Questioner
neuroatypicals
Brandon Sanderson
Oh, my pleasure. She says that she has Asperger's and when she read the book The Bands of Mourning, and the other ones that have Steris in them, she identified a lot with Steris. I appreciate that.
Questioner
Brandon Sanderson
What research did I do, did I talk to autistic people. I have several people in my life who actually have Asperger's specifically, and they were a huge resource, as you might imagine. One of the things that I like to do, kind of a mandate I have in my fiction, is to try to get people who are heroic who have different types of psychology than we usually see in heroes. Because the more I've lived in life, the more I've realized that we all are really distinctive in our own way, and our psychology all works differently. And yet we see a lot of heroes that all kind of have the same brain chemistry, it seems. Which has always felt really weird to me. And so it's kind of one my mandates to do that.
What research did I do? When I was in college, one of my favorite things to do was sneak into classes I wasn't signed up for, and the psychology classes were my favorite. This friend, who coincidentally was the one who wanted to be a chef, actually got a psychology major. His parents were "You should do something useful with your life." and so he got a psychology major, which he ended up going to med school. He didn't become a chef, he went to med school. He likes that too. But I would sneak into his classes and they were so useful as a writer, just listening to the different types, and to start to see personality not as-- We like to look at a lot of things as being normal or abnormal, but that's not the way it is. Everyone's personality is on this interesting spectrum and what is normal and what is abnormal is completely a matter of perspective. Where you stand on this line as opposed to-- It's like trying to make a value judgement that shouldn't really exist. And to come to see these personalities as great swathes of interesting color is what the psychology classes taught me. And so there was that and I did do some specific research for Steris and then I interviewed people as well.
I'm glad that you picked up on it without me ever having to say what she was, and things like that. That's when I really feel like I've nailed something, when you can read something and say "Yeah that's who this person is" instead of someone outside pointing and saying "this is who this person is, who they are"
Questioner
So I listen to your podcast, Writing Excuses, and you've been, this year, breaking down stories into different parts. Was Bands of Mourning an attempt, for you, to write a pulp novel?
Brandon Sanderson
The question is on Writing Excuses we've been breaking story down into different parts. Was Bands of Mourning an attempt to write a pulp novel? Actually all of the Wax and Wayne books are a hearkening back to classic serials and pulp novels. So yes, it was me looking at that-- I kind of pitched those books to myself as "Mistborn: the television show. The action serial" if that makes sense. Where the other ones were the Mistborn epic fantasies, these are the action serials. And I did try to kind of vary the genre, the first one is kind of more straight-up detective novel, the second one is psychological thriller, and then the third one is kind of a classic serial adventure story. So yeah, that was very intentional, it's me trying to take different tones and mash them up with different stories and see what comes out.
Questioner
One of the things I really appreciate about your series in general is the depth of your magic systems, whether it's Investiture or-- Whatever the rules are, they're very detailed, very internally consistent. There's never anything where I can point out "Oh that contradicts something that somebody said two books ago". To what degree do you come up with--I guess--the universe before you write the novel or the--
Brandon Sanderson
Good question! So he's talking about my magic systems and how internally consistent they are. And the question is, do I do the worldbuilding first and then write the novel around it or do I do it the other way around. And the answer is: Yes! Which is one of those unsatisfying authorly answers. It depends on the story. For instance with the Wax and Wayne books, I already had the world built and so in that I'm building a story around a setting that already existed. With The Reckoners what happened is, I had the idea for people who gain superpowers all going evil and that concept spun me into building a story about it. And so that's more of an idea that spins a story rather than a setting.
Sometimes I've had a character that I really want to tell a story about, like Raoden or something like this, and then I build magic to match. It happens all different ways, and really what it is is a give and a take. Once you start with a character, you start building a story around them, and then you stop and work on the magic for a while and then you go back to the character and then you go back to the magic and then you go to the setting, then you go to the plot. As you build an outline you weave all these things together, you're not just spending time on one until it's done, and then the next 'til it's done, and then go. But it's happened all different ways for me.
Questioner
Is there any connection between Odium and Trell?
Brandon Sanderson
Is there any connection between Odium and Trell. This is-- Yes there is some connection. That is a question about-- If you understood it then great, if you didn't then don't worry.
Questioner
Do you have any ideas for characters in different series meeting each other?
Brandon Sanderson
Do I have any ideas for characters in different series meeting each other. Yes I do. You will see a bunch of that. And if you haven't seen the little behind the scenes Mistborn novella I did called Secret History... that involves characters from different stories meeting each other.
Questioner
As a writer that has written a lot, do you still struggle with certain aspects of writing, like punctuation slip-ups or--
Brandon Sanderson
Do I still struggle, as a writer who has written a lot, with certain things. I would say my biggest weakness as a writer is repeating words or phrases, which is a very common thing for writers to have who are not really-- There are people like Pat Rothfuss who don't have this problem because they slave over every sentence. For years. *laughter* I love you Pat, you know I love you. But for most writers that's one, and that's one that is mine. And one way I try to fight this is I try to highlight the ones I use a lot, I have my assistant watch for them and do a search and replace in Microsoft Word for the word with brackets around it, so it leaves the same word, it just brackets it, so I can really decide, do I want to use that word or did I just use it because that's the word I always use? So there's that. The other big thing as a writer is I still don't like revision. I still get-- Revision-- I want to be writing a new story not revising an old one. But fortunately this is a battle that revision won like twenty years ago. More like fifteen. But I've gotten used to how I have to do it and when a book is done, and the number of drafts it requires to really make a great book. So I do it even though, you know.
