Is anybody else going to post their takes on Episode VIII and IX? The more, the merrier I say.

Edit: Tips from that guy who has been posting Episode VIII bits the last two pages:

Focus on the emotion of the story and the journey of the characters NOT lightsaber colors and superficial stuff like that.

Why do you think the OT characters are so good? The characters need to change. Luke starts off a slightly spoiled inexperienced farm boy in Episode IV and ends a badass peaceful Jedi in Episode VI. Leia pretends to hate Han at first but learns to be more in touch with her emotions. Han starts off a selfish rogue but learns to be selfless.

You also need to make those changes organic. Look at Anakin in the prequels! First, he’s a Gary Stu darling kid, then he’s a whiny stalker brat, then later a crazy child murderer, and lastly a badass Sith lord with little to no context for the changes. So Anakin destroys planets and murders children because… he had a dream his girlfriend was going to die?

Think of the characters as people. What would you do and say if you had their histories and personalities? What histories would the characters need to have to act the way they do? (Not to brag or anything, but I’m a little proud of my motivations for Kylo Ren)

P.S. If you are following my Episode VIII, I can tell you the characters are going to change drastically in Act III.

Don’t overexplain the setting. Part of what makes Star Wars so great is that (before the prequels) it doesn’t bother explaining stuff it doesn’t need to, and that makes the world seem more natural. Knowledge of the setting should flow organically or be implied through the characters’ dialouge. Imagine if two adults explained what World War I was mid-conversation for no reason.
Let the characters make the decisions for you. Channel their histories and personalities into every little thing they say and do. Don’t force something dumb like a Force Switcheroo where Rey becomes evil and Kylo Ren becomes good because it’s your stupid neat idea.
Don’t assume the audience immediately relates to your characters. Work for their emphathy and sympathy. Rey works in the Force Awakens because she’s an underdog who is good at what she does and it’s admirable. Poe works because he’s just a funny good guy to everybody, including stormtroopers. Finn works because he’s just a normal guy forced to do something he realizes he doesn’t want to do.
Always have the characters move the plot forward and not the other way around. If your main characters (not the side characters) are too reactive, your audience will not admire them and will just get bored. Even the character deciding to do nothing despite peer pressure counts as moving the plot forward.

The only exception is when you want the lack of agency to make seemingly bad people more tragic. (like Ben being brainwashed)