Recent entries

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5452 Copy

    Questioner

    So, how much of an idea do you need before you start working on a book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It depends on your writing style. For me, I need multiple ideas that are interacting in interesting ways. Some writers, no idea is required at all. They just start writing and see where it goes. Stephen King sometimes does that, when he writes books. We call it pantsing versus outlining, and I'm more of an outliner. I like lots of cool things that are interacting.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5453 Copy

    Questioner

    The people who are from the future...*inaudible* I was thinking maybe they were from Scadrial?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I will not confirm or deny it. It is someone from the Cosmere from a world you've seen before.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5454 Copy

    Questioner

    Some of the names in the Stormlight Archive, sometimes they almost seem a little French to me.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Oh yeah? Names from Stormlight are mostly coming from Hebrew or from Arabic. A lot of Arabic, a lot of Hebrew. I studied French in high school, so you never can tell. But Kelsier ("Kel-see-ay"), Demoux, and Vin are all from French in Mistborn.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5455 Copy

    Questioner

    Is the torture of Kaladin's love life just going to be an ongoing theme throughout the books? Is that what you're going to do?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Relationships are not really his thing, let's just say that.

    Read For Pixels 2018 ()
    #5457 Copy

    Anushia Kandasivam

    Stories are one of the most powerful ways of bringing about change. In your opinion, how can authors strike a balance in their storytelling between raising awareness about things like violence against women, while telling an engaging story, without being pedantic or preachy?

    Do you think it's important for influential authors such as yourself, who are read all over the world, to make a conscious effort to include characters in your stories that show reinforcements of respecting women as people and as human beings?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Definitely a big "yes" to your last one.

    This is a big issue, and I'm glad you asked it, because it's something I've thought about quite a bit. At its core, it comes down to, "How do you write a story that explores difficult questions without preaching." Because, at the end of the day, we're picking up an epic fantasy book because we want to go to a new world, enjoy this new world, and have an interesting adventure. And we're not picking up it up because they want Brandon Sanderson to lecture them. And certainly, there are authors I do read to be lectured. So it's not a blanket statement, "This is how someone should do something."

    But for me, there's a couple of core tenets. One is the one I've already mentioned. Which is, if I'm going to put a character in (which I think I should put a wide variety of characters in) approaching questions from different directions, make sure that I am researching that person's viewpoint, people who have that viewpoint in the real world, and make sure I'm doing the job that they would want me to do with their position, their subculture, their belief structure, and things like this.

    But that kind of plays into another big... pillar of what I think my duty as a writer to do, which I've expressed it in the books, I've gotten it through things I've heard other authors write. Which is "Raise questions. Don't give answers." I believe that if you are raising questions, and having multiple people who are all sympathetic disagreeing on this question, or struggling with this question in different ways, it innately makes the reader start to say, "Well, what do I think about that? And is it something that I need to think about more?" And not dodging these topics, but also not coming down with long sermons about them, I think, is the way that I want to be able to approach them.

    I often share this story, so I apologize if some of you heard it before. But the book that got me into science fiction and fantasy was Dragonsbane, by Barbara Hambly. And Dragonsbane, by Barbara Hambly, is criminally under-read in the science fiction/fantasy community. I have read it again as an adult, it holds up, it is a fantastic novel. What made Dragonsbane work for me? I was a fourteen-year-old boy who was handed this novel by his English teacher, and she said, "I think you are reading below your level. I think you would like something a little more challenging. Why don't you try one of these books on my shelf." And that's the one that I ended up picking up. This book should not have worked for a fourteen-year-old boy, if you read the Cliffnotes on how to get a reluctant reader to read books.

    Dragonsbane, if you haven't read it, is about a middle-aged woman who is having a crisis as she tries to balance having a family and learning her magic. Her teacher has told her she can be way better at the magic if she would dedicate more time to it, but her family takes a lot of her time. And this is her main character conflict through the story. Now, it also involves going and slaying a dragon, and things like this. And it's a wild adventure with some excellent worldbuilding, and a really interesting premise. The story is about having to kill a dragon, her partner has been asked to slay a dragon, he's the only person who's ever slayed a dragon, but he killed a dragon when he was in his 20's, and now he's middle-aged, and he's like, "I can't do that like I used to anymore." And together, they go down and try to figure out how to kill a dragon when you're an old person. But this story should, on paper, not have worked for me, but it was the most amazing thing I'd ever read in my life.

