Recent entries

    WorldCon 76 ()
    #6851 Copy

    Questioner

    How much longer will that Oathbringer series...

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, it's two arcs of five. So, we've got three books out right now. Book Four and Book Five will be about two, two-and-a-half year things, maybe as much as three between. They are big books. I write them as a trilogy, so they take about three years. Each volume is a trilogy with three books put in together as one. That arc shouldn't take me too much longer, though; I'm starting on Book Four in January, and it is-- I will write until that one is done. Then, there's gonna be a second five-book arc. So, if you're waiting, wait until Book Five is out. My editor says I have to finish it before he retires, and he's in his sixties. Moshe, yeah. We'll see if I can manage that, but that's what he wants.

    WorldCon 76 ()
    #6852 Copy

    Questioner

    What was the metal that Hoid gave Vivenna and her crew to use the fabrial?

    Brandon Sanderson

    You're asking, what metal it was that let them use the fabrial without the screamers detecting them? So, should be aluminum. I don't think there's anything sneaky about that. The only thing that I've had to change is, I wanted the sheathes that they use with Shardblades to be aluminum, and Peter tells me I just can't do that. It's not in continuity. So we have to have some sort of aluminum... alloy, or something like that. I'm not sure exactly what I wrote that broke the continuity on that, but he is certain that those can't be aluminum. So, those aren't aluminum, but it was aluminum around that. And Hoid's bag has an aluminum lining, too.

    WorldCon 76 ()
    #6853 Copy

    Sparkle Hearts

    The Girl That Looked Up. Is that a real story that happened in Roshar? Or just a metaphor?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, Hoid heard it from someone. He did not make it up.

    Sparkle Hearts

    Because I think Shallan told the story...

    Brandon Sanderson

    Well, he told the story, too- He knew the story, she knew the story... What you're asking is if it's actually historical?

    Sparkle Hearts

    Yes. Did it happen?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'll give you a RAFO. Because there's actually a little bit to it that I can't talk about. That probably tells you more than I even should already...

    There are some weird things about that story, particularly the version that Hoid is involved in.

    ...Shallan tells half the story, and then later on, Hoid comes, and the story happens again differently. But there are weird things when Hoid is involved in the story that are relevant.

    WorldCon 76 ()
    #6856 Copy

    Questioner

    Do you have any general advice for an aspiring fantasy writer, things I should be doing to try to--

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah. So, coming to WorldCon's a good start. I don't know if you found them, but going to any panels that editors are sitting on. Often, there's a panel that will be like, "What's new from Tor.com" or "What's new--" That's just a good place to watch what the editors are excited about and learn from them. Maybe if you see them at a party or something later on, you can ask them about the things that they're releasing, and stuff like that.

    The number one thing that makes a great writer is a mediocre writer who's willing to practice. Try not to put too much investment into any one piece. You wanna put your whole heart into it, but don't base your whole career whether on that piece turns out right. I'm not explaining this well, but idea is that the purpose of your writing time is to train yourself to be a better writer. And hopefully the product is this awesome book that you're passionate about, but if it goes haywire, that's gonna teach you, sometimes, a lot more than anything else. So just stick at it. Practice. Be willing to do it regularly and consistently. And if you can teach yourself to be consistent, that's your number one goal.

    I was asking my agent the other night, just last night actually, I'm like, "So what breaks someone in these days?" 'Cause the market's so different. He said, "It's the same thing that always broke someone in: they write a great book." He says, "I've never picked up a book by an author as an agent that I have been passionate about and thought was great that didn't sell." So it says that a good book still sells, in his opinion. Breaking through that agent veil can be really tough, and self-publishing is a totally valid method of going these days.

    I have a series of YouTube lectures, which are my university course that I just recorded. So go give those a watch. We talk a whole bunch about writing and the business and things like that.

    WorldCon 76 ()
    #6857 Copy

    Questioner

    Was the Thaylen accent changed between The Way of Kings and Words of Radiance? Because the Wind's Pleasure crew and Tvlakv all sound a bit different.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah. That's not intentional. That is just more, I leave the accents completely up to the audiobook readers. I don't tell them an accent... I do try to send them pronunciation guides, but those don't always arrive in time, which is why you can see some discrepancies. But, yeah, I let them pick the accents.

