How to be the strong and silent type, with Chewbacca from ‘Star Wars’

Here’s the next post in this series where I discuss TV shows and movies and the knowledge that we can gain from watching them. We can apply that knowledge to our writing. As always, I never pretend to be an expert. I just like exploring my own thoughts on the matter as I write these blog posts! I welcome all comments and would love to hear what you think about this topic.

Make sure you check out my previous post, titled, “How to shock the socks off your readers, with Colby Granger from Numb3rs.”

Hopefully you guys have read my thoughts on Star Wars as someone who has just recently watched the original trilogy for the first time. It’s pretty relevant, because we’re going to be talking about Chewbacca today!

Chewy was one of my favorite characters in the films, which is interesting because, well, he doesn’t really talk. I mean, he does speak, but not in a language we can understand.

I thought this was an interesting character trait, and something that would be quite difficult to accomplish in a novel. If your character can’t talk, how can you give them a personality? How can you tell your readers exactly what they’re thinking (assuming the POV isn’t theirs)?

The easy answer to this is to “show, don’t tell.” We’ve heard it a million times, and I think it applies here more than anywhere else. If your character can’t — or won’t — speak, the best way to show your readers exactly the type of person they are is through body language.

You should already be doing this with your other characters, but it’s doubly important if a character has no dialogue.

In the movies, Chewy’s movements were paramount to understanding him. While you could make a distinction between when he was happy or when he was upset by the sounds he made, it was much clearer when that was backed up with physical actions. Whether he was hitting someone or hugging them, it made it so much easier to understand his emotions.

A character in your book that doesn’t speak needs to do the same things. They need to interact with other people in order to show those characters what they’re thinking. A hand firmly planted on a hip versus a hand fingering the fraying hem of a shirt speak volumes of two different emotional states.

While dialogue is an important facet to your novel, so is physical action. Even more so when your character won’t be speaking at all. That physical action in place of dialogue is the literal answer to showing and not telling. A character that doesn’t speak would create a challenge for an author, I think, but one that’s definitely worth pursuing.

Do you know any characters in a book that don’t speak? How did the author get around them not being able to communicate verbally? Do you have any characters that don’t speak in your work? What’s your favorite scene starring Chewbacca? 🙂

Does ‘Star Wars’ still have appeal? (Or, the musings of a ‘Star Wars’ newbie)

Like with anything, I think the answer is a bit more gray than just ‘yes’ or ‘no.’

But let’s start from the beginning. As of September 5, 2013 I hadn’t watched Star Wars. Yes, nearly 25 years of my nerd-filled life had been void of this sci-fi superpower. Why? I’m not sure. I hadn’t been into sci-fi until recently, and I just never had the opportunity to watch it. This didn’t become a problem until I hit college.

And then I realized what a mistake admitting my Star Wars noob-ness could be. I’ve been relentlessly picked on about it from friends, family, co-workers, and even complete strangers.

And not without reason. Because, let’s face it: Whether you like these movies or not, they are a big deal. They set the stage for a lot of sci-fi movies and shows, and this series is still a cultural phenomenon. Not to mention the fact that they’re still making new ones.

So when I realized one of my best friends had the original trilogy (on the ancient technology called ‘VHS’), I had to watch it. This would be the year when I could finally start understanding all those references. This would be when I could finally say I had watched Star Wars.

Now, I’ve had a conversation or two about the series with a few different people. Some of them are huge fans, while others aren’t. I was worried that, because I hadn’t grown up with the movies, I wouldn’t find them as enjoyable as a lot of people. It’s an interesting thing to see sometimes, isn’t it? You’ve loved a movie since you were a kid, no matter how horrible it is. It’s the nostalgia that keeps you tied to it, not the quality.

But what about Star Wars? Does that fall into the same trappings, or is it different?

I don’t think it’s any different. I watched the movies and enjoyed them. I really connected with a few of the characters, and could care less about others (mainly Luke, because come on, he’s so boring). The plot was a give-or-take kind of thing, and I couldn’t help but watch just to see how it ended. I didn’t necessarily care what happened along the way.

This might be because I already knew a lot about the series. I knew who Leia ended up with, what her relationship was with Luke, and who Luke’s father was. Because if you don’t know at least that last one, even without watching the movies, you’ve probably been living under a rock.

The Muppet alien things were absolutely ridiculous, and I found myself laughing at the movies more than laughing with them. But that’s okay. That was all part of the experience. They were obviously interesting enough to keep my attention — I sat through six hours of them, after all — and I’ll probably end up finding episodes I, II, and III as well, just to see what happens in them.

The bottom line here, I guess, is that Star Wars still does have appeal, but maybe not for the right reasons. You really want to love some of the characters (Han! Chewy! R2D2!), but perhaps not the ones you’re meant to love (Luke and Leia in particular). The cultural impact of the series is its biggest draw, and I’m not sure that’s really a good thing.

Either way, though, I think Star Wars will be sticking around for a while, especially considering they’re already making episode VII.

My question for the Star Wars superfans is this: What is it about Star Wars keeps you coming back? What made it so amazing to begin with (because I honestly don’t know), and why do you think it’s had lasting effects? Do you think you would enjoy the movie today if you had watched it for the very first time?