Questioner
So with the depth of the novels, and the number of novels, that you create, do you have an assistant, or some sort of system--
Brandon Sanderson
Do I have an assistant--
Questioner
Well I mean--
Brandon Sanderson
A system to remember everything... Yes I do. What I use is a wiki. I use a personal wiki, just like Wikipedia that is called-- I use an open-source software called wikidpad... and I have someone whose job it is to read my books after I write them, go make all of those notes into the wiki with page references so when I write the next one I can look them all up in the book and things like this. They have a very fun, yet tedious, job.
Questioner
What level of completion do you write your novels and then submit to editors?
Brandon Sanderson
What level of completion do I write my novels and then submit to the editors. So here is a quick look at my drafting process. Draft 1, hopefully no one ever sees. That-- I'm a momentum writer, a lot of writers are like this, where I can't stop in the middle and revise unless something is really broken. So if there's something I want to change I just keep going and try it out for the next chapter. "Oh I needed another character in here" I will just add them in and everyone will act like they've always been there. And I'll try it out for a chapter and if it works I'll keep going that way, and if it doesn't I'll cut them out and try something else in the next chapter. So first drafts can be really weird, right? Like "Am I supposed to know this person that everyone else knows? Have I forgotten who this was?" and things like that, characters just vanish, or I'll leave out the foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is really easy to put in later on, you're just like-- Stuff like this.
Second draft is to fix all that stuff. I can sometimes send that on, but what I really like to send is third draft which is the first polish. Where I actually try for the first time to make it pretty, or at least non-cringeworthy. So that's what I send to an editor. That's what also I'll send to alpha readers, which are my writing group, my agent, my friends and family, and things like that. Once that gets back I do a bunch of revisions until it's good, and then we'll get beta readers, who are usually community beta readers… If you want to be one of those I'm not the person to convince, Peter is the person to convince. He is the executi-- editorial assistant, not executive--I've three assistants, they all have different titles--He's my editorial assistant. He's the one who picks the betas, and they do a bunch of reads and then I do a bunch of drafts based on what they say. And then it goes to like proofreads and things like that.
Questioner
So in The Stormlight Archive series--
Brandon Sanderson
The Stormlight Archive? How old are you? *laughter* How old are you?
Questioner
Nine.
Brandon Sanderson
Nine?! You're reading The Stormlight Archive? You are awesome! *cheers*
Questioner
So the character Lift, for her powers, why does she have to eat food instead of sucking in--
Brandon Sanderson
So why does Lift have to eat food instead of sucking in Stormlight. So Lift is a really weird one, she visited the Old Magic and asked something very strange. And the Old Magic didn't know how to treat that and answered with something equally strange. So you will eventually see what happened with Lift and things like that but suffice it to say some really weird things are going on with Lift.
Questioner
I want to say that I really admire that your characters are people first and not gender first. And I want to ask if anyone calls you Branderson? *laughter*
Brandon Sanderson
She gave me a very nice compliment and asked if anyone calls me Branderson, and yes, it is starting to kind of catch on among the community. I don't know-- I don't know if it'd be my first choice but I will accept being called Branderson as opposed to-- People have called me BS since I was a kid *laughter* This is a step up.
Questioner
If you took somebody-- an Allomancer and them in a different one of your worlds, could they still burn metal there?
Brandon Sanderson
Could Allomancers burn metal on other planets in the cosmere, yes they could. Good question.
Questioner
With all the characters that you design-- And what you just about putting a character in and spinning a story around them. Are there any that you keep on a backlog to try and mix to see if--
Brandon Sanderson
Oh yeah, good question. Are there any characters that I keep on the back burner that I'm like "Eventually I'll find a place for this character they haven't worked yet". Totally. What I have is this notes file, it's literally called "cool stuff that I need to use sometime" *laughter* and it's like when I see something in news or I see some-- I meet a person and I'm like "I'm going to use that someday" and it can be years before I end up sticking them in. One of the-- Let's see if I can remember, there was a cool example of this actually, from one of my book. Oh I'm trying to remember what it was that I eventually managed to stick this into a book it was years later. But it happens all the time, I'll try to think of it. When you come through the line ask me and I'll try to remember it.
Questioner
For the Wax and Wayne series, how do you come up with all of Wayne's little wisecracks?
Brandon Sanderson
How do I come up with Wayne’s wisecracks. Here's the deal, it’s kind of hard to write people who are more clever than you are, but it's one of the tricks you have to learn as a writer. The big difference is, they make it off the cuff in the moment, and you can spend like a week or two trying to find the perfect thing to say in that moment. And that's really how it does. Often the characters who are more humorous, or something, that are more-- Like Wayne's a great example, it's very natural for him how he says things, it can take me weeks to come up with a couple of lines of dialogue for Wayne. Where other things get written very quickly. My favorite Wayne-isms are when I can have him use a word that looks, when you're reading along, you just assume it's a word but if you go back you go "Wait a minute, did he actually say 'defecation of character'?" or something like that. So you don't even notice it on the first read through. The things where a copy-editor is "Oh, you used the wrong word here" those are my favorite Wayne-isms. Those take forever.
