McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Writing in an Existing Universe

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Mr. Ghostbuster:
I don't know about the process involved but I do know that Star Trek and Star Wars only accept novels from established authors. And I'm pretty sure you can't just submit an idea to the people in charge of Star Wars. I think they actually have to invite you to write a Star Wars novel.

Snowleopard:
Yup Mr. Ghostbuster has that right - you have to be invited in - and they're fairly choosy who they
invite.  Sorry.

Paynesgrey:
Yeah, Paramount & whoever their publisher is no longer accepts any unsolicited manuscripts for Trek stuff, I'm pretty sure Star Wars is the same.  You pretty much have to be published and get their attention.  Although in Star Trek Online (which works hand-in-glove with Paramount), they often have "official literary challenges" which might get someone's attention if you really knock out something Epic.  It would be worth checking the "official" forums and fan clubs for the franchises you're interested in to see if they ever do anything like that.

In past years, they had some contests where fans could submit short stories, the best of which were compiled and published yearly, but I don't think they do that any more.  They're trying to ensure the books stay consistant with not only the movie/series canon, but also the "soft canon" from countless books for the various trek shows.

Still, even if it's not to be "official", fanfic is a lot of fun to write and share with fellow fans, a number of The Big Trek Writers got their start writing for fanzines like Spockanalia.  It can be a useful exercise to sharpen your Author's Tools.  For example, if you learn to capture an iconic character's "voice" so readers hear the actor's voice in their head, and your on the way to constructing and depicting consistant character 'voices' for your original characters.  Learning to describe worlds against which you've a seprate, independant basis for comparison, and you're on your way to building your own.  Kind of like learning to draw or paint.

At least that's my take on it, my own experience in word herding is limited to bits for games and the odd splash of fanfic intended to be used as the backbone for some game arcs. 

Snowleopard:
I started writing Star Trek fanfic many, many moons ago when one had to chase Dinosaurs down to appropriate claws to use as pens.
I even submitted a script to the original series - they didn't use it but said for a rank beginner it wasn't too bad.
After a time I grew out of the Star Trek universe.  I took some of the best parts of my fanfic, at least in my opinion, filed off the serial numbers as they say and created my own wild and wooly Universe.
It's good practice.

Paynesgrey:
Lois McMaster-Bujold's Vorkosigan-verse started out as a novel she pitched to the Star Trek publishers that they weren't interested in.  Man, what they missed out on.  Cordelia's Honor *would* have been about a Klingon and Vulcan.  I'd love to have read her take on the Star Trek universe.

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