Recent entries

Questioner

Are there any greatshells in Roshar's oceans larger than the ones we've seen?

Brandon Sanderson

No.

Questioner

So the Reshi Isles--

Brandon Sanderson

The Reshi Isles, that's the biggest, and even with that I'm doing major fudging on the square-cube law. They've just spren-bonded, we'll talk about this. But even with the spren, those are a stretch. That's as big as it gets. They could exist in the oceans because the square-cube law doesn't apply the in same way, with buoyancy and things. But I think we don't need anything larger than islands.

Questioner

No Godzilla?

Brandon Sanderson

They're bigger than some version of Godzilla.

Questioner

Would Sebarial and Cett make good roommates?

Brandon Sanderson

Heh, heh... They'd make a good comedy show.

FirstSelector

Are the Shards from Aether of Night canon? You mentioned that just a second ago--

Brandon Sanderson

Yes I did. Aether of Night is not intended to be canon anymore. The thing is, I'm trying to work it back into the Cosmere... so when it's done there are going to be dramatic changes.

FirstSelector

Does Elsecallers-- Can they move without perpendicularities on other worlds?

Brandon Sanderson

Oh Elsecallers. Yes, they can.

FirstSelector

Yeah, we were considering *audio obscured* teleporting--

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah this is-- This is the thing. Getting in and out-- off and on-- is not--

elektrotal

Why did Mat never meet up with the [Band of the Red Hand] again?

Brandon Sanderson (Part 1/Part 2)

[Robert Jordan]'s notes had them going on separate paths, specifically because he wanted Mat to go to Seanchan.

But after events of A Memory of Light, you can assume he dropped in to check on them.

Mailliw73

Can you tell us anything about Night's Sorrow?

Brandon Sanderson

Almost nobody has ever seen Night's Sorrow.

Mailliw73

Did Elend or Vin ever consider parenthood, or was that never a priority for them?

Brandon Sanderson

Not a priority at all, considering their situation. Neither really gave it much thought.

Alexandra P.

What inspired you to write about immortality in Elantris?

Brandon Sanderson

Honestly, it was zombie stories. I wondered what it would actually feel like.

Megandia

I know you have your masters in creative writing, as do many authors, though some do not. How much has getting your masters helped you as a writer?

Brandon Sanderson

No class, even the one I teach, can take the place of writing on your own and practicing. That will be the most useful thing to you in your career—practicing lots of styles, lots of writing tools, and lots of types of stories. Your job is to learn for yourself what works for you, and develop your own mix of strategies—writing methods, outlining methods, viewpoint/tense decisions, prose decisions—that help you consistently create great books.

A writing program does several things. First, good writing classes should give you tools to try out, and explain to you what they normally do in writing, and why you might like this too. They give you feedback from established writers. And they give you a writing community to be part of—people to make into a writing group, to bounce ideas off, and to help you along your path.

The danger of a masters in creative writing is that some professors are determined to help people create only one kind of fiction, very narrowly defined, and will try to shove you away from other types of writing. Don't let them do this to you—they should be a resource to you, rather than a force that tries to homogenize you into a single type of storytelling.

Bobby

Do you have any advice for new fantasy writers to smooth out any road bumps on the way to getting published and how do you juggle success with the life you had before your books took off?

Brandon Sanderson

I have a ton of advice, but most of it I can't put here. I have a couple of resources where I go into depth. The first is Writing Excuses, my podcast. I suggest that you start listening the with January 2015 episodes—it will be very helpful. For something more in-depth, I post videos of my writing lectures on YouTube. This is the class I teach at BYU, and goes very in-depth on publishing.

Here, I'll just say this: Practice a lot. Write the kind of books that you wish were being written. Make good habits, and learn to be a writer long before you publish—own being a writer. Do the work, learn to think like a writer, and guard your writing time as if this were your job. Then when it actually happens, it will be more like "Hey, it finally happened" than "Wow. What do I do now?"

E.D.E.

If you could have an Epic power in your everyday life—you know, just every once in a while, not enough to corrupt you—what would it be?

Brandon Sanderson

I would love to be able to fly. It's not the "right" decision, which would probably be some kind of healing/comforting power to make myself and those around me more healthy. (Even if it is to get rid of the common cold.)

But…flying!

Atanas

What would you say is the best approach to battle the growing apathy, greed, violence, corruption, pollution and misery in the world today―using Sazed's wisdom, education, research on religions and unity through equal- mindedness or Kelsier's way of personal example, sacrifice, and unity through action?

