Key Elements of Storycrafting

A good story will always include a number of basic elements. Skilled writers know these and how to make the most of them, to blend each basic element with the others to make a story greater than the sum of its parts. For some, they come naturally. For others - for most - these should be considered during the planning stages of a story. It is highly recommended that during your brainstorming/outlining/planning phase, you address each of these elements:

• Theme
• Tone
• Setting
• Characters
• Plot
• Point of View
• Tenses

Theme

Is your story going to be about good triumphing over evil? Maybe you want to write about a person overcoming their fears, or a tale of someone "coming of age." Will there be a mystery to solve, or perhaps an underdog defying the odds?

The theme of a story is the overarching or central idea.

This should be your very first decision when writing. Your theme doesn't have to be complex, and for writers who are still learning the craft, attempting to be complicated can actually hurt your story. Generally speaking, you should be able to summarize the theme of a given work in one sentence.

For example, Michael A. Stackpole might describe the theme of his book, "I, Jedi" as follows:

Our hero learns to overcome great odds by accepting his heritage and blending it with his upbringing.

Your theme will dictate your plot, to a degree.

With specific regard to Emperor's Hammer competitions, such as ReMob and Raise the Flag, the theme is given to you, to make of it what you will. Look for the theme in the prompts, and decide if you will go with it, or perhaps subvert it to a theme of your choosing! As a writer, the decisions you make in the planning process will help the writing process flow more smoothly.

Tone

The tone of a story is as important as the theme, but often overlooked.

Tone in writing is the mood of the story.

Will your story be serious, or funny? Are you writing a heavy action piece with a lot of in-your-face anger, or maybe telling a slower, heartbreaking tale? This is something good writers decide on early, alongside the theme.

You can mix tones - Marvel has done this with great results by adding humour into their movies and shows in calculated doses, to lighten the mood. You can work shifts into the story or designate characters to shift the mood - "class clown" or "wet blanket" types. Just make sure your tonal shifts aren't too sudden or extreme - for example, a murder mystery shouldn't have a hard swing into a stand-up comedy routine, and a light-hearted romp through space probably wouldn't work well with a grisly murder in the middle.

As with everything else, consistency is very important in tone.

Setting

Part of planning a story includes the location(s) where the story takes place.

Whether it's the bridge of a Star Destroyer or the jungles of some alien planet deep in the Unknown Region, the setting of your story is something good writers spend a lot of time thinking about.

Don't rely on your readers knowing what a place looks like, and remember that a scene is more than just an appearance. Is it dimly lit? Does the air have a peculiar scent? Can you hear noise in the background? Can your characters feel the engines rumbling in the deckplates? These are all parts of setting a realistic scene.

Setting the scene often helps establish the tone of a piece, and your reader should be able to picture it clearly in their mind.

This is also where good research shines. If using an existing location from canon - for example, the bridge of a Star Destroyer - a good author will make sure to include details that line up with existing knowledge.

Be careful not to overdo it when you are setting a scene, though.

On one hand, you want your readers to really be able to visualize the scene clearly. On the other, make sure you're not including irrelevant details or getting too specific.

A good general rule for describing a scene is that it should take no more than two or three sentences. Additional descriptions can be worked into dialogue or action scenes, if needed.

Characters

A story is nothing without the people who drive it. This includes your hero (or protagonist), conflict driver/villain (antagonist), people that fulfill various supporting roles (foils), and those that are just there as filler (extras).

Characters are the people in your story.

The protagonist is the focus or hero of the story. In the case of first person writing, you will always be the protagonist. In the case of second person writing, the reader is typically the protagonist. And in the case of third person writing, the person at the center of the story will be the protagonist.

You can have multiple protagonists, but that complicates the story immensely. More often, you will have a central protagonist and one or more secondaries who are also foils, as is the case with the Harry Potter series, or (in rare cases) the protagonist can shift from person to person.

The antagonist of a story is the primary driver of conflict for the protagonist, and can take several forms.

Very often in action movies, the antagonist is the villain (or "big bad guy"). This can be a person, such as Darth Vader or Lord Voldemort, or a creature of some sort - the giant shark in Jaws is a great example of a non-person antagonist.