    WorldCon 76 ()
    #6858 Copy

    Questioner

    How do you get illustrators for your leatherbounds?

    Brandon Sanderson

    My assistant Isaac, who's my art director. He just looks around on the internet, and finds people who are doing really interesting art, and he asks if he can license them. So, if you know an artist, or are an artist, that's done art of my work, you send it to Isaac.

    WorldCon 76 ()
    #6859 Copy

    Questioner

    When you finished a book, or years away from a book, when you realized, "Oh, there was a loophole here, something didn't make sense." How do you react to that?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I react to it by saying, "Well, that always happens." Happens to everybody. You got two options. Well, maybe, like, three. One is, you just leave it alone. One is to do what Tolkien did, where he just rewrote the book. The Hobbit, he just did a new version that had the loophole closed. Or you can later on find a reason to explain it in world, which we call 'retconning' it. Any of those are fine. Don't stress about it: everybody makes mistakes. If Grandpa Tolkien had loopholes, then everybody's gonna have loopholes.

    WorldCon 76 ()
    #6860 Copy

    Questioner

    I'm an aspiring writer. I want to be a writer, and I'm working on submitting a story to Writers of the Future. Would you recommend starting shorter? Something less ambitious?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So, here's the thing: there are advantages to both ways. Sometimes, if you're the type that might get discouraged by trying something so big, and having it spiral out of control, then sometimes it's better to start small. Most of the time, as long as you're okay with the fact that your first one might spiral out of control, that process will teach you so much, that it's better to start ambitious, and just see where it goes. And just know, you may have to come back to it. Like, my first book, I never finished. I started when I was sixteen. But I wrote a big chunk of it, and it taught me so much. And then my next book, I did finish. And then eventually I came back to that first one, and used those ideas again for another book later on. So as long as you're okay with the idea as a new writer, it may not turn out exactly like you want it to, go ahead and start with something ambitious. Write what you're passionate about, and what you're excited about, and just be willing to let the process teach you. 'Cause nothing will make you a better writer than practicing.

    WorldCon 76 ()
    #6864 Copy

    Questioner

    Is there a TV show or a movie that you really like in the fantasy genre?

    Brandon Sanderson

    My favorite fantasy movie? Uh... probably Willow. No, it's gotta be The Lord of the Rings... Probably the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings. They're just better. But I really liked Willow.

    Questioner

    I'll check that out.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's from the '80s, so... It's still fun.

    WorldCon 76 ()
    #6866 Copy

    Questioner

    My daughter... wants to know how old you were when you finished your first novel?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I started my first when I was sixteen, but didn't finish a novel 'til I was twenty-two.

    WorldCon 76 ()
    #6867 Copy

    Questioner

    So how's Waxillium doing?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Slow but sure. I'm pretty sure I will be finishing it up soon here.

    Questioner

    It'll be out next year, then? 2019?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Maybe. Maybe. I can't promise yet. It depends on how the writing goes the last half of this year. January 1st, I have to start on Stormlight Four. And so I'm trying to squeeze the last Wax & Wayne in after I finish Skyward 2.

    Bands of Mourning release party ()
    #6870 Copy

    Questioner

    If the spren turn into any weapon how come all the dead spren are Shardblades?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Good question.

    Questioner

    Read And Find Out?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is a Read And Find Out.

    Oathbringer Portland signing ()
    #6872 Copy

    Hoiditthroughthegrapevine (paraphrased)

    Is Hoid the girl who looked up? Is this the story of the shattering of Adonalsium, and did the group shatter adonalsium to figure out analytically the nature of Divinity. Was this an attempt to separate the different components of god to understand the unitary whole better?

    Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

    He said that this was not quite right but thinking along the right track

    General Twitter 2018 ()
    #6874 Copy

    Wubdor

    Can't wait to get my hands on that new Roshar map! Any chance there's going to be more, not yet released world maps? (i.e. Elendel, Threnody, Nalthis, First of the Sun) I wanna frame them all! Also, having Cognitive Realm versions of them would be sick!

