Brandon Sanderson on Constructing a Fiction Empire, Creating $40M+ Kickstarter Campaigns, Unbreakable Habits, The Artwork of World-Constructing, and The Science of Magic Techniques (#794)

Brandon Sanderson (@BrandSanderson) is the #1 New York Occasions bestselling writer of The Stormlight Archive collection and the Mistborn saga; the middle-grade collection Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians; and the young-adult novels The Rithmatist, the Reckoners trilogy, and the Skyward collection. He has offered greater than 40 million books in 35 languages, and he’s a four-time nominee for the Hugo Awards, profitable in 2013 for his novella The Emperor’s Soul. That very same yr, he was chosen to finish Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time collection, culminating in A Reminiscence of Gentle.

Brandon cohosts (with fellow writer Dan Wells) the favored Deliberately Clean podcast and teaches artistic writing at Brigham Younger College.

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DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

Notice from Tim’s workforce: The under can be up to date with the ultimate listing of hyperlinks and timestamps shortly.

Books

• Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly: A middle-aged girl and her husband go on a quest to kill a dragon and save the dominion.
• The Method of Kings by Brandon Sanderson: A fantasy novel with a tough magic system the place characters can use steel to reinforce their talents.
• Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien: An epic fantasy novel centered across the One Ring and a magic system based mostly on the powers of Gandalf.
• The Identify of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss: A fantasy novel that Brandon Sanderson considers an excellent first novel.
• On Writing by Stephen King: A ebook in regards to the craft of writing that emphasizes the significance of discovering your personal means as a author.
• How one can Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card: A information to writing fantasy and science fiction that emphasizes the significance of world-building.
• Writing to Promote by Scott Meredith: A information to writing that focuses on the enterprise facet of publishing.
• Save the Cat! The Final E book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Want by Blake Snyder: A ebook about screenwriting that gives a structured strategy to storytelling.
• Save the Cat! Goes to the Films by Blake Snyder: A ebook about screenwriting that examines completely different genres inside the subject.
• Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson: A fantasy novel with a tough magic system the place characters can use steel to reinforce their talents.
• The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson: A collection of epic fantasy novels with a posh magic system and a deal with character growth.
• The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch: A fantasy heist novel that’s extra centered on the heist style than Sanderson’s Mistborn collection.
• The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan: An epic fantasy collection that was completed by Brandon Sanderson after Robert Jordan’s loss of life.
• Tigana by Man Gavriel Kay: A standalone fantasy novel that’s slower-paced than fashionable fantasy however digs deep into one world.
• Lions of Al-Rassan by Man Gavriel Kay: A standalone fantasy novel that’s slower-paced than fashionable fantasy however digs deep into one world.
• The Princess Bride by William Goldman: A fantasy novel that’s enjoyable and eccentric, however doesn’t take itself too severely.
• Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson: A standalone fantasy novel that could be a good start line for readers new to Sanderson’s work.

Films

• Avatar: A science fiction movie that incorporates a conlang created particularly for the film.
• Sneakers: A heist movie that Brandon Sanderson cites as considered one of his favorites.
• The Sting: A heist movie that Brandon Sanderson cites as considered one of his favorites.
• Ocean’s Eleven: A heist movie that Brandon Sanderson cites as considered one of his favorites.
• The Italian Job: A heist movie that Brandon Sanderson cites as considered one of his favorites.
• The Princess Bride: A fantasy movie that’s enjoyable and eccentric, however doesn’t take itself too severely.
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Child: A traditional movie written by William Goldman, the writer of The Princess Bride.

Reveals

• Writing Excuses (Podcast): A podcast in regards to the craft of writing, that includes Brandon Sanderson and different authors.
• Whose Line Is It Anyway?: An improv comedy present that Brandon Sanderson makes use of as inspiration for his writing workout routines.
• Recreation of Thrones: A fantasy TV collection based mostly on the books by George R.R. Martin, identified for its advanced characters and unpredictable plot.
• Arcane: A fantasy TV collection that incorporates a magepunk aesthetic, the place magic is mixed with expertise.
• The Colbert Report: A satirical information present that after featured Brandon Sanderson’s image in a section about Zeppelins.
• The Historical past Channel: A TV channel that Brandon Sanderson’s former editor, Moshe, used to look at as a type of self-medication.

Establishments

• Brigham Younger College: The college the place Brandon Sanderson presently teaches a artistic writing class.
• UC Irvine: The college the place Brandon Sanderson’s Eighth-grade English trainer, Ms. Reader, needed to be a professor.
• The Hugo Awards: The Academy Awards of science fiction and fantasy, the place Brandon Sanderson as soon as acquired a pin from Cory Doctorow.

Ideas

• Conlang: A constructed language, reminiscent of Klingon or Elvish, that’s created particularly for a fictional world.
• World Builder’s Illness: The tendency for fantasy writers to get slowed down in world-building on the expense of the story.
• The Hero’s Journey: A typical narrative construction in fantasy, the place a hero goes on a quest, faces challenges, and in the end triumphs over evil.
• Three Act Play: A typical narrative construction in performs and movies, the place the story is split into three acts: setup, confrontation, and determination.
• Magepunk: A subgenre of fantasy the place magic is mixed with expertise, reminiscent of within the TV collection Arcane.
• Sanderson’s Legal guidelines of Magic: Three guidelines that Brandon Sanderson follows when creating magic methods for his fantasy novels.

