Write Better Star Wars

This blog is currently archived Hello! I'm Jacen, and I'm here to help with all your Star Wars questions. WBSW is an ask-based blog where you can send in your questions and find information to make your writing more canonically accurate. You can ask about any topic from any era, no matter how simple or how obscure, and I'll do my best to give you a good answer! Before You Ask / Tip Jar / All Links

[writebetterstarwars]

Hey, Happy New Year everybody! I hope you’re all having a great holiday season and I’m wishing everyone a fantastic 2019!!

~ Jacen

[writebetterstarwars]

How would one go about making a personal ship for a character?

Honestly, I’m not sure how much advice I have for this! I always start by picking out a general class of starship, if it isn’t already a given – as an example, let’s say we have a smuggler character who needs a freighter. Then I narrow it down based on the specific scenario – for a single character, a light or medium freighter would probably be best, and large commercial freighters are definitely out. I can look at cargo capacity, hyperdrive rating, weaponry, passenger seating, etc. I may even consider the amount of information available on the ship – if I want free space to make the ship exactly what I need, I should probably not choose something like a YT-1300, which has a lot of canonical information available. (If I pick a ship with no canonical appearance, I might sketch out what I want it to look like, or at least write down a description.) 

It is also good to consider whether the character would plausibly have access to the ship in question – it’s not terribly likely, for example, for an individual to own a Star Destroyer, though of course there are always exceptions. Finally, I’ll think of any notable modifications to be made to the ship, along with its quirks and common malfunctions, a name, and a paint job. 

If you don’t want to spend all your time looking through reference books, Wookieepedia is very helpful for finding this information and exploring your options. I like to look at the categories (such as Category:Freighter classes) in order to scan through a lot of options quickly. If you don’t know how to use this function, check out this post and its sequels. 

This might seem like a lot to just jump into, so of course you’re welcome to send asks (or messages) if you want help or recommendations at any point. I hope you find this useful! 

~ Jacen 

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[writebetterstarwars]

What types of starfighters are there? I already read the starships masterpost, but I couldn’t seem to find one that would best suit the character that would own it.

Well, there are dozens and dozens of different starfighters, but if you wanted to you could take a look through the Wookieepedia category for starfighter classes. I really can’t recommend any in particular without having a little more information - if you’ve read that masterpost, then perhaps you could pick out a type of fighter to start (snubfighter, bomber, interceptor, etc.)? As well, what is your character’s affiliation? Certain fighters are almost never found outside of their associated military organization, and others are specific to a species or planet. If you’d like to, feel free to send another ask with any information about your character you think is relevant! 

~ Jacen 

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[writebetterstarwars]

On Tumblr’s new policy

Hey all! So I thought I’d better say, I’m not planning on leaving or cancelling my account at the moment, and though I’ve backed it up this blog will stay as is. 

However, so far it seems that I’m unable to see which posts/blogs have and haven’t been flagged. Presumably all the content on here should be fine, but just in case, if anyone happens to notice that a post has been flagged could you please shoot me a message letting me know? Thanks a bunch!

~ Jacen

[writebetterstarwars]

Does the GFFA have some approximation of the Geneva Convention? Has it ever had anything along those lines in galactic history? I haven't been able to find any reference to it, nor to any mention of war crime laws aside from "The Old Republic outlawed war crimes," which is pretty vague. Thanks!

Hey, sorry for the wait! I was away with no internet. Wartime provisions were covered under the Galactic Constitution, the Galactic Republic’s founding document, as was the Rights of Sentience clause, so it can be assumed that laws relating to civilians and other non-combatants were located in a similar document. The laws do exist, as people have been charged for war crimes under the Republic, but beyond that I cannot find any reference to a Republic document that outlines those laws. As the Imperial Charter is based on the Galactic Constitution, it is possible that those laws remained – likely with modification, as occurred with the Rights of Sentience and many acts surrounding the military and law enforcement. Likewise, I can’t find specifics for the New Republic in canon or legends. 

Sorry I couldn’t be more help!

~ Jacen

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[writebetterstarwars]

I have some questions about the Galactic Standard Calendar. is there a format for writing dates, similar to MM/DD/YYYY? also, do the months have names, or just numbers? I’m trying to figure out how a SW character might refer to dates/months in conversation. thanks for your help!