Questioner
Is Dalinar's wife really dead?
Brandon Sanderson
Is Dalinar's wife what?
Questioner
Really dead.
Brandon Sanderson
Is Dalinar's wife really dead? That is a Read And Find Out, and you will discover it in the third book.
Questioner
Particularly in the Mistborn series, is there any-- Do you have a favorite emotional moment that you have written?
Brandon Sanderson
Do I have a favorite emotional moment that I wrote in the Mistborn series. I am an ending person, so I would say endings of various books, and endings of series in particular, are among my favorite. I'll just leave it there.
Questioner
Can you tell us anything about perpendicularities?
Brandon Sanderson
Can I tell you anything about perpendicularities? No. *laughter*
Questioner
What was your favorite Mistborn character to write? Personally I hated Elend and Vin but loved Zane.
Brandon Sanderson
Oh wow, hated Elend and Vin and loved Zane… *stumbles over words* I'm going to stay away from you. *laughter* I'm just joking. Who's my favorite? *sighs* Picking a favorite character is almost impossible, it's who you're writing at the moment but I kind of have a weird personal connection in a weird way with Sazed so I'll say him. And it's okay if you say "Sah-zed" I say "Say-zed" but I don't say everything right, I say "Kelsi-er" too and his name is "Kelsi-ay".
Questioner
So did the Lord Ruler ever have children?
Brandon Sanderson
Did the Lord Ruler ever have children? Yes he did.
Questioner
I don't know if this counts as a question but, Elantris.
Brandon Sanderson
*pauses* Elantris! I don't think that is a question. Yeah…
Questioner
If you starred in a buddy cop movie with Pat Rothfuss, would you be the good cop or the bad cop?
Brandon Sanderson
If I starred in buddy cop movie with Pat Rothfuss-- If you know anything at all about us, I'm the good cop and he's definitely the bad cop. Oh yeah, oh yeah. Definitely. I mean come on. Good question though.
Questioner
We've been wondering who would win in a fight, a Mistborn or...a Windrunner.
Brandon Sanderson
It really depends on the situation. I would say the Windrunner will win on a battlefield and the Mistborn will win at sneaking around and slitting people's throats.
Questioner
So I just finished The Bands of Mourning, which was my favorite out of that series. Did you know when you were writing Alloy of Law how you were going to link this to the original, with the kandra, the bands of the Lord Ruler...
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah the kandra were seeded, MeLaan you can go and look back in the original three. Like I’m going to use her in the next series, for sure. Now what I usually do is when I’m starting a series, and I did this for this one, is I will write the first book in the series. So I did this with Steelheart, I did this with the original Mistborn, I did this with Alloy of Law. I write the first book, I sit down, and say “Okay, what worked about that, what can I expand upon” and then I outline the series with those characters and then go back and revise the first one to match and then I release the first one. Does that make sense? So not everything do I know writing the first one but by the time I’m through the revisions I usually do.
Questioner
How often do your dreams ever influence your books?
Brandon Sanderson
Once in awhile.
Questioner
Once in awhile.
Brandon Sanderson
Yup. […] writer you have a cool dream […] something there […] Usually there’s not but once in awhile there really is something and it turns around in your head and eventually ends up in the books.
Questioner
As a writer, I tend to be more character-driven. I love what you've done with the character development of the two of these guys throughout the series. How much of them growing throughout the series, as you work on everything else, it comes together?
Brandon Sanderson
You know, characters I don't plot out as much. It's very easy to write them being cardboard. So, I try to let it be an outgrowth of what they're passionate about. Just kind of letting the passions of the characters drive their reactions in the narrative, and I think you'll never go wrong with that.
Questioner
How do your religious views affect the way you write?
Brandon Sanderson
You know, being religious means one of my mandates is, I always want to approach everyone's beliefs with reverence. Nothing bothers me more than seeing the one person who's a theist, who is an idiot, surrounded by everyone else. So, I like to explore these issues, I really like to kind of dig in to all these different perspectives. Being fascinated by it by myself makes me make it an element of my books.
Questioner
When are we going to see Ironeyes again?
Brandon Sanderson
He will probably make an appearance in The Lost Metal. I’m not sure he will be back from where he is in time.
Questioner
Vasher/Zahel is a Returned, which means he needs Breath to live. But Breath doesn’t exist on Roshar. Does he use St--
Brandon Sanderson
He uses Stormlight. One of the reasons-- In fact one of the primary reasons he’s on Roshar is because Stormlight is so much easier to come by than Breath. And in fact researching about things like this is one of the reasons he discovered Roshar in the first place.
Questioner
So it’s the same reason why Night-- the sword…
Brandon Sanderson
Nightblood.
Questioner
Yes.
Brandon Sanderson
The exact mechanics of how Nightblood ended up there will be explored in a future book.
Questioner
What would happen if you went to the Nightwatcher asked for your boon to have a boon and no curse?
Brandon Sanderson
You would…
Questioner
Probably end up with nothing?
Brandon Sanderson
It depends on the mood the Nightwatcher is in. When you read Book 3 of Stormlight you’ll get to see a little bit of what the Nightwatcher is, and that will inform what you think about these things, okay?
Questioner
Why does everyone know about his [Kaladin] Stormblessed name? Like Gaz knows about it before he survives the highstorms. Like how do they know?