Brandon Sanderson

I am more a Sazed than a Kelsier. Sazed is focused on patience, careful change, and thoughtfulness. But we need Kelsiers too—people who are willing to act decisively, to become the type of person that others follow, and to make things happen, even if sometimes there are terrible consequences.

Jessica

In Shadows of Self a few characters use some variation of "Hell!" as an exclamation when things go awry. I don't recall any reference to "Hell" as a place or philosophy in the religions of the Mistborn series. How does this word fit into their world, does it differ from our own?

Brandon Sanderson

The characters in Mistborn have been using "biblical" curses since book one. This was a specific choice made on my part, as I want the "feel" of Mistborn to be like London in the early 1800s. All of my books are to be read as if there's a phantom translator who took it from the original language and translated it into English. In many cases, there isn't a word that is an exact translation—so the translator does their best.

In The Final Empire, there was indeed a kind of "hell." Though there wasn't a specific idea of a devil—it was just the punishment ascribed to the souls who failed or disobeyed the Lord Ruler. Even the skaa knew of this, though religion was forbidden them. So it was a more vague sense, than specific theology, to them.

D.I.

I've heard you are a plotter, yet chose to write The Reckoners as a pantser. What were some of the unexpected difficulties or advantages of pantsing?

Brandon Sanderson

I "pantsed" the first few chapters of Steelheart, but I quickly went from there to creating an outline. The early part was exploration, the first three or four chapters. That's not uncommon, even for an outliner. However, I did then stop and produce a really solid outline for the book. (Actually one of the most solid I've ever made.)

When you're discovery writing, you often have a lot more success creating and discovering characters, in my experience. That's why I often free-write a few opening chapters to a book, so I can get a feel for who these people might be.However, a difficulty with discovery writing (pantsing) is plotting it's very difficult to create a tight narrative without an outline. (That said, many people who love to discovery write can fix this problem in revisions.)

David

Having completed the The Wheel of Time series for Robert Jordan. Who would you want to complete your books if anything should happen to you?

Brandon Sanderson

Boy! Let's hope that I make it. But, having done what I did for The Wheel of Time, I've had to consider this. I think right now, I'd like either Brent Weeks to write it (as he and I have very similar styles, and I like his books a lot) or Brian McClellan, my former student who is now writing excellent fiction. (I can't take much credit for Brian, as he was an excellent writer before he took my class.) I haven't asked either of them to do this, though, so it's more just idle consideration to me.

Howard

How often (if ever) do you reread your own books to make sure the content stays fresh in your mind? Or do you just rely on your notes and timelines you have for your books?

Brandon Sanderson

Depends. If it's been a long time, I'll reread. (Or at least look up specific chapters.) It depends on how much the story is "present" in my mind as well. The Stormlight Archive and The Reckoners have been solidly in my mind these last five years, and I have enough a grasp on the story that I'm in control of it and can work with it the way I need. When I get back to The Rithmatist, however, I'll need to reread the whole thing.

Caleb

What was it that inspired you to write a superhero series in which all the super-powered heroes had become so corrupt?

Szilvi

What made you think about people with superpowers that could destroy the world, since most people make people with super powers the good guys?

Brandon Sanderson

I did it exactly because I hadn't ever seen anyone do it! I've enjoyed the superhero genre quite a bit during my years, and as a writer I'm generally looking to do something similar to stories I've loved in the past. At the same time, something in me rebels at just doing "the same thing" again. This is the conflict of fan against artist inside me and the result is usually that I spend time thinking about a genre of stories, and try to find a take on it that feels fresh and original. It's like eating my cake and having it too! I feel that I can add something to the genre, giving people a new story, yet also incorporate some of the things I love about the genre the things that make it really work.

NOOK

Did you have the ending planned out for the Reckoners series when you started writing?

Brandon Sanderson

Then I build a series around the ideas and themes that worked in the first book.

I had the ending of the first book well in mind. Once I finished it, I sat down and plotted the next two books.

This is very common for me in a series. Writing the first book, making sure I have the characters and ideas down first.

Brandon Sanderson

*discussion fades in* ...I doubt they would come to regret that. It depends on your threshold for characters with depression but--

Questioner

They haven't minded that so far. That's not an issue. I think they just want to make sure he doesn't end up leading the Voidbringers or something.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah I think you'll be okay.

Questioner

Is it possible to Compound your Spiritual Connection to a location on a planet while storing your Spiritual Connection to all other locations on the planet to kind of pull yourself through the Spiritual Realm to that location?

