see it, so then there we were: seeing our first Star Wars movie in theaters (sort of).

I was instantly enamoured with Ahsoka Tano. A girl—a girl just like me, a Jedi?? It was an incredible concept. I never thought of her as annoying, even in early Clone Wars. She represented so much of who I wanted to be: confident, adventurous, and skilled.

Soon after came the new Clone Wars series, which was one of the only shows that I cared about watching as it aired. It was one of my favourite shows of all time, right up there with Teen Titans. It still holds up when I watch it today. The relationships are incredible and the varied plots are just so fun.

Clone Wars was my Star Wars. More than any other Star Wars story, it shaped me—and my writing—the most.

What Star Wars Can Teach Us

Many years later, I fell in love with The Force Awakens when I saw it in theaters. I was already pretty set in my writing style and genre tendencies by then, but Star Wars continues to set a good storytelling example for me though shows like The Mandalorian and Andor. These are the biggest storytelling elements that Star Wars has taught me about:

• Deep, emotional, impactful relationships
• Writing sci-fi/science fantasy centred around exploration
• Using conflict (both on a large and small scale) to thicken the plot
• Character development
• Worldbuilding
• Tone 

What have you learned from Star Wars or one of your favourite stories? Let me know in the comments! And if you need help figuring out how to use these elements in your story, I’m here to walk with you as you develop and write out your ideas! Check out my services for more information.

Happy writing!
-E.J.

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Photo by John Fowler on Unsplash