    Meanwhile, my mother graduated first in her class in accounting in a year where she was the only woman in most of her accounting classes. She had been offered, as she graduated, a prestigious scholarship to go become a CPA. And she actually turned that down because of me. She was having me as a child, and she decided that she would put off her education and career for a few years. She is now the head accountant for the city of Idaho Falls power plant, so she did go back to her career, but she put that off for me. Now, as... a middle school kid, if you told me the story, I'd be like, "Of course she did. I'm awesome. I'm me. Of course she would do that. That's the right thing to do." I read this book, and I'm like, "Oh, ditch your kids, woman. You could be a wizard!" I got done with this book, and I realized: I just read a fantasy book about slaying a dragon. High fantasy, all the stuff that should have just been brain popcorn. And yet, I got done with this book, and I understood my mother better. And it hit me like a ton of bricks, that a story could teach me about my mom in some ways better than living with her for fourteen years, because I was a stupid kid who wouldn't listen, and assumed he had the answers. But when I saw through someone else's eyes, who was very different from myself, that changed the way I saw the world.

    This is why stories are important. This is why it is important-- if you're writers out there, it's why your stories are important. When you ask, "Well, what can I write that's new?" You can write who you are. And that will be new. And that is valuable in and of itself. Those stories have value because you're telling them. And this is what stories do. And this is how, I think, I want to be approaching telling stories. I want people to read the stories, and I don't want them to feel lectured to. But I want them to see the world through the eyes of someone who sees it in a very different way. Maybe that'll make them, make you, make all of us think a little harder about some of the things in our lives.

    Read For Pixels 2018 ()
    #5458 Copy

    Anushia Kandasivam

    We have a lot of different characters in your books. There are, of course, misogynistic characters in your books, and there are storylines that feature violence against women. But generally, the male/female relationships between the main characters are quite equitable. The heroes are respectful of women in their plots and decisions. But oftentimes, the line between consent and coercion in fantasy isn't always clear. Whether it's epic fantasy, urban fantasy, paranormal romance. Do you think this is an issue that writers in the genre have started tackling successfully in recent years?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes. I do think... This is an issue, at least in my culture, American media culture, that stretches back pretty far. We showed my kids the original Star Wars movies, which I still love. But Empire Strikes Back, you talk about a line between consent and non-consent, and there's a scene where Han Solo backs Leia into a corner and tells her that she wants him, when she says she doesn't. And it's really uncomfortable to watch in the current climate and realization that our entire society has emphasized a certain sense of masculinity through our media for many, many years. And it's not something that I would have ever noticed if people hadn't started pointing out, "Hey, there's a problem here."

    And I do think people are doing a better job with it. I think we, as a culture, though, bear quite a burden for the way that we have glorified this kind of behavior, even in some of our best and most beloved media properties. And this goes back to my philosophy, though, that we try to do better. We don't-- Pointing backward and vilifying the creators of Empire Strikes Back because they were part of it is not my goal. My goal is for us to say, "Hey, we can do better than this. We should do better than this.

    And I guess one of my pet peeves, as a side topic to this, is that showing good relationships between people in committed relationships is just not a thing that media is good at, because media wants to have conflict. And conflict is story. But because of that, what we end up with is a whole lot of really dysfunctional relationships being held, and it's hard. Like, when I sat down to write Stormlight Archive, I wanted to write a misogynistic and racist culture that you didn't hate, but that at the same time, you're like, "Yeah, you know,it is." And how do you do that without setting it as a standard? You want to approach it and say, "Look, this is-- through a lot of history and a lot of cultures, cultures that human beings have created have been pretty misogynistic."

    So, how do you write a fantasy book that doesn't glorify this, but still says, "This is how cultures often are"? And there's a really fine line to walk there. And one of the things I think we, as a culture, need to do is, we need to get better about distinguishing between, "Hey, this is how this character is, and this is how people should be." And I'm not sure if I have the answers on that, at all. But one of the things I do like to do is to show, people can be in relationships that have some conflict, but still who genuinely love each other, and genuinely do work their problems out like rational human beings do in the real world. And you can still have conflict and a great fantasy story with people whose relationships are functional.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5459 Copy

    Questioner 1

    When you write the books, do you set up the setting and stuff first, because it's an amazing setting.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yeah, I do a lot of planning ahead of time. I'm naturally an outliner. It's not the only way to write a book, some people do it the opposite way, but I do a lot of outlining.

