I figure having periodic update blogs like this will help keep me in the zone for writing more of Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One, since it inherently requires me to tell you that I'm doing something. Before I give you this update, I recognize that we have some newer users who have been active lately, particularly in chat, so I figure it’s a good idea to give a brief overview of what The Chosen One is in the event that they're interested.
What is it?[]
Star Wars: Episode I - The Chosen One is a fan fiction novel I’ve been working on for the better part of five years now. I’ve written numerous drafts that I’ve ultimately discarded, and I’ve spent far more time not working on it than I’ve spent working on it. That said, it’s a project that’s important to me and one I’m intent on finishing (before the end of the Apocalypse, as the joke around here goes). The Chosen One is the first part of a reboot of the Star Wars film saga called the Alternative Star Wars Saga. The reboot of the film saga has 12 episodes rather than 6, with my rebooted version of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi being Star Wars: Episode XII. I liken this reboot to re-imaginings a la Batman Begins and Casino Royale.
The story of The Chosen One follows Michael Lars, a figure of prophecy who will discover he has a destiny and will soon take the name Annikin Skywalker, a mantle to inspire the worlds on his side of the rim that divides the Galactic Republic from the tyranny and oppression in the space controlled by the Hutt Lords.
Update: September 4th[]
I’ve currently finished the first half of chapter 4, which is the ending of the character exploration that comes before the main plot. The end of chapter 4 will launch us into the plot itself and we’ll start diving right into the beginnings of the journey towards galactic salvation.
One thing I’ve decided is that Sabé Arcadia, the Princess of Ondos and a character who has been in all previous drafts of The Chosen One, will be cut from the novel—but not from the series. She will first appear in the second novel, originally called The Call of Destiny but has now been renamed Star Wars: Episode II - The Princess of Ondos. She will be a central part of that novel.
This concept of the Princess of Ondos is inspired by Adventures of the Starkiller, George Lucas' second draft of the original Star Wars. That draft ends by saying that the sons of the Starkiller would embark on a search for the Princess of Ondos. That concept inspires part of the plot to my story, The Princess of Ondos.
The reason I cut her from The Chosen One is because I didn’t feel like I had a good, solid story for her in this one, and I didn’t want her to just be “there.” All characters in this story have to serve a purpose and have a story of their own to justify their existence, and Arcadia just did not meet that criteria anymore. I’ve done this with previous characters too, such as Jard Dooku and Jar Binks.
Release Date[]
I still intend to have a content release on September 30, 2012, just 26 days from now. Given my current trajectory, I can anticipate the release of, at the very least, seven (7) chapters from The Chosen One. I would love to release more than that, such as ten (or even more, I’m an optimist!), but at this point I think I can guarantee seven. Most of those seven chapters are already written and just require tweaking and possibly some rewrites to bring them in line with the first four chapters (some of these chapters were written months ago).
If I was to be really ambitious I'd also talk about writing some entries for an essential guide about The Chosen One, inspired by The Essential Guide to Force Exile by Atarumaster88, and releasing them at the same time, but I'm not going to make that promise. I would like to write some entries like that, similar to Ataru's content releases, but we'll see how it goes.
Final Thoughts[]
This is fun, and I hope my burst of activity lasts. I’m more confident in the story than I’ve ever been, and, with the help of some people who have been reading it over (especially one person in particular on SWRP who is incredibly hard to please and who nags me for more content), I feel like this is a really great story so far. At the very least, the beginning to me and to that aforementioned person shows a lot of promise. I hope I live up to the hype!
Until next time,