Actually, this exact question is answered here! Take a look at this post for extra info, or have a scroll through my calendars tag.

Hope that helps!

~ Jacen

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[writebetterstarwars]

Has there ever been anything like a white phosphorous grenade in Star Wars? I feel like the Empire would have something like it but I cannot find anything.

Well if you’re thinking of the smoke-producing abilities in particular, then yes smoke grenades exist and are called such in the Star Wars universe. These smoke grenades don’t normally seem to be lethal, however, and don’t have the same toxic effects as phosphorous. A gas grenade can be filled with many different chemicals, presumably including white phosphorous if you like. I don’t know of any chemical-based grenades that a) produce deadly smoke and b) throw off chemicals that can burn so deep into tissue, so you may want to take a look at chemical load grenades as a middle ground. 

I hope that helps!

~ Jacen

[writebetterstarwars]

This is kind of random, but do you know why the Empire tends to handcuff people in front whereas other baddies like Jabba cuff in back?

I have no idea actually! I haven’t thought of this before! I’m afraid I can’t find reference of it anywhere, but if I had to take a guess I might say it’s because cuffing a person’s hands in front makes it easier for them to attack someone or escape, and a whole lot of on-screen escapes are from Imperial officers, thus making it easier for our heroes. If anyone has a more informed answer please feel free to add on!

~ Jacen

[writebetterstarwars]

Do you know of any reference books that have detailed blueprints/cross-sections/images of the Executor? I've got a ton of reference books, but only one has any real detail on the Executor and it's just the command tower (The Complete Locations, pre-TFA version). I've seen articles that mention blueprints for the ship, but I haven't been able to track down where those might be found. Any help is appreciated!

I’m sorry, I’ve taken a look through my reference books and I’m running into the same problem. I don’t know of any detailed blueprints - perhaps because the ship is just so big, it would be very difficult to create a true blueprint for the entire thing. The most detailed image I could find is this, which I expect you’ve probably already found (from The Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels):

If anyone else would be willing to take a look in their books the help would be greatly appreciated!

~ Jacen

[writebetterstarwars]

HUGE thank you to everyone who gave something to my Ko-Fi today!!! You guys really helped me out!!

[writebetterstarwars]

Buy writebetterstarwars a Coffee. ko-fi.com/writebetterstarwars

Support creators you love. Buy a Coffee for writebetterstarwars with Ko-fi.com

Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know I’ve set up a Ko-fi for this account. The link is also in my bio. It’s 100% optional and I’m never going to restrict any of the content on here, but if you’ve ever got a few bucks to spare I would really appreciate it! (Uni applications are coming up faster than anticipated :/)

Thanks for your consideration!

~ Jacen

[writebetterstarwars]

Hey! I’m sorry to do this, but I’m a bit strapped this month for health care costs and bus fares. Once again, no pressure, but if you’ve got a couple extra dollars it would really help me out. Thank you!

[writebetterstarwars]

Hi! I really love your blog and appreciate the time and effort you put into it. I'm wondering if you have a masterlist of things a beginner should know about writing in the SW universe?

Hello, and thank you! I don’t have a masterlist per say – that would be a very long list indeed! – but I do have a few resources that might help you get started. 

First, you could check out the vocab list for some common terminology used in the Star Wars universe. (This is always linked in my bio, for mobile users, and as always you’re welcome to suggest additions.) 

If you’ve got the time, you may like to look through my day to day tag, where I stick things I think might be useful in writing the general life of a SW character. Some won’t apply to you specifically, of course. More tags can be found on my taglist, and if there’s something not on there that you want to know about (for example, the HoloNet) the search function is always available. The not an ask tag would also be a good place to start, because I sometimes reblog general references that may be useful. Give reference, resources and worldbuilding a shot too. 

There are a few posts in the masterposts tag, but they’re not nearly as general as what you’re looking for. I’d say ships and ship terminology are always a good thing to read up on, though, so you could give this post a try! 

Ultimately, in my opinion, the best thing you could do is just dive into it. Learning by consuming the material is much more fun than reading up on Wookieepedia! (Also a good resource, by the way.) The extended universe is full of little details that will make your writing much more organic. If you’re wondering where to start, try this ask! And, of course you can always send an ask my way if you have specific questions!

