Brandon Sanderson Lecture #9 – Characters Part 1

Overview – The meat of the lecture is at the beginning. The rest is multiple examples of excellent characters and undesirable characters. The last part of the lecture is a Q&A session. I enjoyed the entire lecture, but it is very hard to take notes after the beginning. This would be a lecture to watch multiple times.

What the purpose of Character is? Elements of your story. How to make readers care about your characters.

• Establish empathy
  • Likeability
    • Showing like us
    • Nice
    • Show people liking them
• Establish rooting interests
  • Motivation
  • Why can’t they have it (spiral into limitations, flaws)
  • Personal connection to plot
• Establish a sense of progress with character
  • Flaw they have
  • Character journey
  • Mystery
  • What are they going to change?

A one note character that stays the same will get tiresome.

Character arc is super important.

Character quirks are good, but better if they relate somewhat with the plot.

Do not write a character to be a role. Every character should see themselves as the main character, even if they are not.

• Motivations vs. Goals
  • Goals once accomplished, story over. Goals can shift.
  • Motivations can continue.

All lectures of Brandon Sanderson are now linked on the Storylines page if you wish to follow along in order.

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Brandon Sanderson Lecture #8 – Worldbuilding Q&A

Note: I’ve been putting off watching this video for far too long. I’m not sure why, but I have an aversion to Q&A lectures. Time to bite the bullet and quit procrastinating.

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Overview – Brandon tries to answer multiple questions and since he only has about an hour, he talks very quickly. So it’s a bit hard to follow along. Luckily, someone on the YouTube page provided links to the relevant portions of the questions. For the most part, I think I could have skipped this lecture. At least if I ever need to review a certain point, it will be easy to quickly get there. Next lecture is the one I’m really looking forward to which is Character.

Questions:

• 1:38 – “What flaws do you (Sanderson) have, that make you a better writer?”
• 4:54 – “How do you create a magic that doesn’t seem like magic?”
• 6:11 – Internal vs. external consistency/logic
• 10:30 – Goes back to explain how internal vs. external logic plays into creating a magic system, that doesn’t seem like magic.
• 11:56 – “How do we give enough exposition to make the reader understand the world, but maintain mystery and twists?”
• 17:28 – “Do you change or modify rules based on the age of the intended reader?” + “Do you, while you’re writing, ever change your rules?” (Tbc. at 24:26, after the question below)
• 23:13 – “Do you ever have publishers or editors try to have you put more graphic content in?”
• 26:02 – Follow-up question from one of the students: “My central character is eight years old. What is the danger with that? Why don’t we see more adult books with child protagonists?”
• 29:05 – “This is back to the internal/external logic. What do you do if there’s a case where they may conflict? How do you choose which one is better?”
• 32:56 – “Is there a way to see hard magic disguised as soft magic in a book?”
• 35:37 – “How do you prevent world building from feeling like a chore?”
• 40:38 – “What’s my (Sanderson’s) opinion on fanfiction?”
• 41:34 – “How do you know if your magic system works?”
• 45:54 – “I’d love to screen write for animation. Any tips?”
• 48:02 – “Is editing fantasy/sci-fi a good backup plan?”
• 52:39 – “How can you make limits or weaknesses appear natural and not contrived?”
• 56:58 – “What does Brandon think of The Mandalorian?”
• 58:52 – “Are Sanderson’s Laws absolute?”
• 59:45 – “How do you decide that you need to add some new magic, and how do you add it smoothly without turning it into a deus ex machina/making it feel out of nowhere?”
• 1:04:47 – About revision

All lectures of Brandon Sanderson are now linked on the Storylines page if you wish to follow along in order.

