Dirigible
Could someone who's never been to Scadrial be Connected to Ruin, Preservation, or Harmony?
Brandon Sanderson
Possibly. Depends on the strength of the Connection. But yeah, Connection's not an on/off switch.
#14801
Recent entries
#14801
#14802
Dirigible
Can you store any sort of Temporal Connection?
Brandon Sanderson
Um, most.
#14803
Dirigible
Can you store....like if there is a Twinborn, who is a gold Allomancer and a duralumin Ferring, would his goldshadow change based on what his Connection is?
Brandon Sanderson
I'm going to RAFO that.
#14804
Dirigible
Can you store different types of Connection at different times? Like can you store Connection to people versus location?
Brandon Sanderson
That is possible.
#14805
Dirigible
Can you be Connected to two locations at once?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes
Dirigible
Will that help with doing Sel magic off-world?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO
#14806
Dirigible's sister
The Expanse of Broken Sky, is that Sel?
Brandon Sanderson (Paraphrased)
RAFO
#14807
Dirigible's sister
Is the Cognitive Realm flat or spherical?
Brandon Sanderson
The Cognitive Realm is this weird thing, where it's flat, but it's distorted.
Dirigible's sister
Yeah, 'cause I was going to say, if you make a globe flat...
Brandon Sanderson
You can walk from one planet to the next. So it's got really weird...the spatial reasoning doesn't work the same way.
#14808
Dirigible
Have we seen a Svrakiss in a book so far?
Brandon Sanderson
Um... RAFO
Dirigible
Can you tell us anything about Svrakiss, like are they originally from Sel?
Brandon Sanderson
Um... I'm not going to go into that.
#14809
Badger (paraphrased)
What was your motivation/inspiration behind the Alcatraz books?
Brandon Sanderson (paraphrased)
- They're weird and modernist.
- His goal was to do something so different from what he was working on.
- He uses different books like this as breaks in order to keep the momentum up for writing and yet let himself rest.
- Still has a wacky magic system, so it's still one of his books, still what he likes writing, but it's still different.
- Inspired by like, The Emperor's New Groove sort of off the wall storytelling (gave the example of the fact that the opening scene is cut by a flashback and then never addressed again anywhere in the books)
#14810
Jeffrey Marble
Do you plan are having anymore full Mistborn in your books?
Brandon Sanderson
You'll have to read and find out! :)
#14811
Brandon Hord
Will Michael Whelan continue to do cover art for The Stormlight Archive?
Brandon Sanderson
That will be up to him, and his schedule. We will always ask!
#14812
NOOK
What has been the proudest moment of your career?
Brandon Sanderson
A tie between winning a Hugo award and releasing the last Wheel of Time book, so far. Excellent question!
#14813
NongNingNang
How many books do you read each year? Best you've read lately?
Brandon Sanderson
I real maybe a book a month. Much less than some people, but I have to fight to make time!
#14814
NOOK
What stage of the writing process is most difficult for you?
Brandon Sanderson
Revision is the most difficult, by a long shot.
#14815
Drew McCaffrey
Were there any people present at the Shattering of Adonalsium other than Hoid and the 16?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO.
#14816
MonsterMetroid
Do u have plans for a Lurcher character? Orbiting a bullet/coin around them and back at shooter would be awesome .
Brandon Sanderson
Some day, I'm sure I'll do a Lurcher character.
#14817
William Yates
Did the Ire form before the events of Elantris or do they form after the city is healed?
Brandon Sanderson
This is an excellent question! :) (And one I'm not going to answer yet, I'm afraid.)
#14818
Jennifer Essad
Do you feel confident with the producer/directors making slight changes to the movie?
Brandon Sanderson
The best film versions of books make changes to fit the media. So I plan on this happening here.
#14819
Brandon Hord
Were you influenced by Tad Williams at all? I see some elements of his writing in your work.
Brandon Sanderson
I think Tad is an excellent writer, and have loved much of what he's written. I'd happily call him an influence.
#14820
NOOK
Have you ever designed a character based upon a loved one in order to honor their memory?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, I have--but it's almost always a side character, more a cameo than anything else.
#14821
Stevie Finegan
Is there a genre you think you couldn't/wouldn't write (within fantasy)? Or might your writing take us anywhere?
Brandon Sanderson
I could see myself doing pretty much anything, within certain bounds of harsher content.
#14822
ALMTY BAM
Any plans for any adaptations in the near future?
Brandon Sanderson
If, by this, you mean film adaptations--we're trying very hard. Unfortunately, it's up to Hollywood more than it is me.
Stevie Finegan
Would you prefer film or TV adaptations? (If the choice was magically yours)
Brandon Sanderson
Depends on the series. I'd like to see Mistborn and The Reckoners as film, Stormlight and Wax and Wayne as TV.
#14823
NOOK
Will all 10 Stormlight books be relatively close time wise, or separate centuries like Mistborn?
Brandon Sanderson
They will be relatively close, time wise. Across twenty years or so, rather than hundreds.
#14824
Moogle
Why can non-Scadrians use Hemalurgy? Don't they need Ruin's sDNA, like Allomancers need Preservation?