Brandon Sanderson

That's not how that would work. Parts of what you say are possible, but the teleportation aspect wouldn't actually do anything.

Questioner

Was Hoid trying to Compound his Spiritual location in the scene you added in the 10th Anniversary [Elantris]? Was he trying to Compound Connection to that location to try to become Elantrian?  

Brandon Sanderson

...So at that point chronologically he was not an Allomancer.

Questioner

Who's going to make the Mistborn game, and when is it going to come out?

Brandon Sanderson

Who's going to make the Mistborn game and when's it going to come out. So they bought the rights to that like four years ago and then their game studio divided and the people-- the gaming guys were like "Yeah this happens" and they had an architecture but then it fell through and they said "Oh we're going to do it for nextgen" and since they said that we haven't really heard anything. So...

Y'know, this happens in gaming all the time, they're a good studio, they have lofty ideals, but most of the games they make are not on the scale of Mistborn. And so they have until 2017 to make something. I still have not seen any sort of playable architecture or anything like that… So we'll just wait and see... Their name is Little Orbit. They have mostly done movie tie-in games. There's a bunch of people-- It's the gaming industry out in California so three of the people there were from Interplay and three of the people there were from this studio and they've all made big games before but this studio itself, they just aren't being able to get it together to make a big game. So if they do-- I mean I really like them, if they get it going I'll be super excited to see it happen but once 2017 rolls around I probably won't renew their option and say "Well it's time to let this one lapse".

Questioner

Is Austre Endowment by a different name?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

Questioner

The man speaking with Nale in the Words of Radiance prologue--the one talking about Ash getting worse--which is he: a Herald or a Squire?

Brandon Sanderson

Um… He is not a Squire.

Brandon Sanderson

*reading a personalization request* Did Kelsier fill copperminds for reasons other than to share knowledge? Did he want to forget certain memories?

*written* Yes. Yes.

Those may not be causally related. You asked two separate questions and got two separate answers.

Brandon Sanderson

*reading a personalization request* In the concept of an unreliable narrator, there is a...scope of unreliability. One can be limited by perspective, another can be unreliable with intent. Could you...examine the second type in the Cosmere? Who would be a good example?

Hoid can be very intentionally misleading. The thing is, there aren't many first person viewpoints in the Cosmere stories so if its ever from someone's actual viewpoint-- Like Kelsier is a little unreliable in his viewpoint in that he doesn't go into his plan, which is technically unreliable narrator and it technically is by intent, but it's more like, he's like "I can't think about this" and stuff, but is also him lying to the reader a little bit. Does that make sense? Kelsier is probably the best example of unreliable narrator.

Questioner

Why don't Northern Lights ever appear in the Era One Mistborn trilogy? If Luthadel is situated at the Magnetic North Pole?

Brandon Sanderson

It has-- ‘Cause as I understand--has to do with-- what is it coming off the sun--

littlewilson

Solar flares?

Brandon Sanderson

That cause the aurora borealis. It's not just the magnetic-- There's physics involved which are not relevant in the Mistborn world.

Questioner

I was wondering if the size of a piece of metal determines the amount of Feruchemical charge that can be stored in it.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

So how does that scale, like, in terms of the volume or mass of the metal or...

Brandon Sanderson

It-- So I've talked about this before, I'm trying to remember exactly what I've told people-- It does not scale as logically as you think it does. How about that? It's more like certain thresholds. You can have a-- You can store a Hemalurgic or Feruchemical charge even in very small pieces of metal, but larger pieces of metal will let you get more.

Questioner

So it's kind of like there are different classes of sizes?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, kind of like that.

zas678

Are twins more likely to be Allomancers?

Brandon Sanderson

They are more likely to share--

zas678

--to share Allomantic attributes.

Brandon Sanderson

--to share Allomantic attributes.

zas678

Does it make a difference if they’re identical or fraternal?

Brandon Sanderson

It does… Yeah, it does. Fraternals are still more likely. But identical are even more likely.

zas678

Okay so fraternal are more likely than siblings--

Brandon Sanderson

Than siblings, yes.

zas678

And identical are more likely than--

Brandon Sanderson

Mmhmm.

Questioner

What is Syl's favorite form? What is her favorite form?

Brandon Sanderson

Syl is kind-- kind of ephemeral. Meaning she has a peculiar little personality and her favorites change quite often. I would say, she probably likes being the human-form the most, because she gets the best reaction from the people she's interacting with. But that wouldn't always have been the case, because she is responding to how people are perceiving her.