Brandon Sanderson Lecture #7 – Short Stories with Mary Robinette Kowal

This video that introduced me to the world of Brandon Sanderson. I did a review of it earlier this year. You can find it here. This time around, I’m not going to do notes. Instead I’m going to attempt to write a short story using the guidelines that Mary sets forth. For each part of the story, she gives you just a few minutes to write it. Not much time at all, so I’ll have to be on my “A” game. No telling how good or bad the story will be, but it will be interesting to try it. I’ve set a timer on my phone for each part. Here goes:

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Nick the engine jockey cursed under his breath at the weight of the diamond core engine he needed to tote to the star coaster engine bay.

Getting it down the ladder safely was going to be tricky. The anti-grav unit was on the fritz yet again, sparking angrily every time he tried to turn it on.

Nick grabbed a hoist and hooked it to the eyebolt over the ladder. Hooking the end of the chain to the engine, he pulled mightily to lift it. The engine lifted a few inches and then tipped over which is a very bad thing for a diamond core engine. He quickly set it back down on the deck and rolled it upright hoping he hadn’t damaged it.

In a fit of frustration, Nick kicked the anti-grav unit. As he was hopping in pain, the unit came online and lifted the engine. Hurriedly he unhooked the engine from the chain hoist and guided it down the ladder before the anti-grav unit conked out again. He set the engine in place and made the necessary connections. Closing his eyes and hoping the engine wasn’t damaged, he flicked the on switch.

The diagnostics startup flashed on the display screen. No faults! Nick was relieved and hoped that he would never have to replace the engine again.

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This story was 219 words which is right in line with the guidance that Mary said we would be doing a 250 word story.

For a quickie story, it doesn’t look to bad to me. What do you think?

All lectures of Brandon Sanderson are now linked on the Storylines page if you wish to follow along in order.

Brandon Sanderson Lecture #6 – Worldbuilding Part 2

Overall impression – Tremendous amount of information that is hard to quantify into notes. Lots of nuances. Definitely a lecture that needs to be viewed more than once.

Below is the notes I typed while listening to the lecture. Some of it may not make sense to you if you haven’t listened to the lecture. These are merely highlights of what I picked up on during the lecture.

Notes

Why world building?

• Impossible made plausible
• Theme
• Sense of wonder and/or exploration
• Sheer coolness
• Cultural butterfly effect
• Ability to approach ideas in disconnected way
• Play God

Worldbuilding in service of story – To enhance the story.

Info dumps/conveying info – avoid encyclopedia entries

Avoid butler/maid dialogue

pyramid of distraction

abstract vs. concrete

How steep is your learning curve to know the world. What is the setting of the story and how does it enhance it.

Divide worldbuilding into two types – Physical / Cultural Pick one from each type to focus on.

All lectures of Brandon Sanderson are now linked on the Storylines page if you wish to follow along in order.

Brandon Sanderson Lecture #5 – Worldbuilding Part One

Overall impression – At first I almost skipped the worldbuilding lectures as I’m not that into magic. I’m glad I did watch it as the writing process he uses for his fantasy books is also applicable to almost any genre. He explains worldbuilding by using a lot of examples. His second Law sparks a lot of ideas for me. Huge amount of information, I had to take periodic breaks to process what he was talking about.

Below is the notes I typed while listening to the lecture. Some of it may not make sense to you if you haven’t listened to the lecture. These are merely highlights of what I picked up on during the lecture.

Notes

Sanderson’s Laws

1. Your ability to solve problems with magic in a satisfying way is directly proportional to how well the reader understands said magic. (deus ex machina is a bad thing) – really a law of foreshadowing.
2. Flaws/limitations/costs are more interesting than powers. – Characterization building.
3. Before adding something new to your magic (setting), see if you can instead expand what you have. – Bigger is not necessarily better.

Hard magic vs. Soft magic – Hard is rules based, soft is more a sense of awe. Hard magic has consequences that is evident. Soft is also consequence, but hidden.

Sanderson’s Laws are for him to write. Writers can have their own laws for writing.

Avoiding info dumps when explaining magic systems. Use the try it out to explain it.

• Flaws – Things characters can/need to fix
• Limitations – Things characters can/need to overcome
• Costs – Consequences for the characters choices

Dig deeper into a concept and explore the different ramifications of it rather than throwing a bunch of stuff into a book.