Brandon Sanderson
How do they know? The rumors were already spreading, people started talking about it and things like that.
Questioner
For all the spren, like the honorspren and the liespren, I’ve noticed that all of the characters, the honorspren have been girls and all the liespren have been boys. Is that just ‘cause all the people who attract liespren are girls and all the other people--
Brandon Sanderson
So it’s not a one to one ratio of people who are more likely to attract a spren of the opposite gender.
Questioner
Is there a reason for that?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah I’ll delve into it eventually in the books. Maybe just obliquely, but there is a reason for it.
Questioner
I kind of envision the Old Magic working a little bit like Hemalurgy, where some-- takes a part of the Physical DNA of the person and transmutes it onto the Cognitive DNA because everything seems to be a Cognitive shift for the person, am I thinking along the right lines?
Brandon Sanderson
You are thinking along very-- Yes you are thinking along the right lines. I won’t tell you exactly but you are thinking along the right lines.
Questioner
And then the curse Kelek’s Breath, is that a clue as to the origin of some of the Heralds?
Brandon Sanderson
Erm… Explain why you think it might be.
Questioner
Uh, well, Warbreaker. The use of Breath… It seems like they have similar strength to somebody who has extra Endowment. So I’m wondering if they come from-- I can’t remember the name..
Brandon Sanderson
The Heralds-- You’re wondering if the Heralds come from Nalthis?
Questioner
Yeah.
Brandon Sanderson
The Heralds do not come from Nalthis, but that is an excellent question.
Questioner
Have we ever seen the Physical embodiment of either Odium or Cultivation? Similar to what we saw with Ruin chasing...Vin?
Brandon Sanderson
So... Physical embodiment is kind of hard thing to define with Shards because you could argue that everything is a physical embodiment of them, does that make sense?
Questioner
Yes. I mean more a physical form that the uses share--
Brandon Sanderson
Oh okay, okay. So have you ever seen Odium’s? I don’t believe you’ve seen Odium’s.
Questioner
What about Cultivation’s?
Brandon Sanderson
Cultivation is a RAFO.
Questioner
So burning prayers, is that so certain Shard’s can hear what’s being said?
Brandon Sanderson
I’ll leave that one vague for now.
Questioner
For spren, when the Oaths are broken I’m kind of envisioning the mind of the spren gets trapped in that person’s Spiritweb somehow. Is that along the right lines or not along the right lines?
Brandon Sanderson
Ehhh, in between those two answers.
Questioner
I'm doing video game design, and I'm curious: what are your thoughts on constructing interesting stories, because we're kind of getting to a point where video games are able to tell... like, people are getting used to, basically, interactivity being a medium <with which> to tell a story. I'm curious, from having spent some time developing your craft, how to link that in with being forced to have the 'main character' <do that more often sorts>?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, I think there are so many cool <different ways> of people who are doing it, but I'm not sure I can point out and say "This is the right way." I know that my favorite stories from video games tend to be ones where they force you to experience the story without forcing you to stop the game. Things like in inFAMOUS where you're riding from position to position, you're on the phone with people. Or things like Dark Souls, where you kinda just reveal it all around you. I don't like the games where they stop. And play a cutscene.
Questioner
Where it takes you out of the game, and it's like, 'movie time.'
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah. I think there's <a way beyond doing that>. I also really like it when something about the form of the game enhances the story. Like how <Braid> was with <the guy who could rewind time to move stuff back>, stuff like that. There’s all sorts of cool things happening, VR’s only going to make that more interesting.
Questioner
So, when you were coming up with superhero names, did you have to look them up to make sure somebody hadn't done it already?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, I had to make sure that they weren't... impossible-to-use names that somebody hasn't done, I just had to make sure they weren't super popular. And some I was able to find that people hadn't done. But some, I'm like, "I have to use this name anyways." But, like, my first three names, like Nightwielder, people had used. I eventually found one that hadn't been used.
Questioner
Was that frustrating?
Brandon Sanderson
Uh, it's kinda like the "Simpsons did it" thing. People complain that every plotline's been done by the Simpsons. Superhero powers have all been done, superhero names have all been done; but stories have all been told before. So, it's "What can you add to it?" that you ask yourself.
Questioner
So, of the ones that you came up with, how many would you say you looked up and were like "aaaah..."
Brandon Sanderson
I would say about half.
Questioner
Well you answered my question about Allomancers being able to burn metals in other realms. Is that because the Shards are sort of… My impression from the book was that the Shards were, in the Mistborn books, specifically in that area but is it because the universe is formed across all of them that that is why the metals...
Brandon Sanderson
So, most of the magics are not region-dependent, because the Spiritual Realm-- in the Spiritual Realm space doesn’t exist. All things are the same distance from one another.
Questioner
Okay, so when Kelsier is in the-- Which Realm is he in?
Brandon Sanderson
He’s in the Cognitive Realm.
Questioner
Is he seeing people from other worlds or is he--
Brandon Sanderson
No, he meets some people who are traveling but Cognitive Realm is location dependent. He is on the Cognitive Realm on Scadrial and the people he runs into there-- until he kind of travels off into space, which is where he finds the fortress.
Questioner
So even though he’s tied to Scadrial could he go to the Cognitive Realm of other worlds?
Brandon Sanderson
He would have trouble getting to another planet, being a Cognitive shadow like he was.
