Originally posted by: The BizzleI want to write my own heroic tale; create my own mythos, but I wanted to start with something I know.
And that's either going to stunt or trap you. You don't need to offer an alternative this involved when you criticize a movie or a book. Otherwise Ebert would be directing movies and the New York Book Review would write bestsellers. But they don't. I mean, you've done like 10 drafts combined on these two things, and it's all a sort of tainted creativity. It's inhibiting your skills, not growing them. I understand the rationalizations you're giving me, but they're just that: rationalizations. Especially in the face of how much time and energy you're pouring into this.
it's not as if you NEED to do mental gymnastics to figure out some kids movies. You can just go "eh" and pour that energy, that time, and creativity into your OWN stuff instead. There. It's resolved. Life is too short, and movies, ultimately, too inconsequential, to spend this much time "fixing" something in your mind, especially when there are so many other movies, stories and books that you can jump into. It's an option you seem not to have considered. You'd rather lean very heavily on an unnecessary crutch; trapping yourself in another man's mental playground. It's like a baby learning to walk on the Andrea Gail. If you get off the ship, you're going to walk funny. But chances are you're going to sink anyway, if you stick with this line of "practice."
It's one thing to recognize flaws in other people's work. That's why most writers tell you to read constantly--eventually the structure, the internal logic of the stories will become as obvious to you as a roadmap printed in neon ink. You'll understand WHY the story works the way it does. And it sounds like you're doing that with Star Wars, for as much as you've immersed yourself in that universe. The trick is to not, unnecessarily, CONFINE yourself to that universe. And that's what you're doing.
Like I said, you've got good ideas. I think you're just a little too eager to kneecap yourself before you can implement em.