Interview with Cavan Scott

Cavan Scott is a best-selling author that has been one of the most prolific Star Wars authors in recent years, with several comics, novels and even the first original Star Wars radio drama. He was very gracious in providing us the opportunity for an interview.

Star Wars Veracruz: Can you please start by telling us something about yourself?

Cavan Scott: I’m a full-time comic book writer and author based in the West Country of the United Kingdom. These days I mainly write for Star Wars, but have also written for Doctor Who, Pacific Rim, Warhammer 40,000, Star Trek, Vikings and many, many more. 

SWV: How did you become a Star Wars fan?

Cavan: When I first picked up a copy of Marvel UK’s Star Wars Weekly in the late seventies. I think I was hooked by page three, and that was before I saw a single Star Wars movie. 

SWV: Before contributing yourself to the Star Wars universe, what were your favorite novels/comics? What are your favorite characters?

Cavan: I’m a big superhero fan. My favourite heroes are pretty standard. I love Superman, the Fantastic Four, Thor, Doctor Strange… the list goes on and on. Away from comics I’m a massive Doctor Who and James Bond fan. 

SWV: You started contributing to Star Wars in the Adventures in Wild Space novels, what was it like to have that opportunity?

Cavan: Incredible. It was a dream come true, especially to be given the opportunity to create my own characters. I put everything into those books thinking they would probably be my only chance to write Star Wars. Luckily, I was wrong!

SWV: The Graf family has slowly expanded into other ventures in the galaxy, what is it like to see your characters reach other audiences and become entrusted to other authors?

Cavan: Incredible, although I have to admit I’ve hand in most of the Grafs other outings… although that may change in future. 

SWV: The Star Wars Adventures is a really fun comic series, how does your approach differs when writing comics?

Cavan: I start the same way with characters, trying to put them in the most interesting situations. Of course, there is a certain craft involved in writing comics that is different to other work. I start by breaking the action down into the individual pages to get the pacing right. I then start with the dialogue, breaking it into panels as I go, before going back and writing the panel descriptions. And then, of course, the editing and redrafting begins!

SWV: Jaxxon, for Pete's sake! What was it like to get that character ease back into canon? Were you a fan of the original stories? Do you think he could work as a character in a novel, or are comics the better way to use him?

Cavan: Absolutely. He was in the very first Star Wars comic I ever read. I had no idea he wasn’t in the films, and was disappointed when I found out he wasn’t! I can’t see why he couldn’t work in a novel. I’d love to write him in prose. 

SWV: And then, the Choose Your Destiny books! Were you a fan of the "Choose Your Own Adventure" books? How do you work in such a book? Do you plan the "main" ending first and then start tracing back the decision paths?

Cavan: Not the actual Choose Your Own Adventure brand, but we did have a series of gamebooks in the UK called Fighting Fantasy, which was quite horrific for a kid’s series. I couldn’t get enough of those. 

When it comes to planning, I plot out the main path first making sure there are loads of branch points, and then go back to work those out, moving things around to make it as exciting as possible. 

SWV: Not happy with that, you wrote the Dooku: Jedi Lost as a radiodrama script! What's the challenge in writing for such a medium? Would that count as experience should you get the opportunity to write for TV/film?

Cavan: Radio dramas were my first medium so in many ways it was like going home. Again, it's all dialogue first for me so in many ways its similar to writing a comic, only with notes for the actors and sound designers rather than panel descriptions.  

As for TV / Film, I am working on some scripts at the moment, so we shall see...

SWV: Please tell us about your non-Star Wars work. What novels or comics could be of interest to Star Wars readers?

Cavan: The best thing to do would be to visit my website at www.cavanscott.com. I suppose outside of Star Wars, I’m best know for my Doctor Who work having had nearly 20 years experience writing Who audio, books, novels and comics. As for the future, I have my first creator-owned comics coming out next year and can’t wait for everyone to see them. 

SWV: Do you speak any Spanish? Have you ever visited Mexico or any other Latin American country?

Cavan: Very little unfortunately and no, I would love to visit Mexico. It’s on my bucket list!