But antagonists can also be broader and less specific than an individual - the environment, a faceless corporation, an apathetic society, a flawed justice system, and so on. Villains can be major or minor, but the antagonist in those stories is always the big one.

For example, in the Hunger Games series, the real antagonist is the system that created the need for a Hunger Games. President Snow is a villain, but not the villain; income inequality and unearned privilege are what Katniss is truly fighting against.

The planet Mars itself creates all the conflict for the protagonist in The Martian and could be considered the main antagonist of the story.

Related but not the same as an antagonist/villain, a conflict creator can be anyone or anything that works at odds with the protagonist. Not necessarily a villain, these are people or things that present a challenge to the protagonist, without necessarily being "the bad guy." A great example of this is the FBI agent in Ant-Man, who is clearly not a villain but creates a great deal of trouble for the hero, or Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back, who is forced to make a deal with Vader but is not really an evil force. A good example of a non-person source of conflict is when Luke landed in the swamps of Dagobah, which later swallowed his X-wing. The swamp itself created an obstacle for the protagonist to overcome.

Finally, you may choose to make the protagonist's own fears or inadequacy the antagonist. This is a particularly challenging thing to write but can make for very interesting, deep stories and exploration of your character.

Sometimes in writing it's good to have characters with different skill sets or outlooks than the main character (protagonist). These characters may be smarter, more physically able, or wiser than the main character, but alternatively could have weaknesses that make the main character look better.

A foil is a character that is used to accentuate the qualities or flaws of the protagonist (or sometimes, the antagonist). Foils are always viewed relative to the character; the story never revolves around them.

Dr. Watson is a foil to Sherlock Holmes, because his relatively average intelligence makes Holmes look that much smarter. Yoda is a foil to Luke in a way, showing the young Jedi's inexperience in the Force. Even Vader could be considered a foil to antagonist Emperor Palpatine; the powerful Sith lord bowing to the Emperor makes the viewer understand that he is even mightier than Lord Vader.

Foils are useful to show a character's skills or limitations, but require careful use to avoid the dreaded "God Mode" or "Mary Sue."

"God Moding" a character is one of the easiest and most common errors new writers make, especially when writing themselves as a character. It’s very tempting to make your character a better duelist than Obi-Wan, stronger in the Force than Anakin, or wiser than Yoda. A bounty hunter who tracks down every target with ease, a smuggler who can outfly anyone, or a special agent who is always one step ahead of the bad guy may be cool, but it takes away the core of what makes a good story - the conflict.

God Mode / Mary Sue is when your character never faces a challenge they can't overcome, usually easily.

Moreover, “god mode” characters are just not believable. You can write characters that are very good at a thing without making them overpowered and still tell a good story, and it’s common for writers to create a character that appears overpowered in the beginning, only to later show their weaknesses as the reader gets to know the character. The first couple of episodes of season 1 of The Mandalorian is a great example of this. But at the end of the day, if your character has no challenges to overcome or conflicts to resolve, it’s likely to bore your readers.

A “Mary Sue” is a female character that falls into “god mode” to some degree. Rey from the sequel trilogy is a common example - she can fly ships well, she can shoot, she can fight with a lightsaber, she can do whatever is needed at the time, despite clearly never having had experience doing any of those things.

Canon Characters are people like Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, or Han Solo.
You are highly discouraged from writing them into your stories.

There are many reasons for this, but the primary reason is because you are unlikely to write them as their creators intended, no matter your intent or knowledge of the character.

Other reasons include the likelihood that they are canonically already engaged elsewhere during the fictional time period for which you are writing, or that their presence takes away from the other characters.

Writing existing Emperor’s Hammer characters into your stories can be tricky. Most EH members don’t mind others using them in fiction pieces, but it is always advisable to check with them to ensure they don’t mind, and it’s important to write them in such a way as to keep with their character’s personality. You can use their Imperial Navy Personnel Record (INPR) on the TIE Corps website to gain valuable information into their character. If the character’s INPR is empty, feel free to ask the person about their character, but be aware that they are under no obligation to reply to you.

There are also numerous non-player-characters (NPCs) on the EH wiki and TC websites that can be used in your fictions. These range from Wing Commanders to droids, and they typically have other stories associated with them, so it might be a good idea to research them as you would a real member.