Questioner

Are we ever going to get an official Cosmere timeline?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, we will eventually. We're really close to being able to release it, I'm not sure when we will. Um, the real trick is-- Like now that we're locking down White Sand, that's kind of like the last wild card because the novel version wasn't canon. So it's like where do we make sure this is, and stuff like that. So yeah we should be, once White Sand is out I think, everything we can lock down. The trick is, like if I release it there are certain-- like where is Sixth of the Dusk exactly? It's not something I want because that's got spoilers.

Questioner

..It is actually canon that Era Two [of Mistborn]takes place between the first half and the second half of [The Stormlight Archive]?

Brandon Sanderson

Well I haven't written the second half of Stormlight so that--

Questioner

But does it take place after the first half?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes it takes place sometime after the first half, but it depends on how long I break and things like that, whether they overlap, maybe it takes place after 7, maybe it takes place after 5, maybe it takes place after-- Like we'll see when I get there how many years, because the timing on those is a little more tight.

Questioner

So they're more interweaved with those, those are closer to the same time period.

Brandon Sanderson

They are much closer to the same time period than other things, which is why I have to be dodgy on those ones, mostly just because they are on a similar timeline.

Questioner

With the god-Shards, is it possible to put-- for someone to put one down without dying?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, it is.

Questioner

Have Hoid and Sazed, since he became Harmony, had a conversation?

Brandon Sanderson

Um… yes, that has happened.

Questioner

Was it meaningful?

Brandon Sanderson

Um, Hoid considers everything meaningful.

Questioner

Of course he does. Would Sazed consider it meaningful?

Brandon Sanderson

Ok, Sazed considers every individual important.

Brandon Sanderson

*referring to a personalization request* That is a R A F O, but you do earn a card for your RAFO... Now let me just say--

Questioner

I'm not asking about Nightblood, I'm asking about the Shardblades.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah-- Oh, OH. You're asking-- okay. You're not asking what other Shardblades made, but if somebody brought a Shardblade to another pl--

Questioner

Like if Kaladin went to Nalthis.

Brandon Sanderson

Okay, his Shardblade would manifest exactly-- it would do exactly the same thing.

Questioner

The size of the metal, does it matter to transfer Allomancy or can it be really really tiny or really really big?

Brandon Sanderson

For Allomancy? Or what, a bead of lerasium? Is that what you're talking about?

Questioner

Yeah, when you're transferring the powers, like to make someone a Mistborn...

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah it has to be-- The size of it is going to influence how strong a Mistborn you are.

Questioner

It couldn't be a sliver.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah-- Well it could, you'd just be really weak as a Mistborn.

Questioner

I currently have a pet theory--

Brandon Sanderson

Oh yeah? What is it?

Questioner

That... there's a-- That there was-- Whatever the fourth Shard that Odium [Splintered]-- People-- The people who founded Threnody were--

Brandon Sanderson

So you should read Khriss' introductions to the worlds in the Cosmere Collection.

Questioner

Is-- As of Era Two in Mistborn, is Bavadin still alive?

Brandon Sanderson

Ehhh... *long pause* I'm pretty sure I've answered that, but just in case I haven't I'm going to RAFO it.

Questioner

*referring to his personalization request* Just that one. Wayne is a wise man, wrapped up inside of a sad man, wrapped up inside of a silly man.

Brandon Sanderson

He likes a hat to be nice and stiff. To mean something. And a fedora is going to be too weak for him. Too... too floppy. It's not a hat you have to commit to, in Wayne's opinion.

Questioner

Can you clarify what the structure you are planning on, is going to be for Dragonsteel is? Like for some reason I have it in my head that it's seven?

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah it was originally, way back when, seven. I've-- Right now I've cut so much out of that and stuck it in other books, I'm only at three. So we'll see.

Questioner

Did Odium originally have a planet he was Invested in?

Brandon Sanderson

Odium's plan always involved not getting stuck on one

Questioner

Has Wax seen the influence of a Shard other than Preservation, Ruin, Harmony--

Brandon Sanderson

Yes.

Questioner

--i.e., like Autonomy?

Brandon Sanderson

He has seen the influence of another Shard.

Questioner

Might that Shard be Autonomy?

Brandon Sanderson

It might!

Ben McSweeney

*giggles*

Questioner

Given equal footing with weapons, who would win in a fight: Batman or Kaladin?

Brandon Sanderson

...Batman or Kaladin?

Questioner

Given that they have equal weapons.