Firms

• Dragonsteel: Brandon Sanderson’s firm, which handles the manufacturing and distribution of his books and merchandise.
• Random Home Audio: The audiobook writer that Brandon Sanderson works with.
• Tor: Brandon Sanderson’s major writer for his fantasy novels.
• Macmillan: The mum or dad firm of Tor, which was concerned in a dispute with Amazon over book pricing.
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: The non secular group that Brandon Sanderson is a member of, which influenced his determination to go on a mission to Korea.
• Celsius: A science fiction and fantasy conference in Spain that Brandon Sanderson has attended.
• USA Immediately: A nationwide newspaper that after featured a narrative about Zeppelins, which led to Brandon Sanderson’s image showing on The Colbert Report.
• Discord: A social media platform that Brandon Sanderson makes use of to speak together with his beta readers.
• E book Speak: A ebook evaluation web site that has helped drive gross sales of Brandon Sanderson’s ebook, Tress of the Emerald Sea.
• Steam: A digital distribution platform for video video games, which Brandon Sanderson makes use of to play video games in his free time.
• Kickstarter: A crowdfunding platform that Brandon Sanderson has used to efficiently fund the publication of his books.

Further useful objects:

• “Brandon Sanderson’s BYU Lectures on Writing Fantasy”: This YouTube playlist comprises Brandon Sanderson’s lectures on writing fantasy, which cowl subjects reminiscent of worldbuilding, magic methods, and character growth.
• “King Sejong the Nice“: This Wikipedia article gives info on King Sejong the Nice, the Korean king who created the Korean writing system.
• “Hangul“: This Wikipedia article gives info on the Korean writing system, together with its historical past and construction.
• “How one can Learn Korean in 15 Minutes“: This webcomic gives a primary introduction to the Korean writing system.
• “Esperanto“: This Wikipedia article gives info on Esperanto, a constructed language that’s meant to be straightforward to study and use as a common second language.
• “Writing Excuses“: This web site gives info on the Writing Excuses podcast, which options Brandon Sanderson and different authors discussing the craft of writing.
• “Brandon Sanderson’s First Legislation of Magic“: This weblog publish explains Brandon Sanderson’s First Legislation of Magic, which states that an writer’s capability to resolve battle with magic is instantly proportional to how properly the reader¹ understands stated magic.
• “The Loss of life Spiral in Publishing“: This text explains the idea of the loss of life spiral in publishing, the place a ebook’s gross sales decline with every subsequent printing, resulting in fewer copies being ordered and fewer visibility in bookstores.
• “The Cosmere“: This Coppermind web page gives info on the Cosmere, the shared universe that connects lots of Brandon Sanderson’s fantasy novels.
• “Sanderson’s Three Legal guidelines of Magic“: This weblog publish explains Brandon Sanderson’s Three Legal guidelines of Magic, that are tips that he follows when creating magic methods for his fantasy novels.

Timestamps:

00:00 Meet Brandon Sanderson

07:10 Soundcheck Enjoyable and Reminiscence Expertise

11:21 Brandon’s Writing Journey and Artistic Course of

25:35 Instructing Artistic Writing and Publishing Insights

38:08 Brandon’s Early Studying Expertise

44:18 Discovering the Magic of Storytelling

45:32 A Journey from C Pupil to A Pupil

47:02 The Affect of a Nice Instructor

48:51 Understanding Narrative and Plot

56:42 The Artwork of Character Improvement

01:09:42 Balancing Writing and Private Life

01:24:04 Assembly Editors and Early Struggles

01:24:30 First E book Sale and Monetary Realities

01:25:28 The Hazard of the Second E book

01:25:49 Hitting the Bestseller Checklist

01:26:34 Amazon and the Altering Market

01:29:03 Entrepreneurial Shift and Direct Gross sales

01:36:45 Constructing a Crew and Crowdfunding

01:42:50 Kickstarter Success and Classes Discovered

01:52:22 COVID and Artistic Freedom

02:02:53 Brandon Sanderson’s Colbert Report Cameo

02:03:48 Kickstarter Success and Subscription Packing containers

02:09:01 Check Readers and Suggestions Course of

02:14:16 Warbreaker and Artistic Commons Experiment

02:22:50 Navigating Publishing Offers and Platforms

02:33:26 The Wheel of Time Alternative

02:42:36 The Name to End The Wheel of Time

02:43:10 Negotiating the Deal

02:43:56 The Struggles of Mistborn

02:45:02 The Cosmere and Constructing an Viewers

02:48:25 The Loss of life Spiral in Publishing

02:52:29 Magic Techniques and Their Significance

03:00:39 Sanderson’s Three Legal guidelines of Magic

03:14:35 The Zero Legislation and Ultimate Ideas

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