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Idaho Falls signing ()
#5051 Copy

Questioner

I'm a bit of an aspiring author myself. How would you deal with ADHD writer's block?

Brandon Sanderson

Some things I know that work for some writers... Do you like hiking? Do you like walking? Because I have known professional writers who have trained themselves to write by talking into a microphone, in order so that they can be walking somewhere, and kind of being visually stimulated while they're writing. I wish I knew better how to write, like, ADHD.... How do you motivate yourself to do other things? Is it a reward mechanism? Is it a short burst sort of thing?

Questioner

The issue that I have is that whenever I sit down to write, I sit down, and I'm either just sitting down and writing for five minutes, and then I get bored and move on, switch over to playing video games or surfing the web. I do a lot of thinking about what I want my world to do, stuff like that, but I don't actually have an outline.

Brandon Sanderson

Have you tried writing longhand, when you're away from the internet, getting a notebook, going out somewhere, writing in a notebook. That helps a lot of people who are getting distracted by the internet frequently, if there's just no internet to get on. And sometimes it works really good because you also are writing it, and can be, like, "You know, it doesn't have to be perfect while I'm writing in the notebook. I'll make it perfect when I transfer it to the computer." That gives you permission to be free. I don't know that you need to have an outline. Like, Stephen King never uses one. It's a tool that works for some authors and doesn't for others.

SpoCon 2013 ()
#5052 Copy

Shardlet (paraphrased)

I then pointed out the basis for my theory, beginning with the flashback chapter where Kaladin whales on Jost with the quarterstaff.

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

What you didn't ask was whether Kaladin had ever felt the Thrill.

He then went on to say that that was not a confirmation or a denial.

Tor.com Q&A with Brandon Sanderson ()
#5054 Copy

Oscar816

I saw an interview of you talking about Way of Kings before it came out/before I read it. In the interview you mentioned the ten knights and each book will focus/be about one of the knights. After reading book one I can honestly say, I have no idea which Knight was supposed to be in book one. Is this by design? Or did I miss the point?

Brandon Sanderson

I'm not sure what the question means. Do you mean the Heralds? Or the ten orders of the Knights Radiant? The symbol stamped into the front of the first hardcover represents the Windrunners because of Kaladin's awakening as a Windrunner. Also because of Szeth, but mostly because of Kaladin.

Warbreaker Annotations ()
#5055 Copy

Brandon Sanderson

Chapter Forty-Four

Siri and Susebron Talk about How the Next God King is Created

Siri's impulse here—that the next God King might not really be the son of the current one—is a good one. She's actually right, though there are a lot of other things in this conversation she's wrong about.

It is possible for a Returned to have a child. Vo, the First Returned, did it. The God King isn't special in that he can do it; any of the Returned could, but it requires some special knowledge that—I'm afraid—I'll have to keep secret until the sequel. Suffice it to say that the priests know how it is done.

The problem is, they aren't always able to get this to work. Sometimes, they have to do what Siri guessed—replace the God King with an infant Returned. Infant Returns happen very infrequently. It's more rare than an adult Returning, so there is something sound to the Hallandren reasoning that you have to do something heroic in order to Return. (That's not true, but it is more sound a doctrine than Siri thinks it is.)

The God King's priests take an infant Returning as a sign that it's time to change God Kings. At that point, they choose a wife for the God King and hope that she'll be able to conceive the next God King. They'd much, much rather that the God King be the literal child of the previous God King. (Susebron wasn't, however. And his mother was indeed his mother, a poor merchant's wife from far northern Hallandren.)

Now, an infant has indeed Returned. The priests see this as a major vindication of their faith, as they made the wedding contract with Idris twenty years ago and now, just when the marriage was to happen, an infant Returned. The problem is, now they've got to push Siri to get pregnant, because they're on a deadline. They don't want to have to replace the God King with this infant; they'd rather use his own child. Hence the push for her to have a child.

But if she doesn't, they'll go with plan B. Note that there's not, in fact, any danger to her either way, no matter what Bluefingers says. She and Susebron, following the change in power, would have been taken to one of the isles in the middle of the Inner Sea and kept in a lavish lifestyle as long as they lived.

17th Shard Interview ()
#5056 Copy

17th Shard

If an Allomancer is turned into a koloss, would they keep their powers?

Brandon Sanderson

That's actually something I've thought about. An Allomancer turned into a koloss would keep their powers because, as you'll recall, an Allomancer turned in to an Inquisitor retains their powers. Whether they would be able to always know how to use them remains to be seen, but you could definitely have a koloss Allomancer if you built them right.