Finally, you may create characters from scratch. Whether they’re throwaway stormtroopers or important diplomatic members of an alien race, the goal should be to make them believable without spending too much time developing them (unless you plan on recurring use). Remember, a random stormtrooper is unlikely to be a secret Sith, and a droid on some backwater planet is unlikely to hold the key to defeating the galaxy-spanning threat.
Note: "Unlikely" doesn't mean they can't be special, but if you choose that route, be creative!

Plot

Plot is the story. The plot is the sequence of events that occur in a story. The beginning, middle, and end of the story are all dictated by the plot structure, so it's important to decide on a plot early on in the process. You don’t need to flesh out the details immediately, but having a general overview of who is doing what, with whom, and where can make the process much easier later on. Fundamentally these can all be mapped out during the planning & research stage, making it much easier for the writer to line up all the pieces of their story methodically.

Exposition is the beginning of a story. This is when your readers meet your characters, get to know the location or setting, and whatever background information they need to get them through the story. Often the exposition will include an introduction to the conflict your hero will face, but that isn’t always necessary.

Example: The story begins with a child who learns they are Force-sensitive on a planet that persecutes Force-users. You meet the child, their family, learn about the planet/society/culture, and meet the person behind the persecution.

Rising Action is the build up of a story. It’s the mission itself, the conflicts our protagonist faces, the build up to the big battle. The rising action is the sequence of events that leads up to the climax. Things like training, briefing, preparing for battle, or even small battles that take place before the “big battle” all fall into rising action. For most, this is where the bulk of the storytelling happens, as the protagonist faces challenges and takes steps that lead them to the climax.

Example: Your hero learns how to use their powers, perhaps with the help of a reclusive sage, in preparation to take down the leader of those who imprison and persecute Force sensitives. Training montages, minor struggles, romantic attachments, other characters and subplots all happen here.

The Climax is the “big fight.” Typically when people think of a story’s climax, they think of big battles, like Luke fighting Vader in the throne room on the second Death Star, or the final battle between Moana, Maui, and Te Fiti in Moana. The climax of a story begins when the final battle begins, and concludes when battle does. It can be as obvious as Vader throwing the Emperor down the shaft of the Death Star II, but it can also be when the protagonist overcomes their fear, or escapes from the hostile environment.

Example: Your hero confronts the leader of the persecutioners in a pitched battle. Commonly, the hero is nearly beaten but finds some reserve of strength in the end, and somehow overcomes the villain.

Falling Action immediately follows the climax, as a “winding down” of the plot. It is often overlooked or confused with the denouement, but it is ideally a separate part of the story where the protagonist’s primary conflict has been resolved, but without necessarily wrapping up all the “loose ends.” In fact, falling action may introduce new conflicts that may have been created by the resolution of the primary conflict.

A great example of falling action is Luke’s conversation with his redeemed father, Anakin Skywalker, and the struggle to get him to a shuttle before the Death Star is destroyed.

Example: Having won the battle, your hero learns that the villain had some sort of tragic backstory, and regrets their actions before dying.

Denouement is the wrapping up of loose ends, the conclusion of the story. The action is now over, all conflicts resolved, this is the “happily ever after” (or not) moment. A writer will use the denouement to explain all that wasn’t necessarily relevant to the plot - what happened to characters, unraveling the motivation of the hero or villain (or both). Essentially, a denouement handles everything that isn’t immediately resolved by the hero winning the final fight or in the falling action.

Example: Your hero finds and frees the captive Force sensitives and reunites with a love interest/childhood friend/mentor.

Epilogue is post-story information that isn’t directly tied to the story itself. The awards ceremony on Endor after the destruction of the Death Star II or the Platform 9¾ scene with the children of the protagonists of the Harry Potter series are excellent examples of epilogues. Some writers choose to include them after long, epic stories, but they are typically considered optional, especially for shorter stories.

Example: Your hero, having saved the planet, is shown one year later, teaching a new generation of Force-sensitives on the world, which now accepts them for who they are.