Questioner
So is there some particular thing that somebody would need to have to be able to move between the realms?
Brandon Sanderson
A body is helpful. Depends on what their ties are and things like that. Not always, but yeah.
Questioner
What can you tell me about where spren come from?
Brandon Sanderson
Spren come from where everything in the world of Roshar comes from. The are a natural part of life there. They come from the same place rocks and the wind and all of that...
Questioner
Is Calamity actually a worldhopper?
Brandon Sanderson
Calamity, I didn't write this as a part of the cosmere. The main distinction is I didn't want Earth to be in the cosmere, I want it to be distinct. Once I stick Earth in, the cosmology and things doesn't work. The cosmere is a dwarf cluster, and it's a dwarf galaxy, it's a cluster of stars. It's a specific place, and Earth's not part of it.
Questioner
How many worlds does [the cosmere] have in it?
Brandon Sanderson
A couple hundred. A couple hundred stars.
Questioner
How many planets are your books going to use?
Brandon Sanderson
Habitable worlds, in Goldilocks zones? There's probably 20 or 30, maybe a few more. Maybe up to 50, but you'll only really... there'll be like, ten or so core planets that you'll see stories from.
Questioner
Are you going to have Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series pulled into the cosmere?
Brandon Sanderson
No.
Questioner
Did you worry with Secret History that it was a bit too meta for people who had no idea…
Brandon Sanderson
No, that’s why all the warnings are there. It’s kind of intended for the people who want something, does that make sense? Like it isn’t really-- it is a story, but it's not a real story, it’s got weird narrative and things to it. It is there for those who really want to know.
Questioner
And I’m one of those people, I just have to wonder if you had no idea you’d be really confused through at least the first half.
Brandon Sanderson
Yes you would. But that’s why all the warnings are there.
Questioner
Was Adonalsium the one who created the cosmere universe as a whole?
Brandon Sanderson
That is widely assumed to be the case.
Questioner
With The Reckoners you had to make the decision not to put it into your cosmere cosmology, was that a difficult one?
Brandon Sanderson
It was not difficult once I realized I did not want Earth to be part of everything else.
Questioner
If it had been would Calamity have been a Shard of Adonalsium?
Brandon Sanderson
That’s an interesting question. Maybe.
Questioner
Secret History was cool, thank you for that. Do you plan to have a series of that?
Brandon Sanderson
If I can squeeze them in.
Questioner
Would they primarily be in the Cognitive Realm like this one?
Brandon Sanderson
Not always, they’d just be behind the scenes stuff happening with characters who are more cosmere aware.
Questioner
Were Hoid and Frost some of the older humans created by Adonalsium?
Brandon Sanderson
You will find that out eventually… Frost is not a human.
Questioner
Is Yesteel on Roshar right now?
Brandon Sanderson
That is a RAFO.
Questioner
Who’d win, Vin or Kaladin?
Brandon Sanderson
On a battlefield Kaladin, off a battlefield probably Vin.
Questioner
If Kelsier hadn’t died and became Emperor instead of Elend, how would he have ruled?
Brandon Sanderson
Poorly. He would have gotten bored pretty fast.
Questioner
If Vasher is on Roshar where the hell is Vivenna?
Brandon Sanderson
OOOOOH that’s a RAFO!
Questioner
Do you backstock on neat characters?
Brandon Sanderson
I do have some characters I haven't found places for yet.
Questioner
Is it just kind of like a mix/match? Do you find a world for them or...
Brandon Sanderson
So characters are the hardest one for me to define. Because I need to discover who they are by writing through their viewpoint for a while. And it's an exploration. Other things, I can plot, I can outline, I can plan ahead. Characters, I can't. I need to explore them. So, really, what I have are seeds, conflicts. They could grow into a character. And I'll sometimes try them out, and they won't work, and I'll send that seed back.
Questioner
Kaladin. I've heard before that authors, when they write characters, particularly heroic characters, they try to put traits that they like about themselves or that they aspire to in these characters. And when I read about Kaladin, he was everything I've aspired to. But he also had this reluctance to it, almost depression. What were you thinking when you wrote Kaladin? What traits did you have in him?
Brandon Sanderson
Well, one thing is that he does have depression. That's just an aspect of his personality. I was looking at Kaladin as kind of... extremely loyal, almost to a fault. He's got a bit of this, what we call a superhero complex, where he takes responsibility for things that other people have done. And that can be really advantageous when he's on your side, but it can also be kind of soul-crushing. That's a big aspect of him. The other big aspect of Kaladin is his training as a surgeon, and then discovering that he's really good at killing people. And that contrasted side of him creates a big part of the mix of who he is, the pull from my father versus the pull from my spirit.
rani
Any kind of Investiture to make a Shardblade?
Brandon Sanderson
Not any but there are multiple methods. Some work better than others.
rani
Can you Forge a Shardblade?
Brandon Sanderson
To Forge a Shardblade, meaning make a regular sword through Forgery into a Shardblade, would require so much Investiture it’s like asking if we can make lead into gold using a particle accelerator. Yes but it's horribly, horribly, horribly inefficient.
rani
Hoid uses the term subastral, is that the term for a region of the Cognitive Realm, like Shadesmar is?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah. It’s like planet but-- That’s his term for the different-- Because Shadesmar is all like one plane.
rani
So wait you’re saying subastral is different?
Brandon Sanderson
No subastral is a region of Shadesmar.