General Twitter 2015 ()
#5058 Copy

BrandonColevander

How come the base 8 abilities come in pairs by base metal & alloy, but the higher ability pairs are not related?

Peter Ahlstrom

Which book are you on? Things change after the first book. They don't understand things as well as they think.

BrandonColevander

I've read all 4 several times. Ex: electrum is a gold alloy yet it is opposite of atium & malatium opposite gold...>

Peter Ahlstrom

Alloys of atium can't be thought of as establishing any pattern.

BrandonColevander

@PeterAhlstrom there are alloyS (plural) of atium?! Any chance that atium or its alloys show up again in any of the upcoming novels?

Peter Ahlstrom

RAFO :)

Words of Radiance Chicago signing ()
#5059 Copy

Questioner

Why can only women write?

Brandon Sanderson

It has to with a lot of cultural mores, spraying out of a certain sort of essay written a long ago that divided masculine arts and feminine arts, and then some cultural things sort of went along with that ended up gaining momentum.

Questioner

And we'll find out more about that I guess.

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah... I mean, to the characters it's like asking "Why do you guys shake hands?" It's what you do, culturally. But there are reasons for it.

Footnote: The "sort of essay" referred to here by Brandon is Arts and Majesty.
Shadows of Self Lansing signing ()
#5062 Copy

Questioner

I wanted to know if Forged metals had Allomantic properties.

Brandon Sanderson

If Forged metals had Allomantic properties. So what I’ve kind of been ruling on this is if you Forge a metal from one metal to another you can probably start burning it Allomantically but it--  Once you did it would disrupt the Spiritual nature of the metal and it would change back immediately.

Firefight release party ()
#5063 Copy

Questioner

So you have a lot of emotional times in your books where you feel something really strong, do you feel that when you are writing or do you think "I need to have an emotional point--"

Brandon Sanderson

The question is, I have a lot of emotional times in my book, do I feel that when I'm writing or do I just sit there and say "I need an emotional time right now". There's a little of both, as a storyteller you get a good feel for when you need certain beats in storytelling. One of the things I like about stories though, and this will tell you a little about me, I am not a very emotional person. My friends will tell you and kind of reinforce this, I am basically, kind of the opposite of an emotional person. When I saw that movie Unbreakable, I know that there are people who are broken so there must be people who can't be broken at all. I know people who are bi-polar with huge mood swings, I'm kind of the opposite of that. If you have a 0 to 100 emotional scale I get between a 65 and 75 every day. Doesn't change. I feel the same way every day when I wake up, but stories make me feel powerful emotion. They are one of the things that just tweak that needle in me and make it go crazy up and down. Which is one of the reasons why I think I fell in love with books and storytelling is because of that powerful emotion. So yes I do, and at the same time part of me is "I need something here. What do I need right here?" and my instincts say "Oh you need a pow. What's our pow?" and you work on it for a while until it comes together for you.

Orem Signing ()
#5064 Copy

Questioner

You've previously said that Nightblood is the most powerful non-Shardic being in the Cosmere. Is he more powerful than the Unmade or Stormfather in terms of raw Investiture?

Brandon Sanderson

Raw Investiture? Here's the thing, when you say powerful, it can mean lots of different things. More raw Investiture than the Stormfather... probably not. Than the Unmade, probably. I would have to look, I don't have the numbers on this. But the Stormfather is very restricted in what he can do.

Stuttgart signing ()
#5065 Copy

Paleo (paraphrased)

How is Dark One coming along?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

It's coming along very well. It's like Harry Potter from the perspective of Voldemort, where the good guys want to get the bad guy. It's like Narnia was trying to assassinate those who come over to their world to destroy it.

The outline is really great, we pitched it across Hollywood. We had a really great response, but no contracts are done. We're planning to release it as an audiobook original. We haven't closed the contract on that yet, but we have an offer.

A Memory of Light San Diego Signing ()
#5067 Copy

Questioner (paraphrased)

In the Mistborn series, I read on one of your posts online that you had a rough outline of how the series would have gone if a major death in the first book hadn't happened? I was just curious how that would have progressed if he was still alive?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

He would have taken over, because that character doesn't not take over. And it would have been a very different series, it would have been more heist focused, and not so much epic fantasy focused.

Questioner (paraphrased)

Would he have finished everything up a heck of a lot faster than Vin and Elend did?

Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)

Worse, but yes. Things would have gone very differently, how about that? The reason I decided it couldn't go that way was because I think the series just wouldn't have worked.