Plot Devices

Many writers use plot devices without even realizing it, but knowing what they are and how they work can make your storytelling much easier to write, and help you avoid cliches. A plot device is a technique a writer uses to drive a story. The list below is a very short overview of some of the most popular plot devices, but it is by no means an exhaustive list, and you are encouraged to look up others to spice up your writing.

A Big Dumb Object (BDO) is a humorously named device that describes when a writer uses some fantastic, mysterious, and super-powerful object to drive the story.

Examples: The Death Star (I & II) are Big Dumb Objects to a point, but other examples include the spaceships from the movie Independence Day or the Dyson Sphere in various science fiction works. BDO is a kind of MacGuffin (see below) that is typically only used in science fiction writing.

Deus Ex Machina is a much-maligned plot device that literally translates to “God out of the Machine,” and it gets a bad wrap because it’s what happens when the solution to a problem or conflict occurs from outside of the influence of the characters themselves. Deus Ex Machina often feels like a cop-out to readers, as the resolution doesn’t come from a character overcoming something, but rather a convenient solution that doesn’t require them to do anything.

Examples: One of the best and most obvious examples of this plot device is when the T-Rex swoops in to save the protagonist and friends from the velociraptors in Jurassic Park, but a more recent example is the use of Fawkes the phoenix in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, where the phoenix flies in at the end to supply Harry with the weapon capable of killing the basilisk, tears that heal Harry’s fatal poisoning, and the ability to fly up and out of the Chamber while carrying 3 people.

Flashbacks are a commonly used plot device, especially for writers looking to flesh out their character backgrounds and motivations, or to give context to interactions between long-standing characters. These are so common they don’t really require examples, just remember that your flashbacks should always be relevant to the story at hand. A flashback to a youth spent farming doesn’t have anything to do with flying a starfighter… or does it?

Foreshadowing is when a writer tells the reader something significant about what will happen later in the story, whether the reader picks up on it or not. Often, the reader will not realize the significance of the foreshadowing until after it is revealed.

Example: When Mr. Incredible goes to have a new costume made and the designer, Edna Mode, goes on a tangent about how capes are bad, she is foreshadowing the defeat of the antagonist, Syndrome.

Another somewhat more abstract example is when Luke Skywalker goes to the dark side cave on Dagobah and encounters his vision, showing Luke’s face in the decapitated head of Darth Vader, foreshadowing Luke’s connection to the Sith lord.

Foreshadowing is often in dialogue, with characters making observations or statements that are later proved out. “I have a bad feeling about this” is a very direct form of foreshadowing.

A MacGuffin is most often a thing that drives the plot, and these are easily as common as flashbacks or plot twists. Typically, a MacGuffin is essentially irrelevant on its own, with little value except as a device to move the story forward.

Examples: The Sorcerer’s Stone in the first Harry Potter movie, the plans to the Death Star in Episode IV, whatever is in the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, even Grogu (or “Baby Yoda” as he was known for most of season 1) in the Mandalorian are all examples of MacGuffins. In each case, you could replace them with anything else without impacting the story much if at all. In each case they have no specific value to the reader/viewer, except as objects that the antagonist wants.

Plot Twists are also very common, and can be great tools for shaking up a defined story. A plot twist is effectively any time a writer does something, particularly with the protagonist or antagonist, that the reader couldn’t be expected to predict.

Example: The obvious example here is the twist when we find out that Darth Vader is Luke’s father.

It is important to take care with plot twists, as a twist too far will ruin the story for readers - for example, finding out the heroic, loyal protagonist is actually the villain who betrays his friends - and not to have so many twists that it’s hard to keep the story straight.

Decide if the plot needs a twist, and what it should look like, as part of the planning process.

A Red Herring is a type of plot device that works alongside the plot twist and distracts the reader from what’s really going on in a story. Often it is misleading the reader to believe someone is the antagonist, when in reality it’s someone else, someone less obvious.

Example: Viewers are led to believe that Sirius Black is a murderous wizard in the Prisoner of Azkaban for much of the movie. We find out towards the end that the real villain is Peter Pettigrew.

Another excellent example is when little Miguel (and the viewers) are led to believe that his great grandfather is none other than the world famous musician Ernesto de la Cruz, only to find out in the third act that de la Cruz is the villain that killed the protagonist’s actual great grandfather, Hector.