Questioner
We’ve seen the Cognitive Realm now on Roshar with the spheres and Scadrial with the mists. So what does it look like on Nalthis and Sel?
Brandon Sanderson
Uh that is a big fat RAFO.
Questioner
What happened with Abraham’s court martial?
Brandon Sanderson
So that is backstory that is a RAFO. Why Abraham was there is not something he necessarily likes to talk about, not that he’s shy, but at the same time it’s not something he easily talks about. And so I will not talk about it, I will let him, someday perhaps, talk about it.
Questioner
[Destroyed cities is a theme in The Reckoners, there was a war in Portland] Did you have anything specific in mind for Seattle?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, but I don’t want to canonize it… I have to save it for when I’m actually writing.
Questioner
What kind of Epic is Mizzy, what are her powers?
Brandon Sanderson
That is another thing I’m going to save. IF I do a sequel trilogy, which I may or may not actually do after I do the next thing, Mizzy would be the protagonist.
Questioner
The alternate world we see at times with Megan, did David and Firefight know each other before he died? And how did David die?
Brandon Sanderson
Firefight knows of him.
Questioner
Megan and Steelheart, what was the nature of their relationship? How did they know each other, meet each other?
Brandon Sanderson
Employer and an employee. More like high-level employer and very competent contractor.
Questioner
Say something is brought into the Cognitive Realm, and then the actual object is brought in through a portal…
Brandon Sanderson
That’s a RAFO, good question.
Questioner
Who is the Lord Ruler’s child/children?
Brandon Sanderson
People are searching a little too hard for this, he had several, they mixed with the population. There might be specific individuals who claim heirship and things like that but it’s not like there’s one hidden person among the population, does that make sense? Even those who claim heirship may not have any more blood than a lot of other people. I think this is one where fans have latched onto it a little too strongly and I need to let them know they can back off, there’s not a big secret for them to be hunting.
Questioner
How did you think of the idea for some who could, like, pull alternate realities through?
Brandon Sanderson
I was looking for a different type of illusionist, because in the Stormlight Archive I did illusionists straight-up. So I wanted to do somebody who did something similar, but had a different origin for those powers.
Questioner
Are you planning to write any trans characters?
Brandon Sanderson
Am I planning to write any trans characters? I am, but it's a very... like, I need to have some people who can read who are themselves trans, and can talk me through it. I kind of dabbled in it with, like, MeLaan, but that's not a true trans character. So, I'm kinda trying to dabble my toes in it. But I really will need some good readers who can tell me, because it's one of those things that'd be so easy to get wrong.
Questioner
How is a new Feruchemist made?
Brandon Sanderson
What do you mean?
Questioner
Well you can make a new Mistborn by lerasium--
Brandon Sanderson
Oh, okay. Other than through birth? That’s a RAFO, good question though. Right now, as far as anyone knows, it’s by birth only. But-- Well we’ll leave it there. You know that the extra Preservation instead of Ruin had some effects on people on Scadrial.
Questioner
All right, gibberish. Hoid speaks gibberish. He says he cuts off words and splices them back together. Gibberish can be spliced to Shardblade. Which is interesting. Is a Shardblade a cut up concept, or a thought created by the original...
Brandon Sanderson
A Shardblade...
Questioner
Is a spren, but the original idea it was based off of. Is it a concept made real?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, you could say that. They're really just pieces of Honor's soul.
Questioner
You’ve said that Shard’s have intents, what about shard-planets, what-- or... is there an essence that pulls those shards to that planet?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, but it’s not something I’m going to talk about for a long time.
Questioner
Speaking of intents, Investiture, and what Shards can see, hypothetically if Odium were to go to Scadrial would some things not be visible to him, like, say, metal?
Brandon Sanderson
Metal would be hard for him to see, yes.
Questioner
It feels like Roshar is-- has an essence, where it’s like a prism, you can see all the rest of them, due to the nature of the Cognitive Realm and the spren’s ideas, Cognitive things coming to light. Have I spent too much time looking at the Shard?
Brandon Sanderson
No, you are on the right path. Of all the things you noted, that one is the one that is perhaps the most important.
Questioner
The prism idea.
Brandon Sanderson
The idea that Roshar is special and a key on Shadesmar.
Questioner
In Secret History we learned a little about how the Cognitive Realm...could bleed into the Physical if the person was slightly broken.
Brandon Sanderson
Broken as Kelsier’s term is not right, and he realizes that over the course of the book, but yeah.
Questioner
My thoughts were on Wayne, so he seems to notice--and it might just be kleptomania--a connection between items that makes him feel as if he’s not stealing, just trading things for equal value. And I’m wondering if he’s noticing something in the Cognitive-- in one of the other Realms that is actually noteworthy.
Brandon Sanderson
He’s just goofy.
Questioner
In Bands of Mourning we saw the medallions that can give people Connection to the area that they are in. Two thoughts on that. One… if a person were to get a connection to one of the areas from Elantris would they be able to gain the powers from the area?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah that’s a good question, it’s not that easy. But it is an excellent question.
Questioner
And if there was an area where the primary language was sign language, would a person gain the ability to speak sign language to the people present by using that connection?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes. It is definitely related to the Cognitive Realm and how people are thinking about language.
Questioner
What happens when you Lash water, or a body of water?