Arcanum Unbounded Hoboken signing ()
#5069 Copy

Questioner

So any chance of a horror story?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. I actually have written one I consider horror. A short story. It was in a horror anthology. We're going to publish it with *inaudible* [anthology]. You'll be able to read it. But--

Questioner

Non-cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson

It's non-cosmere, yeah. It's [the most horrifying thing I can] *inaudible* It's not going to read like one until you figure out what's going on. It's not like horror... monster movie horror, you know? 

Questioner

*inaudible*

Brandon Sanderson

Yeah, I mean it's still [wacky] magic and things like that, but when you realize what's going on. Yeah.

Barnes and Noble Book Club Q&A ()
#5070 Copy

Nadine

You have created some fantastic, original and well thought out magical systems. Where did you get the inspiration for the metal-based system of the Mistborn series and the breath-based system of Warbreaker?

Brandon Sanderson

Thank you! During the early days of my career—before I got published—I found myself naturally creating a new magic system for each book I wrote. I'm not sure why I did this. I just found the process too involving, too interesting, to stop.

For Mistborn, I came to the book wanting several things. I wanted a great magic system that would enhance the graceful, martial-arts style fights. This was going to be a series of sneaking thieves, assassins, and night-time exploration. And so I developed the powers with a focus on that idea. What would make the thieving crew better at what they did? I based each power around an archetype of a thieving crew. The Thug, the Sneak, the Fast-talker, etc.

At the same time, I wanted to enhance the 'industrial revolution' feel of the novels through the magic system. I wanted something that felt like an industrial-age science, something that was a good hybrid of science and magic. I found myself drawn to Alchemy and its use of metals, then extrapolated from that to a way to release power locked inside of metal. Metabolism grew out of that. It felt natural. We metabolize food for energy; letting Allomancers metabolize metal had just the right blend of science and magic.

For Warbreaker, I was looking back a little further, shooting for a more Renaissance-era feel. And so, I extrapolated from the early beliefs that similarities created bonds. In other words, you could affect an object (in this case, bring an object to life) by creating a bond between it and yourself, letting it take on a semblance of your own life.

Moving beyond that was the idea of color as life. When a person dies, their color drains from them. The same happens when plants die. Vibrant color is a sign of life itself, and so I worked with this metaphor and the concept of Breath as life to develop the magic. In this case, I wanted magical powers that would work better 'in' society, meaning things that would enhance regular daily lives. Magical servants and soldiers, animated through arcane powers, worked better for this world than something more strictly fighting-based, like in Mistborn.

Salt Lake City Comic-Con 2014 ()
#5073 Copy

Questioner 1

Is Dalinar clean-shaven or does he wear a beard?

Brandon Sanderson

It depends on the day, and the time. Dalinar is clean-shaven through most of the books you have seen.

Questioner 1

That's what I thought but he thought not.

Questioner 2

The audiobook reader just gives me an impression of a wizened person with a well-kept beard.

Brandon Sanderson

Let's see if I've got... if I've got enough internet...

Questioner 2

I get the impression that Sadeas has a creepy mustache from the audiobook as well.

Brandon Sanderson

Beards are not in fashion in Alethkar right now.

Questioner 1

Which is why Kaladin shaves it off.

Brandon Sanderson

Let's see, Way of Kings, I've got the artwork I used as-- *shows secret canon drawing* So there is the concept art we used for Dalinar.

Orem Signing ()
#5075 Copy

Questioner

Is there an exact date when the final book of the Alcatraz series is coming out?

Brandon Sanderson

Not an exact date. It's about, at this point, about three quarters done. I wrote about half of it. And I'm cowriting the other half with a friend of mine to get the voice right. And she's up to the ending that I outlined. So we'll see how we both feel about that ending. And then maybe we'll release it this year? Maybe next year? It's pretty close, though.

17th Shard Forum Q&A ()
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FireArcadia

Does the world map in The Way of Kings show all of the landmasses of Roshar? Does that make the continent on Roshar a Pangaea-like supercontinent? And as I think about it, are there tectonic plates on Roshar?

Brandon Sanderson

It is a supercontinent. I won't say there is NOTHING out there, but (unlike Scadrial) there is not another full continent. Plate tectonics are not a factor on the supercontinent.

Calamity release party ()
#5077 Copy

Questioner

Are there any Shards who-- that have merged like Sazed's Shards?

Brandon Sanderson

That is a RAFO, good question. Excellent question.

