It is May 4, Star Wars Day and time to start writing again.

I have neglected the Short Word Stories these past months, but I have been working on a book - a piece of science fiction that has been brewing for some time. Today seemed appropriate to share some thoughts on the Star Wars journey and why sci fi hooks us.

Before Star Wars there was Star Trek, and not much else other than books to engage a sci fi addiction. Star Wars (A New Hope) was the visual and sensory confirmation that a ‘galaxy far away’ existed, that ‘the force’ could be tapped, that the eternal struggle of good versus evil would always be present. The story was not new but the telling of it was. All awe and amazement cloaking an old and recognisable human condition. A story-telling formulae that resonates without any need for further explanation.

That Star Wars, its vernacular and characters, has become a part of our everyday culture is the legacy of good literature. Replace Yoda with Gandalf, Luke Skywalker with Frodo, Princess Leia with Galadriel, and Darth Vader with (can you guess?) and the similarities are breathtaking. Instead of hobbits, orcs, dragons and rings we were given rebels, stormtroopers, a Death Star and light sabres - for which I am ever grateful.

The lesson for a writer? Don’t mess with the formula - may the force be with you.

PS - I am off now to binge ‘all’ of the Star Wars movies - in chronological order.

• The Star Wars Movies

Swore that I would not do a Covid19 or lockdown story but here it is!

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Respect

I am embarrassed to admit that I have just now bought, studied and been captivated by ‘The Elements of Style’ by William Strunk and E.B. White. I have been totally enamoured from the first page with this ‘little’ book. It is direct and delightful and will be my constant companion from here on in.

‘The Elements of Style’ sets out to cut down the ways that English can be written by applying precise rules, the book itself staying small in the process. The inside joke is obvious and resounds throughout its’ brevity.

There are eleven ‘rules of usage’, eleven ‘principles of composition’, a ‘few matters of form’ and a ‘list of words commonly misused’. They will all inform your writing and delight your intellect.

There are twenty one ‘approaches to style’ also listed. Here they are, and yes they do sound familiar:

1. Place yourself in background.

2. Write in a way that comes naturally.

3. Work from a suitable design.

4. Write with nouns and verbs.

5. Revise and rewrite.

6. Do not overwrite.

7. Do not overstate.

8. Avoid the use of qualifiers.

9. Do not affect a breezy manner.

10. Use orthodox spelling.

11. Do not expain too much.

12. Do not construct awkward adverbs.

13. Make sure the reader knows who is speaking.

14. Avoid fancy words.

15. Do not use dialect unless your ear is good.

16. Be clear.

17. Do not inject opinion.

18. Use figures of speech sparingly.

19. Do not take shortcuts at the cost of clarity.

20. Avoid foreign languages.

21. Prefer the standard to the offbeat.

Out of the many gems there is one paragraph that I must direct you to if you are, or would be, a writer -

“Style takes it final shape more from attitudes of mind than from principles of composition, for as an elderly practitioner once remarked, ‘Writing is an act of faith, not a trick of grammar.’ This moral observation would have no place in a rule book were it not that style is the writer, and therefore what you are, rather than what you know, will at last determine your style. If you write, you must believe - in the truth and worth of the scrawl, in the ability of the reader to receive and decode the message. No one can write decently who is distrustful of the reader’s intelligence, or whose attitude is patronising.”

(The Elements of Style/ William Strunk with revisions by E.B. White, 4th ed. 1979, ISBN 0-205-30902-X, page 84, second paragraph.)

If you write anything at all you should have this ‘little’ book sitting close to you, it cannot do anything other than improve your writing - professional or creative.