While not strictly speaking a plot device, Chekov’s Gun is more of a principle of plot that states, “One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn’t going to go off.” What this means in practice is that unless it has a purpose, writers should avoid superfluous clutter in their writing. This is also a type of foreshadowing where the reader learns about something that is insignificant at the moment, only for it to later take on significance in some form.

Example: A terrific example of Chekov’s Gun principle is the clock tower in the original Back To The Future movie. First, in 1985, the viewer learns that the clock tower isn’t functional and in fact needs to be saved in an otherwise throwaway scene in the exposition. Then, when Marty goes to the past in act II, there’s an otherwise insignificant scene where he notices the clock is still functional in 1955, and then at the climax we learn the clock was broken by the very lightning strike that sends Marty and the DeLorean back to 1985.

Another example is the poster in Andy’s cell in Shawshank Redemption. The model on the poster changes over the years, but is otherwise inconsequential… Until we learn that it covered the escape tunnel the protagonist dug out over the years.

Point of View

When you decide to write, the first thing you need to decide on is the "narrative voice" or point of view that you will use. Are you going to tell the story from the point of view of one of the characters? Maybe you'll narrate the story, with all the knowledge of what all the characters are thinking and feeling. You could even tell the reader what they were doing, making them a part of the story. There are three basic points of view, and each has some specific rules.

First Person

First person point of view is when you, the writer, are part of the story. Usually, you're the main character (or protagonist, see below) and you will tell the reader what's happening from your point of view.

Basically, you'll use words like "I" and "me" and "we," and you'll only have the knowledge that your character would have in the story. You can't know what others are thinking, their motivations, or other information that you wouldn't know if the story was real.

This POV typically makes for exciting action sequences and gives the reader a lot of insight into your character, their thoughts and feelings, their limitations and skills. This can lead to some excellent storytelling, especially as your character will not have a full understanding of everything going on around them at any given time, and opens the door to lots of twists and turns.

The real challenge is making sure your character doesn't know more than they should. Plot twists and surprises should impact your character just as they would any other, and as a writer you can't describe the thoughts or emotions of others, except as how you would perceive them in the story.

For an excellent example of 1st person storytelling, read "I, Jedi" by Michael A. Stackpole, a Legends book.

Second Person

Second person as a narrative voice for storytelling is uncommon, and is generally considered to be the most challenging. In 2nd person, you are telling the story to the reader as if they were the main character.

Basically, you'll use the words "you" and "your" to tell the reader how they think, feel, speak, and behave, and they'll have the same limitations as you would when writing in the 1st person. They won't know what other characters are thinking or feeling unless they are told by you, the narrator.

The biggest challenge with 2nd person, and the reason it is uncommon, is that telling a person how they think, feel, and act can be very hit-or-miss. Ideally the story would be written in such a way that most people feel like their actions make sense, but dragging the reader into the story can be jarring if they don't agree with the decisions their character makes.

Third Person

Third person is by far the most common narrative voice used in storytelling, as it allows the writer the most freedom. It is the point of view where the author acts as an overall narrator, who can tell the reader anything they choose about any character in the story.

Basically, you'll use words like, "he/she," "his/her," and "they" as you tell the story from the outside, as an observer.

Without getting into the weeds of 3rd person narrative voice, you should decide early if your narrator will be all-knowing (omniscient) or more limited in knowledge, and stick with that.

“Third person omniscient” is when you, the narrator of the story, can bounce from character to character and know their thoughts, feelings, and motivations. This is most commonly considered the most trustworthy, because the narrator in 3rd person omniscient is unbiased towards the characters, responsible only for relating the story to the reader.

“Third person limited” is when you, the narrator, focus specifically and closely on one character and their thoughts, feelings, and motivations. This is useful when the writer wants to keep the spotlight on one character, without being trapped in the head of the character as they would be in 1st person.

Tenses

Of the many challenges facing writers of all experience and skill level, tenses may be one of the most difficult to get right consistently.