Questioner

Just trying to think outside the box.

Brandon Sanderson

I think that's the first time I've been asked that.

ICon 2019 ()
#5078 Copy

Questioner

My question is about, especially in the Stormlight series, I noticed that you use a lot of different languages and that when people speak in languages that is not their mother tongue, they use different phrases and they make mistakes that really remind me of the mistakes that we Israeli do when we speak English. Do you speak multiple languages and can you tell us a bit about languages in the Cosmere?

Brandon Sanderson

So, yeah. I do speak... poorly... I studied French all through high school and my French is really bad. And I was a missionary in Korea and learned Korean and my Korean is slightly less bad. *speaks Korean* I said, "I don't speak Korean very well, I speak about as much as a rat's tail," which is a phrase in Korean. Learning another language was really helpful for writing fantasy books. Going and living in another culture? Really helpful for writing fantasy books.

Languages in the Cosmere are going to vary based on my needs for a given book. I spend my worldbuilding time on what is relevant to the characters and story. So, for instance, the linguistics in Elantris were really important to the story. The linguistics in Mistborn were not as important to the story and so I spent more time on the languages for Sel than I did for Scadrial. I did spent a decent amount of time on the languages for Roshar because all the different cultures and things like that having conflicts with one another is a big part of the story.

Worldbuild in service of the story, is my suggestion to you guys. Spend your times on things that are going to be relevant to the characters.

Tor Twitter Chat ()
#5080 Copy

Jennifer Lynch

Do you have a trick for plowing through writer's block?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes. I just write anyway, telling myself I don't have to use what I write. I write it poorly, then try again.

For me, that gets my brain working. You can't be afraid to 'throw away' what you've done for a day and try again.

With that in mind, you can have the most random of things happen, knowing you won't keep them. Just to get jump-started.

FanX 2018 ()
#5081 Copy

Questioner

Can you tell us when more books are coming... as far as Alcatraz?

Brandon Sanderson

Yes, Alcatraz 6 is halfway done. It is moving along really well. I wrote a chunk of it and didn't like it, went to a friend of mine whose a really good writer and said, "I can't get Bastille's voice down, can you help me out?" And so we've been kind of going back and forth and sending things back and forth to each other and it's finally really working. It's snapping right together, and so I would imagine it's less than a year away. I don't know for sure. Not far.

Chris King interview ()
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Chris King

What are some characteristics of and how many other wordhoppers are there that we have seen excluding Hoid, Demoux, and Galladon.

Brandon Sanderson

You gave me really good wiggle room on that one. Obviously the other person with Galladon and Demoux.

Chris King

Right, the one from a future book.

Brandon Sanderson

His characteristics are-- What is he like? Some people have read his book so they know what he's like--

Chris King

Which book is he from?

Brandon Sanderson

He's from White Sand.

Chris King

Okay, that's one I have but have not gotten to.

Brandon Sanderson

It's only mediocre so don't worry about it. Let's see what other worldhoppers I want to give you clues about-- *long pause* There's a Terriswoman running around, if you keep your eyes open.

Chris King

I have to re-read it, everything.

Brandon Sanderson

Who else do I want to talk about-- Words of Radiance has a couple good ones, that will be pretty obvious.

The Well of Ascension Annotations ()
#5083 Copy

Brandon Sanderson

Chapter Twenty

Elend is already progressing nicely as a king. There's a lot more time passing in here than I'm showing–lots of training and lessons. One of my worries is that Elend will develop too quickly. However, considering the situation he's in, I suspect that he knows he has to either adapt quickly or be destroyed. A few tense months can really change a person a lot.

Firefight Seattle UBooks signing ()
#5089 Copy

Questioner

What do you think is the difference between SciFi and Fantasy?

Brandon Sanderson

SciFi works with the improbable becoming reality; Fantasy works with the impossible pretending to be reality. I think the line is between what could be and what can't be. By my definition, that kind of takes Star Wars into Fantasy. I don't necessarily like Asimov's definitions, just because he was very down on fantasy. A lot of the fantasy of his era was very Conan-ish. He was a great writer, I respect his fiction a lot, but I don't think he gave fantasy its fair due.

I would count Star Trek definitely science fiction, they're trying to talk about - even though they're using fantastical teleporters and stuff - they're trying to say this is what's possible. It's social science fiction, a lot of it.

Questioner

But wouldn't you say Star Wars is really both?

Brandon Sanderson

I would say it’s a mash-up hybrid. It’s a fantasy magic system in a space opera science fiction setting.