    Questioner 2

    I have a lot of trouble outlining myself.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Sometimes it doesn't work. There are some writers, that if they outline the book, it actually ruins the book cause they feel like they've already kind of gone through and written it.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5460 Copy

    Questioner

    What is your favorite parable from the Way of Kings?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I'm not sure if I have a favorite. It's kind of like what I'm thinking about or feeling at the moment. One of the reasons I haven't written the whole thing out is because I want to be able to add to it when the right mood strikes me and stuff like that. I will say, the ones i haven't written yet will probably be my favorite if that makes any sense.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5461 Copy

    Questioner

    Well I'm an English teacher major for little kids and I was wondering what you think, or any advice, on how to make my students life long writers and readers.

    Brandon Sanderson

    When I was a teenager and I didn't like books and a teacher, the first teacher who really took the time to find a book that would match me rather than assigning me a book that they liked, was the one that got me hooked, so I kind of focus on that idea. I tell kids sometimes, books are like shoes, not everyone wears the same kind of shoes and when you wear the wrong size you might think shoes are painful but if you get the right size they make your life way better. Books are kinda the same way so try lots of different things, introduce them to a lot of different things and encourage them to read what they love.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5462 Copy

    Questioner

    So how big are spren, like when Kaladin sees a spren, how...

    Brandon Sanderson

    It depends on the spren. lifespren are real tiny, little dots. windspren *presumably gestures*, like that. Some spren are as large as buildings. There is no strict size increment, but you can guess the size if I don't say otherwise. It really depends.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5463 Copy

    Questioner

    So, my question for you is writing related. I just finished a new first draft in my novel.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I know you! Yeah, ok sorry. It took me a minute.

    Questioner

    So yeah, I finished my draft; what was it that helped you when you... cause I recalled hearing on Writing Excuses, you talked about this, how editing was the bane of your existence earlier, you just didn't wanna do that, and I'm finding that too. I dont wanna jump in and fix all the terrible things. What was it that helped you kinda like...

    Brandon Sanderson

    It honestly is the thing that held me back the most. I think it was kinda partially just, getting rejected enough that I realized I just had to learn to do it. That was part of it. Giving myself space after finishing a book, writing something else and then coming back to it when I was feeling kind of fresh about it and exited about tackling it again, that helped a lot. It was also kinda like growing up as a writer, if that makes sense, and realizing I'm not ever gonna sell a book until I could learn to take a good one and make it great and then I just started buckling down and learning to revise.

    WorldCon 76 ()
    #5464 Copy

    Brandon Sanderson

    One of the things I read when I was researching for Stormlight that was really interesting, I kind of dug into, was this idea that practical medicine, particularly through the Middle Ages up approaching the Renaissance, was actually the one that was regarded with fear, superstition, and dislike. Which is why it fell to the barbers. And what we would call the "superstitious physician" was a well-respected position, depending on where you were looking. And it was this weird area where people who were approaching things practically and actually doing what you needed to do, were being ostracized and vilified. It wasn't as bad as being an executioner; that was the worst deal. But there was this sort of thing, that those people stayed-- You did not want your son or daughter marrying into that family, and these sorts of things. It was really interesting.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #5465 Copy

    Questioner

    With the Stormlight Archive, when you created this, do you know everything? Do you know the end of the book at the beginning?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I do, but... You have to be willing to change as you go, as the characters mature and you mature. For instance, Adolin wasn't gonna be a main character in the original outline. And as I developed the first book, I realized I needed another perspective of somebody who could offer perspective on the things that were happening. That was Adolin's perspective. So I brought him in as a main character. So that wasn't in the original outline.

    And for instance, the ending of Book 2, with Kaladin, was actually originally the ending of Book 3. So I ended up switching those around. So things like this happen.

    Books 4 and 5, my dividing line, where those two divide, is not really strict right now, and so one of the things I'm doing in outlining is saying, "Let's make sure Book 4 feels like a book, rather than half of a book that Book 5 ends."