Brandon Sanderson

Does Kaladin have Stormlight?

Questioner

Only if Batman gets Stormlight too.

Brandon Sanderson

Batman can't use Stormlight.

Questioner

Then Kal-- Equal footing. So if Kaladin gets to use Stormlight, so does Batman.

Brandon Sanderson

But he can't use it. See this fight doesn't make sense, because it's like-- You know-- Well, I mean, if you give Batman Stormlight does it make any sense? If you give a bunch of Batarangs to Kaladin, he's like "What do I do with these?" I don't know. Does Batman have time to prepare? Because if Batman has time to prepare... If Batman has time to prepare then he's in good shape.

Questioner

Maybe Batman just gets Shard-Batarangs and nothing else.

Brandon Sanderson

If he meets Kaladin on the field of battle, Kaladin's a soldier and Batman's not. Batman's not going to do well in a war.

Questioner

Yeah-- But if Kaladin doesn't have any powers, Batman has extensive hand-to-hand training.

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, yes he does.

Questioner

Do you consider yourself a lighteyes or a darkeyes?

Brandon Sanderson

I am darkeyed… These hazel eyes don't get quite light enough, they wouldn't count me.

Brandon Sanderson

*after reading a personalization request* Expansion of the soul, what do you mean by that?

Questioner

There was something in Secret History...it had to do with Kelsier expanding his soul. And then Hoid also says something about it.

Brandon Sanderson

So what do you mean by "Does worldhopping involve the expansion of a soul">?

Questioner

Well Hoid... kind of was like...

Brandon Sanderson

I'm just trying to get you to be a little more specific. But I'm going to say "Sometimes".

Ben McSweeney

That was the whole point. You get a "Maaaaybe".

Brandon Sanderson

You get a Sometimes.

Brandon Sanderson

*reading a personalization request* Could a Rosharan be--

Melissa

Hemalurgically spiked with a gem or fabrial?

Brandon Sanderson

*presumably writes RAFO in book*

Questioner

*exasperated "ugh" sound*

Ben McSweeney

Haha.

Questioner

Who would win in a fight, Kaladin or Kelsier?

Brandon Sanderson

Kelsier, he fights dirty. Kaladin has, probably, more raw power-- I don't know. Kelsier's going to win easy though. He's just going to murder him in his sleep.

Questioner

How many blushes did Blushweaver weave?

Brandon Sanderson

Hehe, as many blushes-- How many blushes would Blushweaver weave if Blushweaver could weave blushes? Many a blush is what Blushweaver weaved-- wove.

Questioner

Does Hoid learn languages magically or is he just a gifted linguist?

Brandon Sanderson

He is learning them magically. He does-- He's decent with languages but he needs to be able speak as if he were a local in order to pass the way he does. And no matter how gifted you are, doing that, particularly for multiple tongues, is-- Yeah.

Ted

Does Lift's metabolic waste include crem?

Brandon Sanderson

*laughs* ...That's an excellent question. I'm not going to-- I'm not going to answer that one but it's an excellent question.

Ted

Wow, you're RAFO'ing that? I was at least expecting a laugh

Brandon Sanderson

I'm RAFO'ing y-- You got a laugh. I didn't say RAFO, I said I'm not going to answer that, which can be considered two different answers.

Questioner

We've got Kaladin's name meaning, do we have Shallan's?

Brandon Sanderson

Shallan is-- Her name comes from Shalash, the herald, so it's kind of like naming somebody Christian in a lot of ways. Or naming someone Michael, though Michael has a meaning. Shalash does too but it's so old-- Like-- Yes, it will have a meaning but really what you need to know is "she is named after the Herald Shalash", right? But I'm sure we can dig out what the meaning is because it does have a meaning... I mean Kaladin's has a meaning even though he's named after Kalak.

Ted

What happened to the Ministries?

Brandon Sanderson

The Ministries, being a legacy of the time of the Lord Ruler's rule, there are trappings of them left but they don't use any of the same names or anything like that.

Ben McSweeney

Can't have the old labeling.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. I mean-- There are cities you can go to where there are more echoes of that sort of thing.

Ted

Yeah because New Seran made me think of that.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah. I mean there are cities you can go that have more echoes of that but in Elendel you can barely even find the trappings anymore-- but you can find some of them. But You won't go in there and find, like, the Ministry of this-or-that. Because it was run by Kelsier's crew, most of that did not make the transition. Though there were notable Obligators who made it through and so they have left their mark. You have to search for it though.