Tense is a verb modifier for time. A story may take place in the past, the present, or the future. Writing a story allows you to decide when the story happens, and being able to communicate when things happen in the story can be difficult. The tense you choose for a story will primarily affect the verbs in your story, and it’s important to ensure they match to avoid confusion. This handy breakdown gives you a few examples:

Past Tense	Present Tense	Future Tense
I was doing	I am doing	I will be doing
I had things	I have things	I will have things
I read a book	I am reading a book	I will read a book
I wrote a story	I am writing a story	I will write a story

Now, there are a lot of modifiers for tenses. Some of them are more obvious than others, but fundamentally all you need to know is that (as with everything else we’ve covered) consistency is the key to quality writing.

There are two simple questions you can ask yourself to help decide which tense and narrative voice to use.
The first question is specific to tense: When did this story take place?
The second question follows logically and is specific to narrative voice: Were you there?

Generally speaking, a story told in the first person can be past or present tense.

Example 1:
I watched as she ignited her lightsaber and began methodically searching the cavern. - past tense
I watch as she ignites her lightsaber and begins to methodically search the cavern. - present tense

Example 2:
I saw her from across the cavern, and realized she hadn’t seen me yet. My lightsaber was off and I was deep in the shadows, ready to wait as long as necessary to strike from the darkness. - past tense
I see her from across the cavern and realize she hasn’t seen me yet. My lightsaber is off and I’m deep in the shadows, ready to wait as long as necessary to strike from the darkness. - present tense

In both examples, a first person narrative (where the writer is a character in the story) is used. In the first sentence of both examples, the story has already happened, and the writer is telling you about it after it happened. In the second sentence of both examples, the writer is telling you about it as it is happening.

Example 3:
Timmy watched as she ignited her lightsaber and began methodically searching the cavern. - past tense
Timmy watches as she ignites her lightsaber and begins to methodically search the cavern. - present tense

Example 4:
Timmy saw her from across the cavern, and realized she hadn’t seen him yet. His lightsaber was off and he was deep in the shadows, ready to wait as long as necessary to strike from the darkness. - past tense
Timmy sees her from across the cavern and realizes she hasn’t seen him yet. His lightsaber is off and he’s deep in the shadows, ready to wait as long as necessary to strike from the darkness. - present tense

In both of these examples, a third person narrative (where the writer is a narrator, separate from the characters) is used. As with the first person examples, tense tells the reader when the story happened. In the case of the first sentence in both examples 3 & 4, the story has already happened and the narrator is telling the reader the sequence of events. In the second, the narrator is telling the reader what happens, as it happens.

Mixing Tenses

Mixing tenses is common when using a third person narrative voice with character dialogue, because for the narrator the story has already happened, but for the characters the story is currently happening.

The officer clenched his jaw tightly, anticipating the invisible choking fist closing around his throat. Before his windpipe closed completely, he managed to speak what he knew would be his last words.
“I serve at the pleasure of the Emperor, long may he reign.”
Lord Vader was caught off-guard by the officer’s devotion, and released his grip before the young man could slip from consciousness.

Note that this is a mixed-tense passage, but it works because the narrator (in the first sentence) is telling you what happened - the officer clenching his jaw, the officer anticipating his punishment - from the perspective of someone who saw it happen and is relating it to someone after the fact. The first two sentences are in third person past tense.

The officer’s statement, speaking as the story happens to him, is in present tense.

Now, this may be quite confusing to read, but there is a simple fix: say whatever you write out loud and listen to your words.

We've all told stories in our daily lives. If you were telling a family member about a day in the classroom, you might say something like:

I wasn't paying attention in class, because of the drama with my friends. The teacher asked me, "are you going to pay attention, or do I have to send you to the principals office again?" So I had to stop doodling and really buckle down.

Note that both past and present tense are used here, in the first person, as you tell your family member about your close call with the teacher. You are speaking in past tense because this happened to you earlier in the day - the past - but you're quoting the teacher in present tense because they spoke to you in the present.

So when you're confused about which tense to use, it might help to say it out loud.

Perspective and Tense

So when you plan your story, ask yourself the two simple questions:

When did the story happen, and were you there?

How you answer those questions will determine the tense and perspective you will use.

Most people find writing in the third person past tense to be the most natural, as that is how we’ve told stories for thousands of years, across a multitude of cultures.