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #5466 Copy

    Questioner

    I'm curious about Kaladin. Did you write Kaladin as having depression? It never distinctly says it.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, he has depression. I purposefully didn't distinctly say it, because it's not like they can diagnose in their culture. But yes, Kaladin has depression. Straight-up depression. And it's not even... Like, there's PTSD stuff in the third book, but that's not the cause of it. He just has chemical depression. Even going back to when he was a teenager. And it's not like the story is... In some ways, it's about him overcoming it, but it's not about it going away. It's about a hero who lives with depression.

    Questioner

    And I personally, I have depression, so I relate with Kaladin so much when I read it. So I just think it's really cool ,that... Most people don't write about heroes that have depression.

    Brandon Sanderson

    I wanted to do it, in part, because I have some dear loved ones that... You know, this is just part of their everyday life. It was something I just didn't see being touched upon. And I remember my wife talking about it and saying, "It's kind of frustrating to read a book about someone with depression because that's the only thing about them. Books, they're like, problem novels. Can't I just read a book about somebody who has depression?" So, she was a big help.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #5467 Copy

    Questioner

    In the last [Alcatraz book], why did you make everyone die?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So Alcatraz is making things out to be a little worse than they really are. Because he wanted to end the book on a sad note, because he always promised everyone he would. That's why Bastille feels she needs to write the real ending. The next book should not be nearly as grim as Alcatraz wants you to believe everything is. That's why she wrote that little secret ending. So keep your hope up: it's not nearly as bad as Alcatraz wants you to think it is.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #5468 Copy

    Questioner

    So, I created a magic system that's pretty easy to grasp at first. But I realized I have aspects of it that are very complex I'm having trouble tying to my novel. I was just wondering if you've ever run into these kind of problems with your magic systems.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, though I kind of like it. A magic system that looks simple, but you can dig into deeply, is a good magic system to me. If you can write it so that some characters just use it surface-level, and other characters start to ask these deep questions, you'll be able to do something for everyone. People who just want to read it and enjoy the adventure and the mystique of a fantasy story can. Those who really want to dig in can dig in. I would say don't worry, don't stress it, that's actually a really good thing.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #5469 Copy

    Questioner

    Have you ever played Dungeons and Dragons?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I have. I played a whole lot of 3.0 and 3.5. A little bit of Second Edition when I was younger. And a little bit of Fourth. But mostly 3.5 was my game.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #5470 Copy

    Questioner

    How do you keep everybody straight? Do you use a program like Scrivener?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I use something called Wikidpad, a personal wiki. Just like Wikipedia, but only on my computer. And then I have a continuity editor, and her job is to go, after I've written a book, and put everything from the new book into it, into the wiki. And then to also warn me of continuity errors that I've made.

    I wish I could say I did it all perfectly, but I don't. I still make a ton of mistakes. We catch most of them. But you can see, like, the Mistborn books have way more continuity errors than Stormlight, because I didn't have her back then. And so, we're doing the leatherbounds, they have to come to me and say, "Uhhh... this person walks, like, five times as far as a human being can travel in this amount of time. Maybe we need to move this building across the city," and stuff like that.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #5471 Copy

    Questioner

    What kind of books do you like to recommend to people who ask? What's your favorite book to read?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I have a Goodreads account that I tend to post books I've liked up there. Basically, the ones that I like, do I write about. So that's a good place to go.

    Growing up, my favorite authors were Anne McCaffrey, Barbara Hambly, and Robert Jordan. And David Eddings. Nowadays, I tend to like stuff that's a little more... fantasy that's a little more avant-garde, doing different things. Because I've read a lot of great stories that have the more traditional hero's journey stuff. So the stuff you'll see me liking now tend to be things like N.K. Jemisin, doing weird things. But I like a wide variety of things.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #5472 Copy

    Questioner

    I'm curious, how much interaction do you get with the people who narrate the books out loud?

    Brandon Sanderson

    So usually I record pronunciation guides and send them to them on a tape recorder. And usually I pick them beforehand. My tape recording doesn't always get there in time. So if their pronunciation's wrong, it's usually my fault, and not theirs. Because it just means that we haven't gotten that recording done by the time they need it to record. But I like to pick my own audiobook narrators. And when I can, I like to meet them.

