1) Yes. But using STNG as a model has its flaws, because even in a pseudo military command, everyone in that bridge crew was way, way too familiar with each other to the point that there was no real consistency of respect for rank. That said: you had: - the captain - the executive officer - head of medical - head diplomat/ship's counselor - head of security - head of science - head of engineering and presumably a ton of lower-ranked officers to do the dirty work that we didn't see on screen (like cleaning out the Jeffries tubes...that should've been an ensign's job.) 2) Right. You need people to do the dirty work, else you have to figure that the captain (or whoever else is with him) of that ship is also the pilot, the storeroom officer, the ship's gunner, and occasional handyman and therefore *must* take his/her ship somewhere for any service he/she isn't capable of handling. (See: Han Solo and his Millenium Falcon.) This limitation of his/her abilities usually means he/she isn't operating a ship the size of the Enterprise, unless he/she stole it and is capable of figuring out how to override any security protocols. (Not usually a believable scenario.) 3 & 4) *nods*
RE: old sailing chart names: yes, it's more complicated than a family tree, but so is much of maritime history.
In reading what you've written, I'm wondering if you're also spending a lot of time figuring out the world rather than writing something in it. As a reader, I'm perfectly willing to hand-wave some of the science and world stuff if the characters are interesting and the story is compelling. If you use the Star Trek model, especially the basic premise that Gene Rodenberry proposed, it was something that could be simply summed as "wagon train to the stars." What is the story you want to tell? Can you summarize it in a short phrase? Or, as someone once told me, "Tell me about the people in your story, and I'll tell you about the world in which they live."
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branchandroot
Re: helpful :-)
Date: 2011-07-04 06:29 pm (UTC)- the captain
- the executive officer
- head of medical
- head diplomat/ship's counselor
- head of security
- head of science
- head of engineering
and presumably a ton of lower-ranked officers to do the dirty work that we didn't see on screen (like cleaning out the Jeffries tubes...that should've been an ensign's job.)
2) Right. You need people to do the dirty work, else you have to figure that the captain (or whoever else is with him) of that ship is also the pilot, the storeroom officer, the ship's gunner, and occasional handyman and therefore *must* take his/her ship somewhere for any service he/she isn't capable of handling. (See: Han Solo and his Millenium Falcon.) This limitation of his/her abilities usually means he/she isn't operating a ship the size of the Enterprise, unless he/she stole it and is capable of figuring out how to override any security protocols. (Not usually a believable scenario.)
3 & 4) *nods*
RE: old sailing chart names: yes, it's more complicated than a family tree, but so is much of maritime history.
In reading what you've written, I'm wondering if you're also spending a lot of time figuring out the world rather than writing something in it. As a reader, I'm perfectly willing to hand-wave some of the science and world stuff if the characters are interesting and the story is compelling. If you use the Star Trek model, especially the basic premise that Gene Rodenberry proposed, it was something that could be simply summed as "wagon train to the stars." What is the story you want to tell? Can you summarize it in a short phrase? Or, as someone once told me, "Tell me about the people in your story, and I'll tell you about the world in which they live."