I hope that helps!

~ Jacen 

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[jedimordsith]

5 Service Droids for Your SW Fics

More world-building reference, because I feel like these are harder to find when I want them than they should be.

WA-7 server/waitstaff droids - classic diner droids.

Autovalet - cleans and presses clothing. (High end/luxury, usually)

Bell-bot - handle luggage on luxury liners, resorts, etc. Wook lists a couple specific droid types used for this. 

VeeTen Valet droid - presumably provide personal assistance and maintain clothing and personal spaces.

Household service droid - generic household help for all the chores you don’t have time to do when you’re busy saving the galaxy.

[jedimordsith]

Six Imperial Departments to Flesh Out Your Fics

Or, if you’re like me, create plot bunnies…

Imperial Department for Epidemic Prevention seems fairly self-explanatory. But I challenge anyone with even a passing familiarity with human history to imagine the kinds of things they did “for the public’s protection”…

Imperial Department of Military Research handled “research and development of military technology such as equipment, small arms, facility components, and armed starships.” 

Imperial Department of Redesign was a particularly horrifying “elite, highly secretive corps of the Galactic Empire, tasked with subduing or liquidating troublesome non-Human species.” 

Imperial Procurement was an “organizational branch” of the Empire responsible for finding and collecting resources… I’m pretty sure nobody needs to be told that they didn’t feel obligated to abide by Fair Trade standards or concern themselves much with the impact on those doing the producing. 

Department of Punishment tortured captured criminals. Fun fact: it had a habit of forcing prisoners to sign contracts giving their captors permission to torture them to death.

Imperial Xenodetic Survey Department.  Mapmakers! (And map alterers!) This is probably only going to appeal to geeks like me, but given the information control and strategic erasure of knowledge the Empire is known for, I feel like there’s potentially a lot one could play with here! It is, at very least, a fun tidbit to throw into character conversations whenever navigation comes up. 

[writebetterstarwars]

By chance, do you know if the Empire used anything similar to the separatists' defoliator canon? If so, do you think this weapon would be effective in destroying a semi-primitive city of mostly wooden buildings, or do you think the Empire employ something like a squadron of flametroopers to do the job?

I don’t know of any weapon resembling a defoliator that was used by the Empire. Flametroopers (called incinerator stormtroopers in Legends) would definitely be a viable alternative, and have been known to take on this role. 

Hope that helps!

~ Jacen

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[writebetterstarwars]

Can you hazard a guess at how many Alderaanians might have survived the destruction of the planet? I read somewhere that Alderaan had a population of about 2 billion (not sure if that’s accurate), and I’m struggling to come up with a realistic number for how many might’ve been offworld at the time (working or studying on other planets, moved to their partner’s homeworld, vacationing on another planet, etc). Tens or hundreds of thousands? Maybe even a few million? Thanks for your help!

According to Coruscant and the Core Worlds, about 60,000 Alderaanian citizens were offworld at the time of Alderaan’s destruction. The same book, as well as a few others, cite Alderaan’s population before 0 BBY as 2 billion, so yes that is accurate. This is the estimate I have used personally, but if anyone knows of others feel free to add!

I hope that helps!

~ Jacen 

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[writebetterstarwars]

(Mount Anon again) To be specific, I'm looking for a species of small-to-medium sized riding animal (so about Fathiers' size), that could be used by a rebel cell on a jungle planet (like Devaron or Kashyyyk) similarly to how the Twi'leks used blurrgs. Something fast, agile, and that you could easily fire blasters/use melee weapons while riding, y'know?

In that case, I think a fathier might be a good choice. They’re quite expensive and may be hard to acquire, but they are definitely fast and agile and there is an instance of the Rebellion using them for hit-and-run missions. A falumpaset might also work, as they’re intelligent and used to navigating jungle and swamp, though they won’t be as fast - they may be better used for carrying equipment/ammo. Many ungulate species may also work, depending on where in the galaxy you are, especially the kybuck, a Kashyyykian animal resembling a tauntaun. You might like to look through the ungulates category on Wookieepedia, and see if anything there fits your location and circumstances. 

I hope that helps!

~ Jacen

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