    Questioner

    So if you were ever to make one of these into a film, would you ever meet the people who would actually be in the film?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, but I would not be in charge of the film. I have clauses that require them to let me come to the set and meet people and be involved that way, but I don't have final say.

    Questioner

    So you don't have in a say in who's cast?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I don't. I can always offer my opinion, and hopefully they would listen to it. But usually, as a writer, you just don't get say in that. When someone's spending $200 million making your book into a movie, they're writing the check, so they get the final say.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #5473 Copy

    Questioner

    Have you ever met Michael Kramer and Kate Reading?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I have met Michael Kramer. I haven't met Kate. I've met Michael, he came to one of my signings. They live in the D.C. area, so he came and did the reading for one of my signings.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #5474 Copy

    Questioner

    How would you handle dragons?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Dragons, I feel, are inherently cool. And they're one of those things that, personally, I think you can just get away with without having to, like, make your own. I'm tired of orcs, but I'm not tired of dragons. So if I were gonna handle dragons, they'd feel like pretty classic dragons.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #5475 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.

    Idaho Falls signing ()
    #5476 Copy

    Questioner

    How do you do go about worldbuilding for religion?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's a little bit of a mix between the way I see religions work in our world, and trying to find a fantastical version. Something that couldn't really actually exist in our world, 'cause that's part of why I write fantasy. So what could people worship, what methods of worship could they have, that kind of echo things in our world, but aren't actually anything that could ever exist here. We did a Writing Excuses podcast on worldbuilding religion that you might find handy. If you Google "Writing Excuses Religion," we've got a podcast for you.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5478 Copy

    Questioner

    Are these old Radiants?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Those are Heralds. That's Ash, who you'll see that the very end of this [Oathbringer]. That's Jezrien who's also near the end. You haven't met her [Vedel] yet. Ishar, you have heard about. And it's identified in this book who he is. But those are artist interpretations of them, in-world. They're like the Sistine Chapel versions of the Heralds. They might not look exactly like that, but that is an in-world interpretation of them by an artist.

    Footnote: Question refers to the Oathbringer endpaper art
    FanX 2018 ()
    #5479 Copy

    Questioner

    Now that Wax is a major part of society, are people trying to copy his coat?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That, you will see in the next book! You'll have to wait and see!

    Questioner

    I thought with that one, I wouldn't get that!

    Brandon Sanderson

    Wax has had an effect on the fashion industry.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5480 Copy

    Questioner

    Is Wit a remnant of Adonalsium?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No. Good question.

    Questioner

    I thought I had it figured out! I figured he was going around collecting himself. Getting all the different *inaudible*.

    Brandon Sanderson

    No, he is not a remnant of Adonalsium. Good question, though.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5481 Copy

    Questioner

    I want to know what Sazed's robes look like.

    Brandon Sanderson

    Sazed robes are long, and they've got a V pattern.

    Questioner

    *Inaudible*

    Brandon Sanderson

    It is sewn into it. The V pattern is just sewn into it like that. Of alternating colors. Not alternating, various colors. Kind of a rainbow look.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5482 Copy

    Questioner

    Is there a lady in the future for Kaladin?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That is a Read and Find Out. Let's just say Kaladin is historically not that great on relationships but he has not given up on trying.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5483 Copy

    Questioner

    My question is a follow up to what you answered in my Well of Ascension. I asked if Hoid had any love interests, and you said, "Several". My follow up question is, have we seen any of those *inaudible*.

    Brandon Sanderson

    They will show up in various books but you have not seen them yet. They're *inaudible*.

    Footnote: That entry can be found here.
    FanX 2018 ()
    #5487 Copy

    Questioner

    In Shadows for Silence in the Forests of Hell, they use silver to fight Shades. I'm wondering if that's actual silver or they just call it silver and it's a mysterious metal that's known to fall from the sky.

    Brandon Sanderson

    It's a good question. I have it as actual silver.

    Questioner

    Would it be effective, at fighting...if you wanted to harm a spren or seon or other types of Cognitive Shadow?

    Brandon Sanderson

    RAFO.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5488 Copy

    Questioner

    There is ironpulling and steelpushing. And then there's also the surge of a Windrunner that changes their center of gravity. Are those combined somehow?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Combined, no, but trying to deal with different facets of the same idea, yes.