Iceberg theory of worldbuilding. Readers see just the tip of the vast worldbuilding the author has done. In reality, that is false. The worldbuilding below the water is hollow.

Sanderson’s Zero Law – Always err on the side of what is awesome. (Ideas)

All lectures of Brandon Sanderson are now linked on the Storylines page if you wish to follow along in order.

Brandon Sanderson Lecture #2 – Plot Part 1

Overall impression – Getting into the nuts and bolts of writing. The easy going Brandon from the Intro lecture is gone, now it’s fast paced with lots of information. Brandon actually speaks faster and faster as the lecture progresses. Great use of examples using Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and his books which I’ve not actually read.

Below is notes I typed while listening to the lecture. Some of it may not make sense to you if you haven’t listened to the lecture. These are merely highlights of what I picked up on during the lecture.

Most of the time books are not just one idea. Ideas don’t make a book, Authors make ideas work.

3 parts of Plot: Promises, Progress, Payoff.

Types of promises: (Intro to the piece) Don’t have to have them in first draft, but in revision look to make sure you include them.

Tone Promises – Sets the tone and style (Don’t start a wacky comedy book with a tragic incident)

Character Arc Promise – Character desire and what prevents them. (how the character is going to change) Iconic characters do not require an Arc. i.e. Sherlock Holmes, James Bond

Plot Promise – What type of story are you giving the reader. (adventure, romance, horror)

Progress is the most important part of the plot and the hardest part of writing.

Progress is in the complete control of the author. You want to create the illusion of progress for the reader. This is done by the story arc. (Why people are turning your pages) Progress must match Promises or Promises must match Progress.

Payoff is where you make good on all of the promise and progress. Talked a bit about twists.

Part 2 will be on twists and plot types in detail.

All lectures of Brandon Sanderson are now linked on the Storylines page if you wish to follow along in order.

Brandon Sanderson – Lecture #1 Intro

Overall impression is that Brandon is not only knowledgeable but also funny. The time flew by watching this intro. At first, I thought to skip this lecture as Intro usually don’t have a lot of information, but I’m glad I did watch it. I highly encourage you to start with this video.

Intro’s usually give you a preview of what’s to come and this was no exception. Brandon is going to go over the Nuts and Bolts of writing and focus on 4 key areas which are, Plot, Setting, Character, and Business.

He gives reasons for taking the class. Communicate better and What does my success look like. You don’t have to be interested in Sci-Fi to take the class.

His writing advice?

• Try a few things
• Practice some more
• See if you get better
• If not, try something else

Sounds like what I’ve been doing since I started this blog way back in October of 2021.

Also, how you write is individual. The way I write is not going to be the way you write. Do what works for you, but above all be consistent.

At the end, he goes into detail about writing groups which is a tool. He gives some loose guidelines.

This is a barebones summary of the Intro. I’m ready to watch the rest of the series now because of this Intro. I’ll be doing a quick review after each one. So join me in learning a bit about writing because – What have you got to lose?

All lectures of Brandon Sanderson are now linked on the Storylines page if you wish to follow along in order.

Finally, I Get a Break

Photo by Marcin Dampc on Pexels.com

I hesitantly picked my weekly prompt from the Bowl of Doom just now. Expecting to have a prompt that will completely stump me and end my streak of writing challenges.

Instead, Happy Days are here again. I got a really fun one that I could go in a lot of different directions. I’m excited to write this challenge.

If you want a sneak peak of the writing prompt then highlight the below space. But don’t spoil it for others who want to be surprised.

And to top it all off, they give you a medal for it.

But first, I’m going to finally watch Brandon Sanderson’s Youtube Lecture #1 Introduction where he posted his lectures at BYU on writing. My plan is to try to watch at least one each night in his series.

Quite possibly, I’ll post a quick review of each lecture with the highlights of what he is teaching. And to make it easy on my readers, I’ll embed the video with the review.