I've seen some timelines and dates and such established by the books that have been written. When you folks write your stories do you try and stay within them or do you move outside them? I ask because I have a work in progress but according to several things I've read there are some MAJOR flaws in my chronology.

Personally, I just take what I want from the EU and leave the rest... kind of like when you are at a salad bar. ;)

It is one of the things about writing fan fiction for something, what you come up with can be contradicted later on, I personally don't consider it a biggie. But there are some in the 'EU Purists Brigade' that will think otherwise, but you can't please everyone.

IMHO the important stuff is how good a read it is! :)

Thanks RH, that makes me feel better about what I've got written. I may eventually post it here, but I've always been a bit protective of my work, or perhaps a better description is afraid of criticism :)

I wouldn't worry too much athos. Most people provide constructive criticism and feedback, and the ones who post just to say you suck really aren't worth listening to.

Hey, criticism is easier to handle than indifference, Athos. ;)

And remember, there are holes and inconsistencies in Star Wars canon anyway. The prequel trilogy ingored stuff in the books set after RotJ, and some of the stuff just doesn't add up period. Unless you're doing silly things like killing off Han Solo in the Mos Eisley cantina, I would worry more about writing a good story than how well it fits in to the minutae of Star Wars canon.

Star Wars has canon?! WHAT?

The best thing to do if you want to avoid breaking canon is to do something completely different - for example, I wrote in another Star Wars universe. I also did the events of KotOR in a different style. It's not that hard to work around canon without actually breaking it.

well, if anyone's been following my 'Betrayal and Retribution' series, you'll note how closely i tend to get to the official Star Wars canon. something i've done is to research the canon material and to work things around it that way. and trust me, i've put probably as much research into that story to make sure it follows the "canon" events primarily as established in the movies, as that is the most important thing to consider.

there are some EU things that you just simply can't plan on unless you have a massive EU library with you (which, i have yet to find) since it's so massive. and, to be honest, i'm really never too concerned with going up against the EU, anyway, since the average person isn't even going to know that you did contradict the EU.

basically, just follow Redhawke's advise, and you'll be fine. i just felt like putting in my own perspective on the issue. ;)

It is one of the things about writing fan fiction for something, what you come up with can be contradicted later on, I personally don't consider it a biggie. But there are some in the 'EU Purists Brigade' that will think otherwise, but you can't please everyone.

IMHO the important stuff is how good a read it is! :)

To keep it all in perspective:
What's the worst the 'EU purists' could do here anyway? Say 'Oh, it's not canon.'
In the immortal words of Garfield the Cat, big fat hairy deal. :D

We're just writing to have a good time here and/or build writing skills, so I'm not worried if something contradicts. I might twitch a bit if you did something that blatantly contradicted something big in the movies, but it's not like we're writing something that explains how to do major heart surgery where we have to be 100% correct.

I agree with RH--it's how good a read it is that's the important thing.

When I read a story, I don't really care about the timeline. Unless its so far off, that you're just like, "What the hell?" (i.e. Anakin fighting some guy in KotOR).

I appreciate all the responses and the input. The story I'm working right now is still in pen and paper mode and hasn't found its way onto my computer. Once it does I'll be sure to post the first exceprts here. I look forward to having a welcoming group such as yourselves review it. :)