    Footnote: The Surge of Gravitation changes the direction of gravity.
    FanX 2018 ()
    #5489 Copy

    Questioner

    When did Shallan take the First Oath?

    Brandon Sanderson

    That's been quite a while. She's been on this path longer than almost anybody. Jasnah's been going for a while. If you look at the timeline, I think Jasnah beats her. But she's been on this path for years.

    Questioner

    Do we get to find out when she took that First Oath?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, I'm planning to delve into that. It's supposed to be a "Wait, What?" I'd have to look exactly at the timeline, Jasnah beats her.  Jasnah definitely beats her.

    Questioner 2

    <Are you sure?>

    Brandon Sanderson

    Maybe not. I'd have to look at the timelines. This is why I have Karen, to keep my timelines for me!

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5490 Copy

    Questioner

    What is your favorite Italian dish?

    Brandon Sanderson

    It depends on my mood. There are some times where I just want to *inaudible* spagetti and meatballs. But sometimes carbonara. I would probably in a vacuum choose the carbonara. Probably. But it just really depends.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5491 Copy

    Stormlightning

    Do the Natan people live longer than normal humans, because they have Aimian blood?

    Brandon Sanderson

    *Hesitant* Yes...Let's say, you are theorizing in a good direction.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5492 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*

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5493 Copy

    Stormlightning

    If Hoid could have picked to join any order of the Knights Radiant, regardless of the Oaths he had to swear, just the powers, would he have picked Lightweaver?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He would have.

    Stormlightning

    Tell me more!

    Brandon Sanderson

    Lightweaving matches him very well, he's quite familiar with it and experienced with it. He's very good at using it and he likes it.

    It's the fulfillment of a long, long quest of his to finally get full access to Lightweaving.

    Stormlightning

    Even though he had some sort of Lightweaving?

    Brandon Sanderson

    He did have some sort of, yes. He's a very very happy Hoid.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5495 Copy

    Questioner

    If an Allomancer were to go to a different planet and burn the metals on that planet from that planet, it still works?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Still works.

    Questioner 2

    Same way, no differences?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No differences. The metal is more of a key to draw the magic out than it is providing any power itself.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5496 Copy

    Stormlightning

    Is there a set number of them[Dawnshards]?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.

    Stormlightning

    Are you willing to say?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No.

    Stormlightning

    Are you willing to say if they originated in the Rosharan system?

    Brandon Sanderson

    I am not willing to say.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5497 Copy

    Questioner

    Are we going to find out more about Hoid in the next book?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes, but only little bits and pieces until a little later. The further we get along, the more comfortable I will be giving you Hoid stuff. Particularly in Stormlight. So yes, but it's a tentative yes.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5498 Copy

    ReticentBondsmith

    If you infused a ruby and split it into three or more pieces, would you be able to create a groupchat spanreed?

    Brandon Sanderson

    This has been attempted so far unsuccessfully. Good question! It is very plausible in the magic system.

    ReticentBondsmith

    I've always felt this was related to quantum entanglement. Is that part of where you got the idea from?

    Brandon Sanderson

    Absolutely. I mean, I know that's not how quantum entanglement actually works. But the magic systems all in the Stormlight Archive grew out of my interest in the fundamental forces. We are several magical steps removed from the actual science in each of these cases, but that was the origin for all those magics. The quantum entanglement fascinates me, particularly the way that we think things should work and find out they don't. I love that stuff.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5499 Copy

    Questioner

    Is Hoid the only one of his kind that we've met in the Cosmere books?

    Brandon Sanderson

    What do you mean by his kind?

    Questioner

    Is he the only one from the planet he's originally from that we've met?

    Brandon Sanderson

    No. Because Ati and Leras, the Ruin and Preservation, were both from that same planet.

    [...]

    All of the Shards of Adonalsium were from that planet.

    FanX 2018 ()
    #5500 Copy

    Questioner

    How would an Awakened with Breath piece of cloth react if it got hit with a Shardblade?

    Brandon Sanderson

    A Shardblade would probably be able to cut it, but it depends on how much Breath we're talking about.

    Questioner

    So if it had enough, it might be able to block it

    Brandon Sanderson

    Yes.