Writers’ RESOURCES

STARSHIP COMBAT GUIDE (by John Concagh) – TBC : based on his own writing experience – and nitpickings – John is currently assembling a guide to writing your first Starship duel; and how to make ship-to-ship combat exciting while still feeling right!

ROMULAN LANGUAGE INSTITUTE : Far and away the best resource, sadly abandoned in the early 2000s and archived in 2010. It has the most complete dictionary, extensive grammar notes and lessons, some common words/phrases, but very little about culture.

STARBASE 118 ROMULAN DICTIONARY: Common words and phrases and rank conversion tables. It covers the Fleet, Tal Shiar, economic service, diplomatic corps, and army. It also includes translations for alien races, numbers and the calendar. There is some grammar here, but not as neat as rihannsu.org.

CALENDAR INFORMATION: This post from Trek author Christopher L. Bennett’s blog is a detailed analysis of alien calendar systems and conversion rates, based on the system Bennett uses in his own novels. While not universal across Trek canon (at all) it is a great place to start.

STARFLEET TECHNICAL MANUAL: This is the bible of Star Trek worldbuilding, in many senses. Predating Star Trek: The Motion Picture, this polemic by the great Franz Joseph is a seminal collection of documents, diagrams and schematics. Much of it’s content has been retconned in the last 50 years, but it remains a gem to read.

STARDATE CALCULATOR: A handy tool for calculating stardates that corroborate the system used from TNG onwards. Bear in mind, the calcuator works with day 1 as Janurary 1st 2323; for the 22nd and 23rd century, you’ll have to be more intrepid (and make them up like the original writers’ did!)

One of the earliest writers’ guides for Star Trek: The Original Series, this document still contains valuable advice about making Trek feel “real” and lived in; while being a valuable piece of history in itself!

CARTOGRAPHY

STAR TREK MAPS.COM : An interactive collection of maps of the Star Trek Galaxy, based off the Mandel-Nemecek projection featured in Star Trek Maps.

HYGMap: A database that combines real-world starmapping with the in-universe cartography of Star Trek to provide accurate charts of Star Trek Galaxy, with x,y, and z co-ordinates for every star.

external RESOURCE hubs

Cygnus-X1 is a trove of Star Trek ship schematics, blueprints and fanworks from the last 55 years, and an absolute treasure trove for any writer who wants to get their head around the dimensions of a Starship.

Memory Alpha is the hub of alpha canon information and media; and the best starting place for any “historical” research. Containing content on every Star Trek character, location, starship and episode, it is a vital worldbuilding source for canon material. Like all canon, however, it should be considered flexible, and never read as absolute gospel; down that road lies madness!

Memory Beta is the key hub of beta canon, containing archives of content and summaries across the litverse and RPGs that have sustained Star Trek for over 50 years. A lot of it is contradictory, outdated and outmoded; but it is still a fascinating place to draw inspiration, ideas and details from.

The Starfleet Museum is one of the most extensive and original fan projects of the late 90s-early 2000s. With over 50 original ships designs, a unique Pre-Enterprise narrative of the Earth-Romulan War and the Federation’s first 100 years, this labour of love by Masao Okazaki is inspiration to many.

Ex Astris Scientia is a hub of star trek minutae, records and analysis on every aspect of the show, from timeline inconsistencies and Starship model usage through to font usage and planetary symbology.

Star Trek Minutae is a brilliant hub of articles, commentary and humour that goes back over 20 years, including the sort of long-form “histories” and fiction that has inspired the editors of Tranquilty Press to begin their own efforts. John reccomends the “You’re the Admiral!” Strategic Seminars!

“The Glamour Boys” – Render by Pundus