Hello! I have written over one million words of fic on Ao3, and most of it in Star Wars. Come, I shall reveal to you the secret.
Confidently make shit up.
Okay yes I'm out here exposing myself. There goes the last of any writerly mistique I had. But honestly, here's the truth, it's confusing to everybody. People will assume you found a wookiepedia article they haven't. But there are some steps to make it feel like Star Wars, and I will share them with you now.
How to Name a Star Wars thing when you don't want to open wookiepedia
Paper is flimsi, coffee is caf. Just memorize these two, throw em in early, people will assume you know.
Don't name everything. The eye glides over most things. Even if there is a name for it, you're allowed to decide that name is stupid. Your character is allowed to just have a bed or a desk, or whatever.
Focus on the tech, and any item that matters to the scene, that your character is interacting with.
Think of the thing from our world, and then add one thing that makes it feel futuristic. Think visual - Andor was a TV show, the tech changes are ones that would look cool. A list of sci-fi options - make it more angular, make it float, make it a hologram, make it do something automatically, make it blue.
Add a prefix or suffix to the real world name based on these new traits.
If it doesn't feel sci-fi enough, find a synonym for the real world part of the name.
Okay I'm writing a scene that involves a (looks around room) paper shredder.
Flimsi shredder. That's enough honestly. But if it's important, if Cassian is trying to destroy important rebel information before and Imperial walks through the door, we may want to do more.
Okay, well, most of the documents are actually little holograms in the show. Hologram.
Now we're cooking! Something still doesn't feel right. Shredder isn't giving the right vibes.
"Cassian quickly fed the data sticks into the holo-scrambler. He kept his breathing steady through will alone, the air wanted to leap out of his chest as he heard Imperial boots walk down the hallway. Getting closer? He couldn't tell."
See! The eye glides right past it. Go forth! Write fic without fear!
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