Brandon Sanderson
Hemalurgy is built to be able to be used by anyone. It's about taking and breaking. Ruin doesn't care who does such things
#14825
PhantoMonstrosity
Would you mind giving a width for the Final Empire as well? Thanks! :)
Isaac Stewart
Still work to do on that... Maybe before the end of the year.
PhantoMonstrosity
Ah, for the book with all the starcharts [Arcanum Unbounded]? Looking forward to seeing it then :).
Isaac Stewart
Not necessarily for that book. :)
#14826
#14827
Brian Hermansen
When you write certain characters, do you envision them as anyone in real life? Ie. I see Dalinar as Liam Neeson
Brandon Sanderson
I don't generally envision them as real people. But A Liam Neeson Dalinar brings a smile to my lips.
#14828
#14829
Nathan Dallon
How many books/short stories did you write before you were first published?
Brandon Sanderson
I wrote thirteen before I sold one. I was pretty bad at this when I started...
#14830
Brandon Hord
What is your routine as a writer? How do you stay motivated to churn out pages?
Brandon Sanderson
I write every day. My motivation is the same now as it always was: to tell stories. Not much has changed. :)
#14831
NOOK
What's the best order for someone to read all the books in the Cosmere?
Brandon Sanderson
It depends. Publication order is just fine. However, I often start people with Mistborn.
#14832
Elliot Davis
If Kaladin were to write a self-help book, what would the title be?
Brandon Sanderson
Being a man, Kaladin would avoid writing anything, as it wouldn't be proper. :)
#14833
C. Logan Aube
Are there any other time periods you would like to explore with the Mistborn series?
Brandon Sanderson
I'll be doing a 1980's level tech, and a future tech, in upcoming series. So you could say that there are. :)
#14834
PhantoMonstrosity
Before Ruin and Preservation showed up on Scadrial, was aluminum already antimagical? Also, is [The Alloy of Law] between Stormlight 5&6?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, [The Alloy of Law] is after Stormlight 5. Specific timing will depend on how long I make the 5/6 gap once I get there.
#14835
#14836
#14837
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.
#14838
PhantoMonstrosity
Atium is the best metal to use for Hemalurgy. Does *burning* atium help you figure out where to put the spikes?
Brandon Sanderson
Anything that gets you a glimpse of the Spiritual Realm could help with placing spikes.
PhantoMonstrosity
Would flaring iron and steel also help?
Brandon Sanderson
No, not without additional help.
#14839
NOOK
If you could have any of the Epics' powers, who would it be?
Brandon Sanderson
Hm... I mean, Steelheart is invulnerable, can fly, and can shoot lasers out of his fists. It is hard to go wrong there.
#14840
Jennifer Lerud
What do you think of the New Adult category?
Brandon Sanderson
I'm reserving judgement. If the readership likes it, then it will take off. If not, oh well.
Jennifer Lerud
Darn! I was hoping you'd say you loved it. Everything I write (almost) is NA. :)
Brandon Sanderson
I think it's a cool category; I'm just not convinced that the public is embracing it.
#14841
Argent
For Terris names, is it safe to assume the first vowel is always long?
Brandon Sanderson
This is frequently the case, but it's not 100%.
#14842
Eoin Burke
Could a Brass twinborn compound to effectively be a human flamethrower? Also can a compounder store faster?
Brandon Sanderson
RAFO!
#14843
Yata
Does the Divine Breath's Healing work with someone without a Breath (like a Drab or someone not from Nalthis)?
Brandon Sanderson
Yes, this would work.
#14844
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.
#14845
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?"
#14846
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!
#14847
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.
#14848
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.
#14849
Cade
Brandon, what has been the influence of your LDS religion on your writing? Have aspects of Mormon doctrine been incorporated into your worldbuilding?
Brandon Sanderson
I'm very interested in the concepts of religion and the ideas that surround it, and I often find myself writing books that deal with things I'm interested in myself. I allow the themes of books like these to grow naturally out of the world I've built and out of the stories that I want to tell. Specifically, I kind of let the characters decide what the themes of a book are going to be. I don't go into it saying, "I'm going to write about this," but the worlds that I create betray my own interests very strongly.
What is it about faith and deity? This is something that is unique about us as human beings, something very interesting to me, and it felt like this area was an open space to explore in fantasy in ways that hadn't been done before. I always find myself gravitating toward things that I feel haven't been explored as much as they could have been. That interests me and fascinates me.
#14850
Hoa
How do you prioritize the various series you are writing? Are you influenced by your creative interest, schedule, fans, family, etc.? You have so many wonderful, intricate storylines and series such as The Rithmitist, The Stormlight Archive, The Wheel of Time and others that are all being released simultaneously.
Brandon Sanderson
Deciding what to work on is a balancing act. On one hand, the artist in me always wants to be doing something new, and it pushes me that direction. On the other hand, the completionist in me knows that there is great, great satisfaction and power in finishing a piece of art. It pushes me to work on the established series, and keeps me from going too many directions at once.
In general, I only write new fiction on one story at once. But when I finish one, I have to make sure I do something very different from it to keep me from being burned out. I am absolutely influenced by my schedule, my fans, and my family—all of these things give me ideas, and also require some very careful juggling of priorities to make sure everything gets the time it deserves.