A Sword and Starship prequel has been an idea of mine for many years. I always thought it would be interesting to show some of Dame Jessamine’s earlier questing without the baggage and complexities of a full novel. Unfortunately, none of the ideas I ever had for a such a quest ever grabbed me. I struggled with both premise and theme. In other words, what should the darn thing be about, and what message should it deliver?

I used to wing it with those sorts of things. After reading John Truby’s Anatomy of Story, I’ve learned better. Spend all the time in the world—weeks, if you have to!—figuring these things out from the start. Whatever it is that resonates with you. Then you’ll find that when it comes time to actually write, you follow through with enthusiasm instead of losing steam after 10 pages.

My idea for the prequel is to show how the heck a well-mannered, god-fearing young girl decided to pick up a sword and quest through the galaxy in the first place. I’m about halfway through drafting what I believe will be a novella-length story (around 20,000 words). Absolutely everything is subject to change while drafting, but here are some things that I believe will definitely be part of the prequel:

• Sir Mayweather Stark, Jess’ first mentor, plays a significant role.
• The story takes place in a previously-unvisited part of the galaxy with unique dogma (i.e. religious laws and customs).
• Some of what will happen here is hinted at within Blood’s Force and/or Harbingers.

The prequel will share at least one theme with the Tech Support Noir novella I finished earlier this year: Choose your fate, or it will be chosen for you. This is something I’m currently experiencing in real life: choosing to believe in myself and chase fiction despite recurring fears of failure and financial ruin.

Do you have your own story to share with respect to staying true to yourself, even when it’s scary? Feel free to reply in the comments.