Brandon Sanderson
Excellent question, it’s going to have some hard time gripping on--
Questioner
Would it have a gravity well going on?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah it would have a gravity well, it think-- yeah. You are the first person to ask about that, I don’t think even my assistant has asked about that. So that’s your tentative answer until I think about it some more, but I think it would.
Questioner
What’s the upper limit of Lashing, is it Stormlight?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, it’s-- Well define for me what you mean by upper limit?
Questioner
Like, um, a mountain?
Brandon Sanderson
That would take a lot of Stormlight.
Questioner
So it’s something about the Stormlight?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah. Definitely.
Questioner
So, one of the things I know, you have your own universe that you've produced, and it's fantastic. what's the series you're gonna create or have created that's the cornerstone, that will have the largest impact on the universe.
Brandon Sanderson
I would say Mistborn going all the way through is probably the most impact. Stormlight is gonna have a decent one, so is the Elantris world.
Questioner
Is there gonna be a union book or series?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, the final Mistborn series.
Questioner
The visitors in the Sixth of the Dusk, do I know who they are?
Brandon Sanderson
I haven’t answered this for sure, but I have told people that it takes place in the future and is related to the rest of the cosmere…
Questioner
Do we know how soon we’ll find out?
Brandon Sanderson
It’s a little ways off.
Questioner
The worldjumpers in [Secret History] are they ones that have shown up in other books? And we just don’t know their names?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, they’re only tangential in the other books. I think one of them has only shown up on screen once. The other one’s shown up a couple of times but mostly in certain annotations and things like that. In the books, like on the maps.
Questioner
At the end of Hero of Ages, there’s the--I forget what it’s called, when the kandra all remove their Hemalurgic nails--and then I forget which character wakes up and just sees the blobs everywhere, and then after what everything that happens I don’t really know what happened to the kandra after that.
Brandon Sanderson
They returned their spikes but that left them with holes in their memory.
Questioner
Who did? The survivors?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, the survivors.
Orsium
As of the current Wax and Wayne book [The Bands of Mourning] have we seen any Shards that have been Splintered that have recombined?
Brandon Sanderson
Have you seen any? No you have not. Good question.
Questioner
Have you played the Mistborn board game? Are you involved in that at all?
Brandon Sanderson
My assistant loves board games. I play Magic: The Gathering. Not necessarily board games. So I've just been *inaudible* to him. They have been very involved, my team has been. When they do a CCG, I will be involved.
Questioner
Have you ever considered doing a pronunciation guide for your characters?
Brandon Sanderson
I should do that, shouldn’t I?
Questioner
It would help so much...
Brandon Sanderson
The thing about that is I’m kind of of the philosophy that however you do it in your head is the right version in your version of the story. Because the characters won’t look the same to everyone. Everyone imagines them differently, might as well say the names differently...
Questioner
If you were an Epic what would your powers be?
Brandon Sanderson
Truthfully it would be something like summoning books out of the air. But if I wanted one I would pick flying.
Questioner
I like how you made it so [Hoid] doesn't know everything. Before Words of Radiance, his mind, he wasn't familiar with this world. Like, other people who live in that world, they were familiar with the animals. I like how you did that.
Brandon Sanderson
Thank you. I'm glad you noticed that. Did you notice, in the first book, he's the only person in the book who uses the word "coin"? Everyone else is used to spheres, he's used to coins. So, a little teaser about Hoid. He'll slip up in his terminology.
Questioner
Can you create a Shardblade with Breath?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes. That’s what Nightblood is.
Questioner
How many magic systems are in The Stormlight Archive, and how many of them haven't been seen?
Brandon Sanderson
I would say the only major one you haven’t seen is Voidbinding, it depends on how you count them. I count fabrials as one, Surgebinding as one, and Voidbinding as one. And then the Old Magic is kind of its own weird thing.
Questioner
With Nightblood coming in [to Words of Radiance] does that produce a magic system from a different book or does that stay separate?
Brandon Sanderson
It will stay separate.
Questioner
If you put a Line of Forbidding on a wall going up could it be stairs?
Brandon Sanderson
It could theoretically work but it would be like a magnet and push you off. It’d be pretty hard to use.
Questioner
So what makes some spren rarer than others?
Brandon Sanderson
That is not a question I’ve answered yet so you will find out someday perhaps.
Questioner
What would happen if the King’s Wit, Wayne, and Mat Cauthon from these last three Wheel of Time books went into a room and locked it?
Brandon Sanderson
I think they’d all like each other. And they'd try to one-up each other, it’d be an epic thing.
Questioner
In Rithmatist, when Joel goes to see if he’ll be chosen as a Rithmatist and the chalk outline thing comes out and looks at him. What was it thinking?
Brandon Sanderson
You will find out eventually.
Questioner
So, in [Shadows of Self], was that actually a Parshendi in the broadsheet?
Brandon Sanderson
No, it's not. It was one of the Southern continenters. I just wanted you to think it was.
Questioner
Could you draw a flying carpet with a glyph of rending so it could carry you, with a line of Forbiddance at the back--
Brandon Sanderson
I think that’s a little beyond what it could do.
Questioner
Is Shardplate also made up of spren or is it different?
Brandon Sanderson
You get a RAFO card. It means you’re asking a good question but I’m not going to answer it.
Questioner
Is there such a thing as a ranged Shardblade?