General Reddit 2018 ()
#5091 Copy

Tellingdwar

A while ago someone mentioned it would be sweet to have a metal box for the Era 1 leather-bounds. As I recall, Peter seemed to think that was a cool idea, but I haven't heard anything about it since.

If it happens, I would guess it'd be announced alongside book 3's official reveal. /u/peterahlstrom would be the one to ask, though they might be waiting to make that reveal.

Peter Ahlstrom

There aren’t any current plans.

Goodreads WoK Fantasy Book Club Q&A ()
#5094 Copy

Bahador

I really like the dialogs between Jasnah and Shallan, covering atheism, god, blind faith, etc.

Are you going to expand on these philosophical topics? Will it play a larger part in the plot?

I really enjoyed these moments and hope to see more of them

Brandon Sanderson

I'm glad you liked them. These questions are very important to Shallan and Jasnah and to an extent other characters such as Dalinar, so you will indeed see much more of this. I wouldn't include it if it weren't very important to the characters. And what's important to the characters has a strong influence on what's important to the plot.If what happens at the end of Part Five with Dalinar is to be believed, then there is a very interesting theological conundrum to this world. Something claiming to be God claims also that it has been killed. Which then in some ways leaves someone who is atheist right, and yet at the same time wrong. When Jasnah and Dalinar meet, you can expect some discussion of what it means to be atheist if there was a God and God is now dead. Or will she say that obviously wasn't God? Those circles of thought are very fascinating to me and to the characters.

General Reddit 2018 ()
#5095 Copy

Eagle206

Congrats [Brandon]

Very happy for him that [Dark One] is getting off the ground but also worries me a bit.

I've been through the waiting game with George R. R. Martin, J.K. Rowling and Robert Jordan. I started reading wot when I was like 13 and finished when I was 34 or so. I'm worried that some of the stuff that sounds awesome will never see the light of day or be 40 years in the future. The second half of the storm light or Warbreaker 2 for example

I also wish that this was in the cosmere cause it could be a great tie-in.

I'm also worried that it fails and kills any chance of his other works being adapted.

Either way hoping that my fears are unfounded and it's awesome. Sounds cool

Brandon Sanderson

I think that we want this to not be cosmere--because that should both give me a chance to dabble in Hollywood, but also not risk the continuity of the cosmere until I have more of a reputation there.

Also, I don't think you need to worry. So far, this hasn't divided my attention too much from other projects. I've spent maybe a day ever few weeks or so on Dark One--and I don't anticipate letting it consume me too much.

FanX 2018 ()
#5096 Copy

Stormlightning

You told someone that Nan Balat likes to hurt things. Like, a supernatural tendency to hurt things.

Brandon Sanderson

It's more along the lines of, "He has suffered some...enhancement of a psychological issue through supernatural effects."

Stormlightning

It's not an Unmade thing?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO! Good question! That's basically a confirmation, isn't it? *teasing laugh*

West Jordan signing ()
#5098 Copy

Josh

Why was AonDor forbidden around the pool ascent? If the pool is the essence of AonDor, why can't the power be used near it?

Brandon Sanderson

Did I... it doesn't say that it can't be used, it's just forbidden there.

Mi'chelle

Why is it forbidden?

Brandon Sanderson

RAFO.

The Well of Ascension Annotations ()
#5099 Copy

Brandon Sanderson

Elend comparing himself to Kelsier is a kind of theme for him in this book. I wanted Kelsier to leave a long, long shadow over these next two books.

A lot of people couldn't believe that I killed Kelsier, since he was such a ball of charisma, and the driving force for the first book. (A lot of others CAN believe it, but are rather annoyed at me for doing it.) However, I happen to like this book specifically because of Kelsier's absence.

He overshadowed everything when he was alive. Elend could never have developed as a character–and even Sazed and Vin would have had trouble–as long as Kelsier was there dominating everything. He was a character at the end of his arc–while the others are still only just beginning. It's so much more interesting if they have to do things without him.

Just part of Kelsier's arrogance, I guess. Both as a character in the book, and externally to it. He dominated so much that he had to go.

Shadows of Self London UK signing ()
#5100 Copy

Questioner

Have you ever thought about writing a horror novel?  

Brandon Sanderson

A what?  

Questioner

A horror novel.

Brandon Sanderson

You know, I've had little, vague things about, but never anything big enough. Like I'm most attracted in horror to the kind of cthuloid, dark eldritch style stuff, so if you saw a horror novel from me it would be along those lines probably.