One Reason Why Star Wars Was Great

I’ve totally revamped Out of Oblivion the last 6 months after an epic bazillion words. When I got to the end of the first serious draft I was not happy with the ending. I don’t settle.

Recently I got together with two of my genius friends to discuss the end of Out of Oblivion. I sent them a message on Facebook prior to meeting basically saying the following:

What Makes a Story Great?

Let’s use Luke Skywalker’s “moment” in the finale of Star Wars over the Death Star. It’s a perfect example. The team has assembled (rebel force) and they “Attack the Castle,” (the Death Star). This ending is textbook awesome and is why movies/stories like Star Wars have a lasting legacy. Luke’s “moment” comes in the Death Star’s ravine as Vader is closing in is what Blake Snyder, in his book “Save the Cat” calls “Touched by the Divine”.

Here’s the deal, the X-Wing fighters could’ve just flown to the Death Star, had a very tough battle and by strong will and bravery overcome and shoot the torpedo in just the right spot to blow the Death Star to smithereens. Yay! Everybody’s happy.

But that ain’t what happened. Well, that’s what happened on the surface. What really stuck with the audience and made them cheer was under the surface, the unseen, when Luke, in his most desperate moment, digs deep within.  R2D2 had been disabled, Darth Vader’s closing in, experienced pilots have been shot down, the countdown to a destruction of the rebel’s base planet is happening.

It is then he hears old Ben Kenobi’s voice, “Use the Force, Luke.”  On faith (the unseen) He flips the computer targeting eyepiece (material world/the seen) away. This is it! That is what resonates with people. He “feels it” and has faith in his gift to tap into the Force. Take that moment out of Star Wars and what’s going on under the surface is lost. And, the transcendence is lost.

I’ve built into the ending of Out of Oblivion a place for a “divine moment” for Ledarrin, a moment where he has to trust in a “divine” moment.

***Spoiler Alert*** In Blood & Soul he gave the bad guys what they thought they wanted. They thought his blood was royal. Thus his “tainted” blood spoiled the spell and destroyed the bad guys with their evil plans. ***Spoiler Alert*** over.

It took 6 drafts to come up with Ledarrin’s trick at the end. Until then it had been “Ledarrin tries really hard in the end.” That ain’t good enough. When I figured out that superior moment, I weaved/foreshadowed that moment back into the entire story – LOTS OF WORK! How does one come up with that stuff? Hard work, and for me brainstorming while listening to Two Steps From Hell and Volbeat and the like. Also, reading a stack of books on story craft.

That is why I invested so much in the outline this time. I’m working on the second draft now and it is really looking good because I have “the moment” in mind now.

In Out of Oblivion was missing the mechanism for the divine moment, “the Force” in Luke’s case, to be the bridge to Ledarrin’s sacrificing his personal victory for good over evil on a universal scale.

When I sat down with friends it took me an hour to tell the story. I need to be able to tell a lot faster than that – 20 or 30 mins max. Then we played idea tennis. Stirring the pot in hyper-drive with them was great. Both Jim and Dale took my discussion seriously and gave me some great stuff to work with.

I’m more confident than ever that Out of Oblivion will be a solid story at the very least and a solid contribution to the Creed of Kings saga, and if I can execute Out of Oblivion properly it has great potential as a standalone story and a best seller on Amazon.

Update on upcoming books:

I’m very anxious to get started on the next book: Defender (working title, see ultra-brief description here). I already have a detailed book outlined of Defender. The funny thing is, at Defender’s core, is more developed than Out of Oblivion and has a truly emotionally WHAMMO ending. If I can pull it off, nerd tears will flow, especially from fans of Leon: The Professional.

In the big Creed of Kings picture I figured out how to make Defender a minor detour but still very connected directly to Ledarrin and the Creed of Kings world, although Ledarrin does not make an appearance in Defender (at this point) but is very connected to him. Someone that will play a HUGE role in coming books is at the core of the story.

In other news:

I’m extremely anxious to get started on another book I’ve titled American Butterfly. All I have is a concept and a premise and events floating around in my head. Obviously, by the name, it is a contemporary tale. It’s of the thriller genre and it has to do with terrorist attacks. My political philosophy is Conservative/Libertarian, very Breitbart-ish and Bill Whittle-ish and Andrew Wilkow-ish. What disturbs me about “artists” of my political persuasion is the heavy-handedness in which they tell stories. It is cringe-worthy. So, American Butterfly will be a light touch with a deep and profound theme expressing my deeply held and thoroughly examined philosophy which I will smuggle into the story.

Regarding Out of Oblivion: The outline is 90% solid after plowing up everything and starting over. Same world, same characters but a deeper, more meaningful theme. Out of 60, or so, scenes I am on scene 19. I suspect 2 more drafts at least.

Thanks for reading!