Brandon Sanderson
Ranged Shardblade? There are those who are better at throwing theirs.
Questioner
What Shard is the opposite of Odium in the sense of the *inaudible*
Brandon Sanderson
There are several that could be considered opposites--
Questioner
I mean in the assimilation sense, you’ve said that Odium doesn’t want to absorb any of the other ones but which one would want to?
Brandon Sanderson
Oh, which one would want to join with him?
Questioner
Or any of them.
Brandon Sanderson
I think that if personalities had been different, Honor and Odium, there would have been a very natural pairing, not that they’re opposites but they would have attracted. [...]
Questioner
Do any of the Shards have psychoses?
Brandon Sanderson
Any of the people? Yes, we all have them.
Questioner
In Secret History we find out that when Kelsier had the power of Preservation, whenever he was near someone with cracks in their minds he would end up healing them up naturally, right? When he tried to--
Brandon Sanderson
Not heal them up but--
Questioner
The intent was that he would Preserve them, right? So my theory is that Snapping, when they’re getting physically damaged their cracks are wider and wider and that it ends up Preservation, if they have a good Connection with Preservation or whatever randomly comes in those cracks. Am I anywhere along the right track?
Brandon Sanderson
This theory has merit.
Questioner
In the event that.. so, say if you've got someone who went through a certain event, and it would have Snapped them. Take that person away from Scadrial, and move them to a different world. Would that still Snap them?
Brandon Sanderson
Remember that the Shards are mostly Spiritual Realm things. Space and time do not matter to them. Time does, space does not.
Questioner
Can Vasher draw Breath from a highstorm?
Brandon Sanderson
I will answer that eventually... You know what, yes he can. Not Breath though, he can draw Investiture the way he needs it.
Questioner
Who were Kelsier’s parents?
Brandon Sanderson
Kelsier’s parents? I haven’t talked a lot about Kelsier’s parents. He's obviously a half-breed. So he was raised in noble society, unlike a lot of the half-breeds. He knew his nature. He gets his skaa half from his mother, but they hid in plain sight. Like, she pretended to be noble.
Questioner
Is the two-way radio a fabrial?
Brandon Sanderson
The two-way radio? Which one?
Questioner
In Mistborn.
Brandon Sanderson
It is actually real.
Questioner
It's just a two-way radio.
Brandon Sanderson
It is actual technology. Good question.
Questioner
Is Nightblood a minor Shard?
Brandon Sanderson
Nightblood is one of the most heavily Invested things in the cosmere that is not a Shard.
Questioner
Are any of the fish in the Purelake Invested?
Brandon Sanderson
The fish in the Purelake, like the Ryshadium and other things you will see, are not 100% normal.
Questioner
Has Wax drawn on the mists at some point?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes.
Questioner
When you are burning a Compounded metal are you getting the metal’s effect and the stored power? Can you explain, I’m unclear on the Compounding.
Brandon Sanderson
Compounding is a way to hack the magic system so you can get a Feruchemical attribute out of-- basically powering Feruchemy with Allomancy. If that makes sense.
Questioner
So you’re not actually burning the metalmind?
Brandon Sanderson
Kind of? There’s a big explanation on Reddit, if you send me an email I can link you to it, that steps you through exactly, easier than explaining it here
Questioner
Is Skimming a sort of restrictive Lashing?
Brandon Sanderson
Working on similar principles, but not the same.
Questioner
Could you have a Twinborn Surgebinder?
Brandon Sanderson
Theoretically possible. In practicality, very unlikely.
controlled_slide
So nicrosil. Wax couldn’t use a blank gold metalmind because he’s not a gold ferring, why can he use a blank nicrosil metalmind?
Brandon Sanderson
So this will all come out eventually but the idea is there are certain ways to connect yourself to magic, to hack the magic and make it think you have the Spiritual DNA that you don’t actually have. And this is one of the ways.
controlled_slide
So then the people who made this medallion have this thing that a regular nicrosil Ferring couldn’t--
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, you’re picking up on it. We’ll dig deeper into it as the series progresses.
controlled_slide
What's the intent of the Seventeenth Shard.
Brandon Sanderson
That has not been revealed yet.
controlled_slide
Aluminum, when you burn aluminum, does it actually destroy the metals or just take away their power?
Brandon Sanderson
It destroys the metals.
controlled_slide
Same with chromium?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah.
controlled_slide
So it actually gets rid of the metals?
Brandon Sanderson
It actually trans-- It does a-- matter, energy, investiture are the same things in the cosmere. You have some sort of transfer happening relating to those things.
controlled_slide
The question sort of relates to metal poisoning--
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, you would not get metal poisoning after that.
controlled_slide
Could a Leecher take away stores in a metalmind?
Brandon Sanderson
You’ll have to find out. That’s a RAFO.
Questioner
We saw the broadsheet lady destroy--do something to--was that Nazh that was in the broadsheet?
Brandon Sanderson
Yeah, mmhmm. I’m not going to talk on that one. that’s a RAFO.
Brandon Sanderson
I'm gonna have a Leecher character eventually, so I don't want to dig into it now, because I want to show it in the books.
Questioner
So there’s Snapping on Scadrial, where an event happens and then you can use the magic. Is there something like Snapping on Roshar, where...
Brandon Sanderson
Yes and no. They’re working under the same sort of assumption, the spren are just looking for a specific thing that is similar to what Snapping does.
