I'm trying to plot a short story set in the Star Wars universe but I'm running into trouble because one of the characters needs more development. The basic plot is that a young girl meets a Jedi right after Order 66 has taken place and helps him get his lightsaber back, only for the Jedi to insist that she take the saber because in the process of retrieving it, he discovered his own corpse and realized the clones did, in fact, succeed in killing him. (The working title, which I will not be using because it gives away the twist, is The Sixty-Sixth Sense. [rimshot]) This story takes place on a forest moon based on Madagascar. There is a diverse population of creatures called ridgos there, which are basically space lemurs that can use the Force. People don't know that because they don't know the Force by name, but they are drawn to Force users while ignoring others, which is why most people disbelieve the legends surrounding them that they are intelligent and reincarnations of those who die on the moon. Ad-Kee is a Jedi general whose troops have been stationed on the moon for months. This moon is inhabited by a human population under droid occupation from which Ad-Kee's forces have come to liberate them, and is populated with a diverse species called ridgos (basically, space lemurs.) The ridgos are said to be the reincarnated spirits of everyone who dies on the moon's soil; they are sacred and it is forbidden to transport them offworld for this reason. Some believe they are intelligent, since they are believed to contain the souls of once-intelligent beings, but others argue that just because one's spirit inhabits an animal does not grant that animal intelligence. Which perspective observation encourages depends on whether one is Force-sensitive; while they ignore most as other animals do, they seem to be fascinated by those gifted with the ability to use the Force. During Order 66, Palpatine orders that they be exterminated, with the exception of a number of specimens captured alive and taken to Coruscant for study. One ridgo in particular seems to take an interest in both the Jedi Ad-Kee and our protagonist, Hita. And that's the character I need to flesh out, or else this plot will not make sense. All I know about Hita is that she has Jedi abilities but doesn't know it, is really good at jumping and can use psychometry. Oh, and ridgos always seem to stare at her for at least a few seconds whenever they see her (because she's Force-sensitive.) I don't know why she'd want to help Ad-Kee get his lightsaber back or how she'd convince him to let her. So far, the way I see this playing out is Hita saying "your clone troopers betrayed you and they have your lightsaber," Ad-Kee saying "thanks I'm going to take care of that, BTW you probably shouldn't come because it's dangerous and you're a kid," Hita saying "no kidding, see you around," and then both of them going their separate ways, Ad-Kee to fail in his mission because he's a ghost, and Hita to either get shot by clone troopers or eaten by space fossas while running from clone troopers. And that is, um, not what I want for this story. How do I develop Hita's personality and motivations to stop the plot from stopping dead in its tracks right here?
Save anything overly deadly as an idea for the end scenes It's okay to begin with the ending when writing the first draft, because you will probably change it beyond recognition before you're satisfied with the fourth draft of the story. Just make sure that you rewrite the prose when needed to reflect changes in mood based on past events. Character development is about daily events that represent their actual life But you can still add a twist with something unexpected to set the story in motion and keep it from feeling like filler content. Character arcs are like slowly burning candles Anything that severely damages main characters physically, socially or mentally should be used carefully to enter the next story arc with a new tone. The key is to make insignificant actions feel relevant by connecting with them emotionally. Listing future key events might help you If you often derail while improvising, creating key events that drives the story forward can help to consume character arcs more slowly and avoid running into dead ends. While fleshing it out, you might not follow the plan, but then you just write a new plan for the next two chapters or so.
That's interesting. I have a few Star Wars novels. One I'm in is a retelling of a new hope. I enjoy these types of novels as its not so strict on my imagination as something more realistic would be. I can kind of let loose despite certain things being established already. You mentioned that she has the ability of psychometry?.. Maybe give her some back story of her wanting to help liberate the people on the moon place with the space lemurs but maybe a hard arse teacher or parent basically saying she cant help anyone cause she can't help herself etc. Then have her bump into the Jedi she's helping and see stuff about him and the future and how to help him. Then the plot can go on her helping him in ways that really help him for reasons the Jedi doesnt understand. Maybe even where the Jedi avoids the death she saw, the two liberate the moon.