    Isaac Stewart

    Glad you like the maps! We've talked about creating a poster of Elendel, so I suspect you'll see that at some point. As for the others, we'll continue to map them as Brandon explores them, so I think there's a good chance of eventually seeing a lot of the places you mentioned.

    General Twitter 2018 ()
    #6879 Copy

    Alvaro Lopez

    Why Odium is stronger and worst evil than Ruin?

    Brandon Sanderson

    One reason is that Ruin had a person in control of it who, for many years, fought against the impulse to destroy--and in the end, channeled it toward entropy and decay, necessary elements of the universe. Odium represents something else entirely.

    General Twitter 2018 ()
    #6881 Copy

    Stormborn125

    Are the Knights Radiant's powers/spren derived from both Honor and Cultivation? As it seems each order has a has a power of nature e.g. light gravity etc

    If yes, what powers would Odium give the Knights Radiants, if he where forced to empower them? And would there be any additional oaths they would need to swear to use these powers?

    Everything in the books is alluding to Damnation and the Tranquiline Halls being one and the same. Is this true or is it more separate countries in the same landmass? And what is the general landscape of this alternate dimension?

    Brandon Sanderson

    These questions stray into RAFO type territory, which I try not to delve too deeply into on twitter. (Because of the short space I have to reply.) But there are some hints in the links [SandersonArmy] included...

    General Twitter 2018 ()
    #6885 Copy

    Pelham TP

    Sadly I am currently suffering with toothache. However as the waves of pain fluctuate through my jaw I am reminded of the two blind men discussion with Hoid and Shallan. I understand the beauty of pain receding. I wondered if you endured a similar experience when you were writing that passage.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Similar, yes, but scenes like that are always part my experience, part my extrapolation of what the character might have experienced.

    General Twitter 2018 ()
    #6888 Copy

    Overlord Jebus

    is there a word for baby chulls and if not, can it be chulldren?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The baby form is a chull cremling. Sorry...

    Craig

    Hold on. Are you saying that when we see cremlings, they are at least some of the time immature forms of other creatures? Or is it just a broadly used term?

    Peter Ahlstrom

    Some of the time they are!

    General Twitter 2018 ()
    #6896 Copy

    Chaim

    I understand that although Shadesmar is a Rosharan term, Brandon sometimes uses it generically to refer to the Cognitive Realm. But I would not have expected Khriss to do the same (AU, Drominad system). Is that a mistake or deliberate?

    Peter Ahlstrom

    As far as I know, it is not a Rosharan term.

    Chaim

    My understanding came from several WoB, such as https://wob.coppermind.net/events/221-words-of-radiance-omaha-signing/#e7199 … and https://wob.coppermind.net/events/225-words-of-radiance-san-diego-signing/#e5814 … . While obviously not canon, can you clarify with Brandon?

    Peter Ahlstrom

    Eh, well the first quote actually answers the question. Whatever word people use throughout the cosmere, Brandon translates it as Shadesmar in the books. I still think the word is widely used though.

    Chaim

    I think that in the first quote when he says "these books" he is referring to Stormlight. Hence the reference to Wit, whose words are translated to Rosharan and Cognitive Realm is thus translated to Shadesmar. Have you found Shadesmar anywhere else in the cosmere?

    Peter Ahlstrom

    Well, clearly Khriss calls it that too. :)

    General Twitter 2018 ()
    #6897 Copy

    barrens chat

    In Oathbringer, Dalinar thinks to himself "He couldn't write to them of course, but he could flip the reed on and off to send signals, an old generals trick for when you lacked a scribe." But I thought spanreeds were a relatively new invention? Thoughts?

    Peter Ahlstrom

    "Old" is relative.

    /r/fantasy AMA 2013 ()
    #6899 Copy

    Ravi

    If Odium were lured to Scadrial, would his physical body turn into a burnable metal?

    If so, could Harmony create an Odium-metal legion of Mistings to consume and burn it?

    Would that weaken him sufficiently enough to be killed or destroyed?

    Brandon Sanderson

    The difficulty here is, again, one of Identity. People born on Scadrial have an Identity tied to it and its magic. Odium would have to do certain things to make them able to use a magic he fuels. He has done these things on Roshar, so it's not impossible for him to manage it on Scadrial.